WHL NOTEBOOK: Near visits WHL’s challenges, victories

Western Hockey League commissioner Dan Near was in Brandon on Saturday to announce the next WHL prospects game will be held at Assiniboine Credit Union Place in February 2027.

After a press conference, Near, who took over the top job on Feb. 15, 2024, after Ron Robison retired, sat down for a wide-ranging, 20-minute interview in the Brandon Wheat Kings board room.

Here are the seven things that were discussed.

BUS DRIVERS

Medicine Hat Tigers bus driver Donald Bihun suffered a medical emergency while the team was on the ice in Brandon on March 4 and later died. The Tigers honoured him prior to their home game two nights later.

Near called the drivers “contributors” who are among the many staff and volunteers around the league who become a meaningful part of the player experience.

“In a lot of cases, the folks driving the bus are with the team more than their parents,” Near said. “They spend a lot of time and you log a lot of hours in the Western Hockey League, so the notion a bus driver who you grow close with who is responsible as part of the duty of care that the (WHL) has to its players and staff experience a tragedy and emergency like that, it hits all of us.”

He called it a tragedy, in part because of the nature of Behun’s passing.

“You don’t see it coming and you don’t expect it,” Near said. “We have deep sadness and sorrow and send our condolences to the gentleman’s family and next of kin.”

TEAM CO-OPERATION

Wheat Kings vice president of business operations Mike Filipchuk headed up a multi-pronged effort to help the Tigers that night that included staff from the team and Keystone Centre, and even former Wheat Kings coach David Anning, who now owns and operates Brandon-based Compass Coach Lines with his wife Jenn.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” Near said of the response. “I do find it satisfying, rewarding and endorses the values and spirit of how we operate where we’re competitors on the ice, but off the ice, we’re strong allies.

“Our clubs and everybody involved with our league understands what the people around them are going through and understands what it’s like to be away.”

He noted clubs take limited staffs on the road, so everyone needs the help of home teams to make it work. But he said this situation isn’t in anybody’s training manual.

“This was just people being good people and living and representing the values of everyone in the (WHL),” Near said. “When someone needs help, that’s the most important thing and Mike and (owner) Jared (Jacobson) and everyone else with the Wheat Kings who did everything they could to ease the pain the Tigers and the extended Tigers family experienced that evening, I’m grateful for.”

TOP PROSPECTS

The inaugural WHL prospects game, which had 44 players from around the league, including Brandon defenceman Gio Pantelas, was hosted by the Vancouver Giants at the Langley Events Centre on Feb. 18, 2026, with Team East beating Team West 5-4 in overtime.

Near said the game came together quickly, and the WHL wanted to give the 2027 host more time to work with for planning and ticket sales.

“To plan it successfully and give the host team the best chance of involving sponsors, fans, media, we have to start much earlier,” Near said. “When we saw the first one was going to be successful, we swung into action and began to have conversations about what we were going to do next year.”

They consulted with Central Scouting director Dan Marr about how they could modernize the game and also to pick the location. By that time, Brandon had already expressed interest and was top of mind for the Canadian Hockey League after it unsuccessfully bid for the 2026 Memorial Cup that is heading to Kelowna in May.

“We know not only what the team and the community but also the province thinks about hosting major hockey events,” Near said. “Jason Roblin is the chair of the host committee and he came out to Langley and met with our team and surveyed things and made commitments about what we thought would be important to be successful a year ahead.

“We quickly gained confidence this would be a home run in Brandon.”

CHILLIWACK

Exactly one year ago, expansion franchises were granted by the board of governors to the Penticton Vees and to the city of Chilliwack, with a process put in place to find the right owner for the latter.

The Vees have been a tremendous success in their first year since switching over from the BCHL, while Chilliwack was originally scheduled to begin play in the 2026-27 season.

For the past few months, the league has been in exclusive negotiation with a bidder in Chilliwack who was selected as franchisee and have adjusted the timeline for the new team.

“There’s a big, big difference between transplanting the Penticton Vees from one league to another with an established name, logo, general manager, fanbase, sponsors, and starting from scratch, which is what we’re doing,” Near said. “We’re building from the ground up, so we pushed it a year. The fall of ‘27 is the target start date for Chilliwack.”

The exclusive bidder is in negotiations with the City of Chilliwack for the use of the rink, and once that’s settled, the league will announce who they are and start the wheels in motion for the expansion process and selling tickets.

