Wheat Kings, Wild set to renew rivalry

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This article was published 07/04/2022 (1435 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the last two Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League championship series had been a battle between the Brandon Wheat Kings and the Winnipeg Wild.

In 2018, the Wild swept the Wheat Kings in three games to win their third straight title, but Brandon would end Winnipeg’s reign the following spring in a matchup that lasted four games.

The two clubs will square off again for a league title starting tonight as they open up their best-of-five encounter at 7:30 p.m. at the J&G Homes Arena.

“We’ve certainly had some close games with them in the regular season and we anticipate that to be the case again here in the final,” Wild head coach Paul Krueger said.

“Both teams are very similar in how they play,” Wheat Kings head coach Curtis Brolund added. “We both have great speed, great goaltending and good defence. It should be an exciting and physical series.”

The top sides in the provincial U18 AAA circuit first squared off in a home-and-home series on Nov. 12 and 13, with Brandon winning a 4-3 overtime encounter at the Bell MTS Iceplex and the Wild prevailing by the same score in an extra frame at the Sportsplex.

The Wheat Kings cruised to a 7-3 win in Winnipeg on Feb. 19 and doubled up the Wild 4-2 on Feb. 24 at the J&G Homes Arena to clinch the top overall seed in the playoffs.

“We can take a little bit from those games when we look at the video, but I think we know that it’s going to take double the effort in order to win here in the final,” Brolund said. “Everything gets ramped up at this time of the year, no matter where you are in the standings.”

“I think the fact that we both played each other before the playoffs is probably going to be really helpful,” Krueger said. “There’s going to be some different things that we’ll hone in with Brandon when we face them now but our overall game plan is no different than what it has been in the first two rounds.”

Both sides enter the final with perfect 6-0 records in the post-season.

The Wheat Kings got this far by sweeping the eighth-ranked Southwest Cougars and followed that up by dispatching the fifth-seeded Parkland Rangers in three games.

“The length of those series aren’t a real indication of how hard both of those series were,” Brolund said. “Southwest made things very difficult for us with great goaltending (from Owen LaRocque) and strong defensive structure, while Parkland had a lot of energy and jump in their game, especially from their players that have a lot of speed.

“I thought we managed the challenges from the Cougars and Rangers really well. We had to grind things out to get goals against Southwest and our defence did a great job of shutting down Parkland’s offence.”

Meanwhile, the second-seeded Wild reached the championship series by dispatching the seventh-ranked Winnipeg Thrashers in three games and followed that up by sweeping an Eastman Selects side that trailed them by just two points in the regular season standings.

“We definitely had a game plan when we went into that series with the Thrashers and we executed that for the most part,” Krueger said.

“Eastman was a team that we had trouble with all year and quite frankly, we had to play a certain way against them in order to be successful. The guys bought into that, but that series was definitely a battle. It could have easily gone four or five games.”

The Wild’s top line has done most of the damage offensively in the playoffs with Neepawa Titans draft pick Noah Dziver, Melfort Mustangs prospect Logan Belton and Swan Valley Stampeders prospect Keefe Gruener combing for 38 points through six games.

“All three guys are capable of scoring goals but they also play so well together,” Krueger said.

“They are one of those lines that complement each other’s skill sets and that’s why they’ve been so successful all year long.”

Brooks Bandits prospect Braden Keeble and Swift Current Broncos first round pick Clarke Caswell have paced the Wheat Kings on offence in the playoffs with 15 and 12 points respectively.

However, it’s their depth that’s been impressive in the first two rounds with only three full-time skaters — excluding the injured Keenan Skrupa — yet to record a point.

“The guys are buying into their roles right now and they are willing to get the job done and do whatever it takes to help the team succeed,” Brolund said.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s helping out on offence or making a big play on defence. They want to get the win however they can.”

In goal, Mason Lobreau has compiled a 1.32 goals against average and a .953 save percentage for the Wheat Kings, while Andrew Ness has a 2.33 goals against average and a .938 save percentage for the Wild.

“We went back and forth all year with Mason and KC (Couckuyt) before giving the nod to Mason towards the end of the regular season and he’s really been taken the ball and ran with it,” Brolund said. “He got into a groove right away and he’s been able to step up and make those big saves when we’ve needed him too.”

“When Andrew first joined our team (in 2019-20) he learned a lot from our starter (and current Dauphin Kings netminder) Carson Cherepak,” Krueger said. “He’s really come into his own and taken on everything over the last three years. The growth in his game from his rookie season to now has been very impressive.”

Following Friday’s series opener, the two sides will travel to Winnipeg for Game 2 at 5 p.m. Sunday.

Game 3 will be held at the J&G Homes Arena at 7:30 p.m. on Good Friday, with a fourth game — if needed — taking place at 6:30 p.m. on Easter Sunday at the Bell MTS Iceplex.

If necessary, a fifth and deciding contest would be hosted by the Wheat Kings on Saturday, April 23 at 7:30 p.m.

The winner of the league title will go on to represent Manitoba at the Telus Cup Western Regional Championship, which will be run from April 28 to May 1 in Virden and is being hosted by the Cougars.

Up for grabs is a spot at the Telus Cup, which takes place from May 9 to 15 at a yet-to-be announced location in Alberta.

ICINGS: The other two spots in the Telus Cup Western Regional will be up for grabs over the next two weeks. In Saskatchewan, the Notre Dame Hounds and Warman Wildcats will square off in the league final, with Game 1 taking place on Monday night. The best-of-three Hockey Northwestern Ontario regional championship between the Thunder Bay Kings and Kenora Thistles will take place over the Easter weekend.

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