BWK CAMP: Huge Wheat Kings camp begins Thursday

If the Brandon Wheat Kings have a giant “help wanted” sign posted outside the Keystone Centre, they’re about to get 85 applicants.

The Western Hockey League club’s training camp opens Thursday with the largest group in recent memory. With all those players available, the team is introducing a four-team tournament format this year, with the winner earning the Mark Johnston Cup, which is named after their late longtime scout.

The teams are named after Logan Thompson (in gray uniforms), Ryan Pulock (green), Laurie Boschman (yellow) and Ray Ferraro (black).

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said the changing hockey landscape has meant teams around the league are doing things differently.

“There are a lot of good players now,” Murray said. “With the NCAA opening up, you can maybe get kids from Canadian Junior A teams that wouldn’t have been there in the past and we’re continuing to see more Americans than we ever have at camp. You add those two components and you’re probably getting 10 to 15 extra kids. That’s why we’re at the number we are.

“Some teams are going to have six teams in camp, which is probably an avenue many teams haven’t been down before but it’s just the nature of the beast now.”

The event will include 2006-born players, who are in their overage seasons, 2007-born players (19-year-old seasons), 2008-born players (18-year-old seasons), 2009-born players (17-year-old seasons), 2010-born players (16-year-old seasons) and 2011-born prospects (15-year-old seasons).

Last year, the team invited eight goalies, 27 defenceman and 42 forwards.

This year, 50 forwards, 27 defencemen and eight goalies are expected at camp. They will practise on Thursday evening, and then begin the two-day tournament. The prospects game takes place at Assiniboine Credit Union Place on Sunday morning at 10:30, with the annual Black and Gold game on Sunday evening at 6:30 at J&G Homes Arena.

“You obviously want to keep camp competitive and not water it down,” Murray said. “In saying that, we’re excited about the talent base coming here.”

Happily for Murray, he hasn’t had any late defections like last August when Roger McQueen and Matteo Michels both left for college.

“There have been no surprises,” Murray said. “Everyone we expected back a month ago will be here.”

That doesn’t include their top defenceman, Gio Pantelas, who asked for a trade and was sent to the Penticton Vees on July 15. They also lost a high-end group of potential overagers to the NCAA.

Last season, the team started slowly but rebounded to finish fifth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 40-26-2-0. They were subsequently swept by the Calgary Hitmen in the conference quarterfinals.

In the 147 days since their last game, the Wheat Kings replaced assistant coaches Mark Derlago and Del Pedrick with Ryan White and Aaron Rome, and hired Kevin Jury after athletic therapist Zach Hartwick returned to Ontario.

Here’s a look at the players Brandon lost from last season, who is back, who has been added and who some of the top candidates are for jobs.

• FORWARDS

— GONE (Six): Caleb Hadland, Carter Klippenstein, Jordan Gavin (college), Luke Mistelbacher, Nick Johnson (graduation), Easton Odut (injury retirement).

— RETURNING (Nine): Joby Baumuller, Jaxon Jacobson, Brady Turko, Brett Wilson, Jimmy Egan, Chase Surkan, Prabh Bhathal, Gunnar Gleasman, Ryan Boyce.

— ADDED (One): Kristof Muissu of Russia.

— TOP CANDIDATES: Colin Grubb, Levi Ellingsen, Carson Ralph, Carson Park, Ahmad Fayad, Axel Gleasman.

• DEFENCE

— GONE (Six): Max Lavoie, Merrek Arpin (college), Grayson Burzynski (graduation), Daniil Skvortsov (released), Gio Pantelas and Dylan Ronald (trade).

— RETURNING (Two): Nigel Boehm, Cameron Allard.

— ADDED (Two): Josh McGregor from Swift Current, Ilari Kapanen of Finland.

— TOP CANDIDATES: Cruz Jim, Ethan Young, Easten Turko.

• GOAL

— GONE (One): Jayden Kraus (trade).

