Playoff experience hard to find for Wheat Kings
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
We need your support!
Local journalism needs your support!
As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.
Now, more than ever, we need your support.
Starting at $15.99 plus taxes every four weeks you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website.
Subscribe Nowor call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527.
Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community!
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Brandon Sun access to your Free Press subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $20.00 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.00 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/04/2022 (1426 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
When it comes time for the Brandon Wheat Kings to discuss their previous Western Hockey League playoff experience, they won’t need to book a very long meeting.
After missing the playoffs in 2019, and with no post-season held in 2020 and 2021, the only Wheat King who has suited up in the WHL’s second season is overage netminder Ethan Kruger, way back in 2018.
But even the Edmonton product only got to look on.
Logan Thompson started the two series-opening losses to the Medicine Hat Tigers, but his stubborn ankle injury didn’t heal and he didn’t dress again in the playoffs.
Thompson’s backup Dylan Myskiw played well in relief as Brandon rallied to win the quarterfinal series in six games and then fell in five games to the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the conference semifinals. Kruger got the best seat in the house, watching the final nine games from the bench and learning a lot.
“I think the biggest thing is taking it one day at a time, especially when it’s a seven-game series,” Kruger said. “You have to forget what happened last night and move on to the next.”
The 20-year-old goaltender from Edmonton and his teammates begin their post-season journey on Friday as they face the Red Deer Rebels in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals at the Peavey Mart Centrium.
Brandon head coach Don MacGillivray said the lack of playoff experience isn’t a distinctly Brandon phenomenon, noting Red Deer has only five guys who have been there before. He said the team’s season-ending games against the Saskatoon Blades and Prince Albert Raiders should give them a sense of what’s coming.
“That’s exciting,” MacGillivray said. “Our guys will see the difference with what the atmosphere is like in playoffs. Going into Saskatoon and Prince Albert this past weekend, it was really good for our guys. We played in front of a big crowd on Friday in Saskatoon and a packed house on Saturday in P.A. It was a noisy crowd, good atmosphere, playoff-style hockey so that’s good for our team and will bode well moving forward, I hope.”
“We’re going to have 20 guys who have playoff experience after Game 1,” MacGillivray added with a chuckle.
Game 2 is set for Saturday at 8 p.m. The series swings back to Brandon on Tuesday and Wednesday for Games 3 and 4. The puck drops at 7.
If necessary, the teams head back to Alberta for Game 5 on Friday, April 29 at 8 p.m. Game 6 is set for Westoba Place for Sunday, May 1 at 5 p.m.
The seventh and deciding game would take place on Tuesday, May 3 at 8 p.m.
In an echo of what took place in 2018, the Wheat Kings have called up 16-year-old forward Hayden Chaloner and a pair of 2021 first-rounders, defenceman Charlie Elick and forward Roger McQueen.
Kruger is excited for them.
“It was a cool experience,” Kruger said. “It was an exciting time. That’s the best hockey there is, is playoff hockey. A lot of guys got called up this year too so they’re kind of in the same boat and they’ll have the same memories that I did.”
» pbergson@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @PerryBergson