Wheat Kings acquire fleet right winger

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This article was published 11/10/2017 (3099 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon Wheat Kings added what they hope will be some offensive spark when they acquired speedy overage forward Evan Weinger from the Portland Winterhawks on Tuesday.

The Wheat Kings sent a third-round pick in the 2018 Western Hockey League draft back for the six-foot, 195-pound Weinger, who has 37 goals and 52 assists in 187 career regular season games. He had 20 goals and 18 assists in 62 games last season but was caught up in the numbers game in Portland as the Winterhawks elected to keep overager forward Alex Overhardt, defenceman Keoni Texeira and goalie Cole Kehler of Altona.

As a result, he’s only dressed once this season.

“Sitting out a couple of games really didn’t sit well with me,” Weinger said after being picked up at Winnipeg International Airport on Tuesday afternoon by new teammate James Shearer. “I like to play. I’m competitive so I’m excited to come back.”

Weinger’s acquisition now puts Brandon at four overagers, with goalie Logan Thompson, defenceman Kade Jensen and the injured Shearer, also a rearguard, on the roster.

Once Shearer returns to the lineup, the Wheat Kings will have a week to make their final decision on which three overagers they will retain to meet the league maximum.

“I just love his offensive capabilities,” general manager Grant Armstrong said of Weinger. “I think he’s going to be a great addition to our top group. He’ll give us outside speed, he consistently plays a strong 200-foot game with good habits. I think that’s something we need with our group, just to continuously make us an every-day, good quality team.”

He played in Brandon last winter — a 7-6 Portland victory in a game exactly one year ago today that featured 18 power plays for the two teams — but he missed the trip in his rookie season as a 17-year-old due to injury.

Weinger, a product of El Segundo, Calif., found out about the deal on Sunday evening.

“I was a little shocked to be honest,” Weinger said. “I didn’t know what to feel. I’ve never lived in Canada, especially over here or been in this cold of weather being from southern California. It should be a little interesting.”

The right-winger scored a year ago in his trip to Brandon and hopes to carve out a spot on the team’s top two lines, or at least be in the lineup every night.

He said he brings different skills to the lineup.

“I like to play a fast game, a power game, hit people and take pucks to the net and create space for my teammates,” Weinger said. “Those are my biggest assets.”

The right-winger becomes the second American player on the team, joining Baron Thompson of Lakeville, Minn.

With leadership expected from any team’s older players, Weinger said he likes to do his talking out on the ice.

“I’m not really a guy who would speak up in the dressing room,” Weinger said. “I like to show my leadership on the ice and through my hard work and stuff like that. I’m too shy of a person to speak up in front of the group.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

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