— RETURNING (One): Filip Ruzicka.

— ADDED (One): Ryley Budd from Saskatoon).

— TOP CANDIDATES: Urijah Moosetail, Joffrey Chan, Connor Dwyer.

The team usually carries 14 or 15 forwards, seven or eight defencemen and two goalies, although they had three netminders for a time last year.

If the veterans are able to fend off the youngsters, that suggests five or six jobs are available up front, three or four on the blue-line and none in net.

The surprises could come from the Junior A ranks. The Wheat Kings have invited nine such players and they’ll be looking to duplicate what Lavoie did last season when he jumped from the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Winkler Flyers to the Wheat Kings.

Two of those players have previous WHL experience, Brandonite Colten Worthington who played with the Virden Oil Capitals last season after skating with the Saskatoon Blades the year before, and defenceman Caleb Potter, who has skated with the Seattle Thunderbirds and Swift Current Broncos.

Other junior players attending are goalie Micky Gross (Virden, MJHL), defencemen Max Kelly (West Kelowna, BCHL), Kingston Sauter (Drayton Valley, AJHL), and forwards Hudson Landmark (Canmore, AJHL), Ryder Riedel (Olds, AJHL), Cole Hunter of Oakburn (Waywayseecappo, MJHL) and Aidan Mohan (Weyburn, SJHL).

“We’re looking forward to seeing the kids who have taken strides in the last year who potentially could be a surprise coming out of Junior A with some junior experience,” Murray said. “There aren’t many 18-year-old rookies in the Western Hockey League but now that might change a little bit.

“There are opportunities for those kids to come in and earn a role, and our young kids and our veterans too. Everybody is fighting for jobs, for opportunities, for roles, and it’s always fun to see who put in the work in summer and has an edge on their peers.”

Decades ago, players came to camp to get into shape. That, along with ashtrays in the dressing room for smokers, are long gone.

Murray stays in contact with the veterans over the summer and they do mid-summer fitness testing. He said the results were good.

“All these kids have their trainers and they have their programs that they do in the summer,” Murray said. “It’s almost like you have to ask them to take them off the ice and let your body heal, let your body rest and then kick it off. These guys pretty much go year round so I’m not worried about guys coming in out of shape or anything like that. I think our guys will come in ready to hit the ground running.”

He said it will be up to them to provide the example for intensity and doing things right at camp to the newcomers.

ICINGS: Brandon opens their four-game pre-season against the Regina Pats on Friday, Sept. 4 at home. The season opener is on Sept. 18 when the Saskatoon Blades visit. It’s just the fourth time Saskatoon has opened against Brandon since 1967-68. The last time it happened, Daniel Bartek scored twice in a 5-2 Wheat Kings victory on Sept. 21, 2007 … The Tri-City American sent 19-year-old leading scorer Savin Virk, a second-round import pick in 2027 and a conditional sixth-round pick in 2030 to the Victoria Royals on Monday for 17-year-old forward Eli McKamey, a first-round import pick in 2027 and a third-round pick in 2030.

» This is the first in a six-part series on Wheat Kings camp. In Wednesday’s edition of The Brandon Sun, it’s the defencemen and rookies, and in Thursday’s paper, it’s Brandon’s forwards and goalies.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

All events at Brandon Wheat Kings camp are at Assiniboine Credit Union Place, except for the Black and Gold game at J&G Homes Arena on Sunday evening.

THURSDAY

4 p.m. — Team Ferraro skate.

5 p.m. — Team Boschman skate.

6 p.m. — Team Pulock skate.

7 p.m. — Team Thompson skate.

FRIDAY

9:30 a.m. — Game 1: Ferraro vs. Boschman.

11:30 p.m. — Game 2: Pulock vs. Thompson.

4:30 p.m. — Game 3: Ferraro vs. Pulock.

7 p.m. — Game 4: Boschman vs. Thompson.

