Wheat Kings playing for pride, preparation

Barring a miracle, the Brandon Wheat Kings can pretty much rest assured they’re going to finish in fifth place in the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Conference.

After all, the Wheat Kings trail the fourth-place Calgary Hitmen by five points with three games left, and Calgary has two games remaining with the third-place Edmonton Oil Kings and one with the 10th-place Lethbridge Hurricanes.

Normally the Edmonton games might be good news for Brandon, but the Hitmen have essentially beaten up the Oil Kings and stolen their lunch money this season, winning five of the six games between the clubs.

As a result, the Wheat Kings will have other things on their minds during their final three games this regular season, beginning tonight when they visit the Saskatoon Blades at 8 p.m.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said now it’s a matter of preparing for the post-season, which will begin late next week.

“We’ve talked about it for a while, it’s seeing a playoff-type mindset,” Murray said. “That’s being responsible and detailed and having compete shift in and shift out. That’s what it’s going to take in the playoffs. You say it all along, you can’t just turn it on like a light switch on Game 1 of the playoffs.

“Over the last 20 games, we’ve been relatively consistent with that. There is always room for growth but for the most part the guys have played hard.”

Team captain Caleb Hadland sees things the same way.

“These last three are just character games for us,” Hadland said. “We have to build some momentum and feel confident going into playoffs so when we do head into Calgary or wherever it is, we’re ready and can take them down.”

Brandon finishes up with a home-and-home series against the Regina Pats at Brandt Centre on Friday at 8 p.m., and at Assiniboine Credit Union Place on Saturday at 6 p.m.

It’s mathematically possible for sixth-place Saskatoon to catch Brandon and vault into fifth place — a win tonight would get them within three points — but it’s just not very likely. After tonight’s contest with the Wheat Kings, the Blades finish with a home-and-home series against their most heated rivals, the first-place Prince Albert Raiders.

The Blades are 2-3-0-1 against the Raiders this season.

“Everybody is kind of in the same boat, just trying to polish up for the playoffs,” Murray said. “Obviously Saskatoon is motivated because they can still catch us in the standings and we should be motivated to close that door as well. Saskatoon has a good team with lots of depth up front, and for us, we just have to be ready. We’ve played well in their barn this year for the most part.”

Regina, on the other hand, met Prince Albert last night in a game that ended after deadline and then has the two games against Brandon.

They are three points up on the eighth-place Red Deer Rebels and four points ahead of the ninth-place Moose Jaw Warriors, so they are close to clinching their first playoff berth in three seasons.

“Regina is looking like a playoff team but again they haven’t got that X beside their name yet,” Murray said. “They’re going to be hungry. It’s kind of a playoff mindset for everybody this time of year.”

Murray may want to bubblewrap his players this week, because other than the guys who are out for the season — forwards Carter Klippenstein and Easton Odut and defenceman Merrek Arpin — everyone is back. Defenceman Dylan Ronald and goalie Jayden Kraus most likely won’t see action until the weekend, although Kraus will likely serve as backup tonight.

That will make them, by Brandon standards this season, remarkably healthy for the first time in recent memory.

“It’s nice to have a full lineup now,” Hadland said. “Guys aren’t as drained during games anymore. It’s nice to have a lot of the boys back and things should be good going into playoffs.”

Incredibly, Brandon will actually have four scratches every night because they have called up a pair of their top prospects, defenceman Cruz Jim and forward Ahmad Fayad.

“It feels awesome,” Fayad said after practice on Monday. “We get to come back to the facilities in the place that picked me.”

Jim agreed.

“It’s pretty cool,” Jim said. “It’s good to see all the guys. I was here at the start of the year so I’ll get to know them a bit better here. It’s good to be back.”

Fayad, Jim and Levi Ellingsen played together in their 15-year-old seasons on the under-18 Northern Alberta Xtreme prep squad that fell 6-3 in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League final to Rink Hockey Academy Kelowna. Jim had an assist in the game.

“We had a really good year and a good run in the playoffs where everybody was coming together,” Jim said. “We fell a bit short in the finals but nonetheless, it was a really good experience to grow from and a lot of guys took big steps.”

The five-foot-nine, 160-pound defenceman had four goals and 21 assists in 26 games during the regular season, and six points in six playoff games, including a pair of game-winning goals.

Fayad, meanwhile, had 10 goals, 24 assists and 54 penalty minutes in 25 regular season games, and seven points in six playoff games.

“It’s great to have them here,” Hadland said. “If they get into games, that’s great, but if they don’t, just being there for the experience is pretty sweet.”

“We’ve seen them a couple of times through the year but it’s making sure they feel comfortable around the room so they can be themselves and play the way they play on the ice,” Hadland added. “We’re making sure they’re having fun.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com