Hunter looks to make strong impression

Final auditions begin for the Brandon Wheat Kings tonight as they face the Moose Jaw Warriors at Assiniboine Credit Union Place, and Cole Hunter is ready for the spotlight.

The Western Hockey League clubs play again on Saturday at Temple Gardens Centre, with the Wheat Kings likely to make a handful of cuts after as they get closer to their regular season roster. Hunter, an 18-year-old forward from Oakburn, knows what’s at stake this weekend and what the team is looking for.

“I have to play hard and make the right decisions,” Hunter said. “The less mistakes the better you’re going to do. I was told by (Wheat Kings director of hockey operations) Chris Moulton that I have to bury my chances. I can create the chances, I just need to start putting them in the back of the net. In that first game I think I had six shots and one goal but two or three would have been quite a bit different of a night.”

The Wheat Kings open the regular season against the Saskatoon Blades on Friday, Sept. 18.

Brandon still has 21 forwards, but six of them will be unavailable on the weekend. Brady Turko and Joby Baumuller are away at National Hockey League camps, and Gunnar Gleasman, Jimmy Egan, Prabh Bhathal and Carson Ralph are all battling injuries.

Also, promising 16-year-old rookie forward Cameron Coulter, who was one of Brandon’s best players in its pre-season opening loss, has returned home to join the PEL North Stars for their prep season.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said with jobs up for grabs, players will have to rise to the occasion. Last weekend, the Wheat Kings lost to the Regina Pats 6-3 on Friday and 6-4 on Saturday in Ochapowace, Sask.

“It’s the last dress rehearsal,” Murray said. “We’re down to two games and we’re looking for guys who are trying to come out and win a hockey game and a job. For us, we took some steps on Saturday and now we have to pick where we left off and be even better.

“Going into this weekend, more than likely Moose Jaw will have an experienced lineup and we have to be ready to go.”

Hunter spent three years in the Yellowhead Chiefs program with the under-15 and U18 programs. He had 77 points in 65 regular season games over two U15 seasons, and the Spokane Chiefs drafted him in the seventh round, 134th overall, in 2023.

“It was a pretty important,” Hunter said of the Chiefs. “Craig Geekie played here in Brandon and he is a very good role model. He wasn’t exactly a coach but he was a mentor to our coaches and was very helpful. In U15, I had lots of opportunity playing lots of minutes a night, good coaches and good culture.

“It’s a great place for development. It teaches you to work hard. At every level, if you’re not the most skilled, they want to see you work hard.”

After one season in U18 that saw him post 36 points in 44 games, Hunter made the jump to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Waywayseecappo Wolverines for his 16-year-old campaign in 2024-25.

He had nine goals, 19 assists and four penalty minutes in 53 games as a rookie, and boosted those totals to 14 goals, 26 assists and 16 penalty minutes in 58 games last season. In addition, he has eight points in 14 playoff games over two post-seasons.

“That first season, it’s a big step up from U18,” Hunter said. “Guys are bigger, guys are stronger, there can be up to eight or nine 20 year olds on a roster, and those guys have junior experience. Some guys have come back from the Western Hockey League and play their last year of junior in the MJHL.

“It develops you. Your time and space is a little less and physicality is more. Another thing that prepares you and develops you is your schedule. You’re always on the ice.”

He noted in Wayway they essentially had the ice all day and could skate as long as they liked, and he also appreciated the help from coaches.

Hunter is committed to Northern Michigan University for the 2027-28 season, a story that also involves former Brandonite Dave Shyiak, his son Sheldon and the Dauphin Kings.

Hunter was in his rookie season in Wayway, playing Sheldon Shyiak and the Kings with Dave in the stands watching. Hunter had a good game and Dave, who is the head coach at Northern Michigan, met him after to speak with the youngster.

Shyiak asked him directly if he knew much about college hockey, and Hunter had to admit he didn’t.

“I had no idea,” Hunter said. “When you’re 14, 15, you want to go play Western Hockey League. That’s what every kid dreams of. You don’t really want the long path but if things don’t work out like you hope for, which is all the time because you rarely get everything you want, so we talked then and he gave me his card.”

The teams happened to match up again in the quarterfinals of the playoffs, a series Dauphin won in five games. But Hunter had two goals and two assists, and Shyiak called him again in June 2025 and offered him a full-ride scholarship, while also suggesting he take some time to think about it.

Hunter reached out to Owen Murray of nearby Decker to discuss the defenceman’s experience at the University of Massachusetts, and Murray told him it was a good path that wasn’t written in stone: A player can change their mind.

Hunter committed but still attended his third camp in Spokane that fall.

“The original plan was for me to play in Spokane when I was 17,” Hunter said. “I went to camp when I was 17 — and I honestly thought I had a pretty good camp there — but I didn’t stay around for pre-season. They sent me home and maybe a month or two later they said ‘Hey, you’re not in our plans with your commitment. We know there’s a new rule but there’s not really any value for us to take you,’ so they dropped me.

“Here in Brandon, I didn’t get listed or anything, it was just a camp invite, and I’ve been having fun and working hard and trying to make a team.”

He’s certainly made a good impression with the Wheat Kings staff. Hunter has always been a cerebral player but he’s also known for his relentless motor.

“His work ethic is evident every day,” Murray said. “He’s a guy who shows he wants to be here, right from day one at training camp, his work ethic, his details. He’s shown that he’s very versatile, can play wing or centre, and can play up and down the lineup.

“He can kill penalties, he can provide some offence. He’s one of those guys who is low maintenance as far as the coach goes, and he’s been strong throughout.”

Hunter smiled when asked to provide a scouting report on his game.

“I would say Cole Hunter is a 200-foot player who is going to work hard, who is going to get the puck first,” he said with a chuckle. “He’s a playmaker, he can shoot when he has to, coachable, can play in the D-zone, can play in the O-zone, can win faceoffs, can kill penalties, power play.”

Hunter acknowledges that he likes being referenced to as a Swiss Army knife type of player.

“I’ve been called that quite a bit,” Hunter said. “It’s great, not only for minutes played but you’re versatile. You’re a Swiss Army knife, you can be used on the penalty kill, you can be used on the power play, you can be trusted in all types of situations anywhere on the ice. It’s nice to have in your back pocket: I’m pretty proud of it.

“Obviously it doesn’t stop here. You have to keep working hard, keep showing that you’re a Swiss Army knife.”

During the summer, Hunter also attended a camp with Murray’s former team, the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede, but admitted he was drawn by the opportunity to play with the WHL team he grew up watching. The fact that he can live with his brother very close to the rink makes it that much more special.

Now he just needs another good weekend to earn that WHL contract.

“It would be so cool,” Hunter said. “All my friends and family come out to the games. In that first pre-season game, I think I had a whole section of my own fans there so it was pretty cool to score one … Brandon is not too far from home so if my parents have to drive an hour to watch a game, they definitely will. There’s nothing to say except that it’s pretty special.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com