NCAA RULES

When major junior players were granted college eligibility in November 2024, the CHL suddenly had an utterly intractable problem on its hands. Between name, image, and likeness (NIL) payouts and the siren song of a new path, players began to leave on their timelines instead of the league’s.

He said the league talks about it every day, but he stands by the initial phrasing they used when the announcement was made.

“It resolves the difficult tension that hockey players and their families had to deal with around making a career decision at 15 years old around do I play major junior hockey or do I take an alternative path that maintains NCAA eligibility,” Near said. “I think there has been a variety of experiences and conversations and relationship building and even observation as far as what’s happened in the last year.

“I will probably continue to develop and evolve my thinking and the thinking of those around the league as far as where it goes and the implications.

“What I would say now is I think NCAA eligibility is outstanding. The idea that when you complete your tenure in the (WHL), whenever that is, if you’re not ready to be a professional hockey player and you would like to include college hockey in your journey, that’s great.”

He said the battle is now over where the best place to be is at 18 or 19. Near said that’s not for the league to determine, adding the WHL is trying to impress on youngsters how much they offer.

“There is an epidemic in sports, not just in hockey, around racing to the next thing and always trying to get one level past where you’re at and doing it faster than everybody else,” Near said. “There is a lot of research and work that been done with our league and my peers in the other major junior leagues about the calibre of players and the longevity of players who spend their 19-year-old year in the Canadian Hockey League.

“I believe there are nine captains in the NHL right now who played in the Western Hockey League.

“Players who are making these decisions have a pickle. I might be a good enough hockey player to move up a level, but what’s the value and merit of being in this league in a year when I would be responsible for the team?” He said every situation is unique, and until there is a larger data set, it will hard to figure what the better path is.

“We’re trying to be nimble and not be overly emotional or reactive to some of the things that might be unexpected,” Near said. “The idea that NIL money is now a consideration is another one of those things that influences the decision-making: If I could wave a magic wand and change one thing, it would be that a player makes a decision that is best for his development personally and for his family, and there wouldn’t be any kind of inducement that pulls you off the track that is best for you to get to the next level.”

He said the NIL is ultimately small potatoes compared to earning a second NHL contract and the league does a good job of preparing players for pro hockey.

GM FRUSTRATION

Brandon lost three players to college hockey over the summer, defenceman and team captain Quinn Mantei and forwards Roger McQueen and Matteo Michels.

The hardest-hit team may have been the Victoria Royals, who lost their potential top five high-end players — forwards Cole Reschny and former Wheat King Teydon Trembecky, along with defencemen Keaton Verhoeff, Justin Kipkie and Nate Misskey — and went from a potential title contender to missing the playoffs by two points.

In the past, a CHL general manager had a pretty good idea of what his club would look like in three years. Now they essentially have no idea who will be back next fall, and there has been a lot of frustration with the change.

Near said every league develops its playbook and series of best practices that distinguish their program, and that takes some self-reflection.

“I think everyone is going to have to look in the mirror and say, ‘Well, if I’m losing someone, why did I lose them? Should I be doing something better or different to give them a better experience? What could I invest in around my facilities, around my player experience, around my player development that would make me the best place for that player to play?’” Near said. “The second part of it for me is as I’m building my depth chart and looking a few years out, I have to be conscious and aware of the risks of uncertainty and volatility. There is not certainty anymore.

“I think that’s going to require better communication and open conversation. The more players can come to their WHL club and be open and transparent with their coach and GM about how they’re feeling about what they see a year from now, the more it’s going to help address any challenges or concerns that might suggest a player wants to be somewhere else.

“Secondly, if it becomes apparent they want to move on, it allows a GM to prepare.”

ECONOMICS

If you’ve filled the gas tank or a grocery cart lately, you know how much things cost and how quickly prices are rising. Now imagine you’re taking two dozen hungry teenagers out on the road in a bus and staying in hotels for dozens of nights.

Major junior hockey has never been a cash cow, and the thin margins are getting tighter and tighter. On top of that, there is a finite amount that ticket prices can rise for what’s a perishable commodity. Like an over-ripe banana, after that night’s game, there is no more revenue to be made from that event.

