Wolverines aim to build chemistry with new group

Waywawyseecappo Wolverines head coach and general manager Landyn Cochrane wants to have his team ready for the 2026-27 season, and he knows that bonding as a group is one of the most important things for a fast start.

The Wolverines ended their 2025-26 Manitoba Junior Hockey League campaign with a 29-24-3-2 record to finish third in the West Division. They were a balanced team having scored 196 goals while allowing 186 for a positive balance of 10.

In the first round of the post-season, the Wolverines upset the Dauphin Kings in major fashion, sweeping the series to move on to the semifinals.

Wawayseecappo relied on tight defense, allowing on average, just under two goals per game during their opening series.

In the second round, the Wolverines met the Niverville Nighthawks and fell in a five-game series that looked very tight in the opening couple games. Waywayseecappo held Niverville, the highest-scoring offence in the league, to just two goals in Game 1, losing 2-1.

In Game 2, the Wolverines came up with a 3-1 win. From there, Niverville gave the Wolverines a dose of their own medicine, allowing just two goals while taking the final three games of the series. With that, the Wolverines season came to an end, and the rebuild for 2026-27 began.

So far in pre-season, the Wolverines look strong, winning four of their six games while going 3-1 against MJHL competition.

“Camp was awesome this year,” said Cochrane. “The pace was the best I’ve seen in three years … whether it was a 2010 making their name, or one of our returners pushing the pace and playing like it was a regular season.”

As camp went on, Cochrane and his staff focused on making sure the team came together on and off the ice.

He feels that the time spent together away from the rink is one of the things that helps any team to bond and unite behind a common cause.

“Getting these guys to be a family is what we’ve been working on here, and I think we’ve been doing an excellent job of that so far,” said Cochrane.

FORWARDS

Last year’s Wolverines group featured seven 2005-born players, and five of them ended the season as top-five scorers on the team. This isn’t an abnormal situation in a league like the MJHL, where veterans tend to lead the way in terms of playing time and points.

Sebastien Hicks led the team in goals (33) and points (77), finishing third overall in league scoring. Nor far behind him was Ben Roulette who finished sixth in league scoring with 70 points.

Those two, along with Aidan Herring, graduated at the end of the season, leaving a massive void in terms of scoring on this year’s team.

Cole Hunter did extremely well at Wheat Kings camp where it looks like he won himself a spot on the roster. With him gone, four of the top-five scorers for Waywayseecappo will not return for this upcoming season.

The list of returners includes: 2006-born forwards Dylan Duzan, Treycen Wuttunee, Max Collyer of Onanole, as well as 2007-born forwards Blake Farthing, Mikey Thomas, Henry Thunderblanket and Noah Oughton.

“They want to be here, and they want to win a championship,” said Cochrane about his returnees. “They’ve been doing all the right things off the ice to get themselves ready whether it’s in the gym doing mobility or workout or pushing the pace on the ice.”

They added 2008-born forwards Ryden Duchon and Carter Haney during the off-season to augment this group.

The Regina Pats selected Haney with a sixth-round pick in the WHL Prospects Draft, and he went on to scored 33 points in 53 games with the Selkirk Steelers last year. He will be an excellent addition that can bring scoring to this year’s group.

The Swift Current Broncos drafted Duchon in the 10^th round of the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft. He played 42 games for the Winnipeg Blues last season, amassing 15 points in the process.

Thomas and Duzan led the way during pre-season action with four points apiece and Duchon has been solid with three points in five games.

A few interesting newcomers up from are 2008-born forwards Liam Flett and Carter Polanski.

Flett scored two goals and an assist in four pre-season games. He played for the Winnipeg Thrashers U18 AAA team last year and scored 29 points in 45 games with the club.

Polanski, a fellow Thrasher, was third in scoring on the team with 54 points and an impressive 23 goals.

There are a lot of questions about this forward group. While they have good returnees and some interesting newcomers, it remains to be seen whether they can fill the scoring that left. For Cochrane he wants them to start with effort.

“Our work ethic is going to be our strong point,” said Cochrane. “We’re going to have 12 forwards that can play up and down the ice. We’re going to be scoring from committee.”

DEFENCE

Kurt Rookes of Manson and Ryley Cyca led the defence when it came to scoring. Rookes had 57 points in 57 games finishing the season as a top-five scorer on the team.

The two 2005-born blue-liners and Dylan Herbert graduated at the end of the year, leaving behind a group comprised of 2007- and 2008-born defenders to take their place.

Disappointingly, only Isaac Catcheway and Adam Chipelski are back.

The Wolverines added six-foot-seven Tavon McCorrister who returned to the MJHL after two years away. He most recently suited up for 38 games with the Amarillo Wranglers in the North American Hockey League.

While a lot of the names are new, Cochrane has a lot of confidence in this group.

“Our back end will be one thing that stands out,” said Cochrane. “In my two years as head coach and GM, this will be our best defensive corps … so we’re very excited.”

A new name that everyone should know is Max Dawson. The 2009-born defender from Thompson played in Brandon last season with the U18 Wheat Kings. In preseason he performed incredibly well, scoring one goal and three assists in four games.

“He’s a smooth skating, two-way defenceman,” said Cochrane about Dawson. “He can get up in the rush and kind of be that trailer.”

With four solid names the Wovlerines will have a good base to build from on defence. As time goes on and the group adjusts to the pace of the MJHL they will likely be solid.

If the team is going to score by committee, then this group needs to be a standout. Time will tell whether Cochrane’s predictions of their strength will come to fruition.

GOALIES

Last year, the Wolverines split the net between 2005-born Jase Wareham of Rivers and 2006-born Mariko Bercier. It was a true 1A/1B situation with Bercier finishing the year with slightly better numbers overall.

It looks like Bercier will take the lead role this season with Wareham graduating. The question will be who will take up the backup position.

Urijah Moosetail of Brandon — a 2024 fourth-round pick of the Brandon Wheat Kings — will play backup for the season in a move that shouldn’t surprise anyone.

Moosetail looked good at Wheat Kings camp, and he had immaculate numbers (a .927 save percentage and a 1.95 goals-against average) with the U18 AAA Wheat Kings last year.

As the backup with Waywayseecappo, he will have the opportunity to face junior-calibre shots in a sheltered role while he adjusts to the level of play. He has a very high ceiling when it comes to his skill level, so it will be interesting to see how he develops during the year.

The Wolverines open the season with a home-and-home against the Virden Oil Capitals, in Wayway on Friday and Virden on Saturday. The team will look to get off to a hot start against a divisional opponent in the opening two games.

“Right now, we are focusing on having a good start,” said Cochrane. “We’ve already talked about our goals, our final goal is getting to the playoffs … Last year we were a little inconsistent to start the year, so our goal is be consistent in practice and have a consistent start.”

» rmccarthy@brandonsun.com