SATURDAY

9:30 a.m. — Game 5: Boschman vs. Pulock.

11:30 p.m. — Game 6: Ferraro vs. Thompson.

4:30 p.m. — Game 7: 3rd vs. 4th.

7 p.m. — Game 8: 1st vs. 2nd.

SUNDAY

10:30 a.m. — Prospects game, ACU Place.

6:30 p.m. — Black and Gold game, J&G Homes Arena.

 

TEAM THOMPSON (Grey)

Forwards

8. Carson Park (2009)

10. Brady Turko (2007)

13. Colton Schofield (2011)

14. Prabh Bhathal (2009)

19. Colten Worthington (2007)

20. Rylan Spicer (2009)

24. Kade Pierson (2008)

25. Austin Rideout (2011)

26. Maclain Ethier (2010)

28. Taren Anderson (2010)

29. Lachlan Kisio (2011)

34. Ryan Boyce (2008)

Defence

2. Will Katsilieris (2009)

3. Lukas Mork (2010)

5. Max Kelly (2007)

15. Jackson Froese (2010)

16. Nate Harrington (2011)

18. Easton Anderson (2011)

27. Ilari Kapanen (2007)

Goalies

1. Kasen Nuttall (2008)

30. Filip Ruzicka (2011)

TEAM PULOCK (Green)

Forwards

11. Chase Surkan (2009)

16. Ryder Riedel (2007)

18. Nash Coquet (2009)

19. Bronsyn Mouille (2009)

20. Owen Foreman (2010)

21. Jimmy Egan (2008)

22. Brett Wilson (2006)

24. Mark Munday (2010)

25. Wyatt Lowther (2011)

26. Loic Lebel (2011)

28. Benjamin Stattelman (2010)

29. Lucas Romaniuk (2009)

34. Levi Ellingsen (2010)

Defence

2. Caleb Potter (2007)

3. Logan Dosenberger (2010)

5. Cameron Allard (2008)

8. Cruz Jim (2010)

10. Cade Erhart (2010)

13. Owen Derkach (2011)

15. Neely Victor (2011)

Goalies

1. Ethan Berard (2008)

33. Urijah Moosetail (2009)

TEAM BOSCHMAN (Yellow)

Forwards

13. Colin Grubb (2009)

16. Memphis Adeniken (2009)

17. Joby Baumuller (2007)

18. Cole Hunter (2008)

19. Ahmad Fayad (2010)

20 Boston Schmidt (2008)

23. Gunnar Gleasman (2007)

24. Cameron Coulter (2010)

25. Mason Corkish (2011)

26. Ashton Kopala (2010)

28. Chasen Robson (2010)

29. Carson Fowler (2009)

34. Brody Sawatzky (2011)

Defence

2. Paxton Packulak (2009)

3. Ethan Young (2009)

8. Marko Malbasa (2011)

10. Ayven Hontvet (2010)

12. Nigel Boehm (2008)

15. Lucas Siedel (2011)

Goalies

1. Micky Gross (2007)

33. Connor Dwyer (2009)

TEAM FERRARO (Black)

Forwards

9. Jaxon Jacobson (2008)

13. Kris Muissu (2006)

16. Hudson Landmark (2007)

18. Aidan Mohan (2008)

19. Axel Gleasman (2009)

20. Carson Ralph (2009)

24. Mason Chubey (2009)

25. Dylan Prettie (2009)

26. Rylan Edwards (2011)

28. Brayden Watt (2010)

29. Grady Hodgins (2008)

34. Zachary Leffler (2011)

Defence

2. Josh McGregor (2007)

3. Easten Turko (2009)

5. Bryson Calder (2011)

8. Liam Green (2010)

10. Kingston Sauter (2009)

15. Oakley Reed (2011)

27. Logan Olsen (2010)

Goalies

1. Joffrey Chan (2010)

33. Riley Budd (2008)