“The economic conditions and uncertainty are very difficult,” Near said. “It’s not unique to one industry, it’s not unique to one region or even type of centre. A small centre and Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton are all being hit. It might be real estate in one place, it might be fuel prices in another.

“If you look at rising costs and what it costs to feed teams on the road, the bus fuel costs, what hotel rates are, it is only becoming more expensive to operate a team.

“I think that induces anxiety. If you own a junior team to make money, it probably ought not to be the WHL. It’s a hard league to operate in, but at the same time, we do have a committed group that believes over time we’re going to be able to anticipate and generate some additional revenue streams and we’re looking at all the time. A big part of that is increasing consumption of our sport, whether that’s on social media, whether it’s on our digital products, whether it’s on Victory+.”

He said getting more people watching and engaging is key. As an example, that might be inducing fans of NHL teams who have prospects playing in the WHL to keep an eye on their player on Victory+.

At the local level, he said teams do count on ticket sales and local support from the business community.

“We owe them value, we owe them entertainment, we owe them competitive teams on the ice,” Near said. “Our teams are committed to that.”

He added that hits on an age-old question in the WHL about whether it’s better to ice a competitive team every year or to throw all your chips in at the table every few years and be willing to ride tremendous boom-and-bust cycles.

“Everybody in the league has a different philosophy or perspective about that,” Near said. “I think more and more, there will be a mindset around ‘I need to do what keeps fans in the building on a regular basis, which keeps my community engaged.’ “One of the things that’s working in our favour is that when everything is getting more expensive, going to a junior hockey game in the Western Hockey League is one of the highest value propositions out there.”

THIS AND THAT

• QUIZ — Brandon had 20 wins on the road and 20 wins at home this season. Here’s a simple over-under question? Has Brandon managed that feat more than five times in the Internet era? Here’s the bonus question: Have the Wheat Kings ever won 20 games on the road and not at home?

• WEEKLY AWARDS — The goaltender of the week is 19-year-old Penticton Vees netminder Ethan McCallum of Brandon, who won both his starts while posting a 0.50 goals-against average and .977 save percentage.

The player of the week is 19-year-old Seattle Thunderbirds forward Cameron Schmidt of Prince George, B.C., who scored six times in three games last week and became the only player in the league to hit the 50-goal mark. He is a Dallas Stars prospect.

The rookie of the week is 18-year-old Red Deer Rebels forward Poul Andersen of St. Louis Park, Minn., who had four goals and three assists in three games.

• SIN BIN — Kelowna Rockets captain Carson Wetsch was suspended for one game for a kneeing major and game misconduct versus Penticton on Saturday … Vancouver Giants overage forward Misha Volotovskii was suspended for an interference major and game misconduct at Kamloops on Friday … Medicine Hat was fined $250 for a warm-up violation at Red Deer on Friday, and Seattle was dinged $250 for a similar offence on Sunday in Spokane.

• ALUMNI GLANCE — Zach Wytinck of Glenboro, who is somehow 27 years old, graduated from the University of Calgary after five seasons last spring and headed over to IF Troja-Ljungby of HockeyAllsvenskan, which is the second-highest league in Sweden.

In 47 games in his rookie pro season, he had three goals and 13 assists, and added three points in five games in the playoffs.

He played with the Brandon Wheat Kings from 2016 to 2019 after being acquired from the Red Deer Rebels, and finished his Western Hockey League career with the Regina Pats, suiting up for a combined total of 221 regular season WHL games and posting 114 points.

• THE WEEK AHEAD — The playoffs are finally about to begin with a 2-3-2 layout that will reduce travel if the series stretches out. They are scheduled to play in Calgary on Friday and Sunday, in Virden the following Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and then in Calgary on Sunday and Tuesday.

• ANSWER — Brandon has had six 20-20 seasons.

— 2015-16: home 25-8-1-2: road 23-10-3-0.

— 2014-15: home 27-3-4-2: road 26-8-0-2.

— 2009-10: home 28-6-0-2: road 22-12-1-1.

— 2008-09: home 23-10-2-1: road 25-9-1-1.

— 2002-03: home 21-10-2-3: road 22-7-7-0.

— 1996-97: home 26-7-2-0: road 21-13-0-2.

Brandon has won 20 or more games on the road seven times in the Internet era. The only time they did it without winning at 20 home was in 2011-12 when they were 19-12-1-4 at home and 20-16-0-0 on the road.