Daily Dose

Daily Dose of the Dub: Two Wheat Kings have a night of firsts; Hitmen prospect shines in debut; two waiting for supplemental discipline

Written by Stephen Hawco on

Two Wheat Kings get first goal, win and shutout

Brandon Wheat Kings rookie, 2002-born forward Ty Thorpe scored the first goal of his WHL career against Red Deer on Wednesday. The Brandon native was originally drafted in the third round (54th overall) by Victoria in 2017 before being traded to the Wheat Kings in the deal that sent Tanner Kaspick to the Royals. The 17-year-old improves his stats to one goal and four assists in 37 games this season.

2002-born goaltender Connor Ungar also earned his first career WHL win and shutout in the game after being called up two days prior due to the injury to Jiri Patera. The 17-year-old stopped all 34 shots he faced in his third appearance for the Wheat Kings this season where he has a 1-1 record with a 1.74 GAA and a .944 save percentage to go with the shutout.

Hitmen prospect earns first career win

16-year-old goaltending prospect Brayden Peters earned his first career WHL win, stopping 30 of 32 shots he faced in the the Calgary Hitmen’s 6-2 defeat of the Swift Current Broncos on Wednesday night. The Taber, Alberta native was recalled this past Thursday from the Lethbridge Hurricanes Midget AAA in place of the injured Carl Stankowski. He has had an impressive midget season to date, boasting a 1.74 GAA and a .936 save percentage.

Supplemental discipline coming for two

Regina Pats forward Cole Dubinsky and Brandon Wheat Kings defenceman Braydyn Chizen are awaiting more discipline from the league office following their separate major penalties and game misconducts for the above incidents. Chizen sat out tonight’s game in Red Deer and Dubinsky has yet to miss a game while they wait to find out their discipline length.

Three Stars of the Night

1st Star: Spokane’s Riley Woods had a goal and four helpers in the Chiefs 7-2 win over Portland.

2nd Star: Brandon’s Connor Ungar stopped 34 shots for his first WHL win and shutout.

3rd Star: Calgary’s James Malm scored a pair of goals and had an assist in a 6-2 win over Swift Current.

Honourable Mentions

Spokane’s Jaret Anderson-Dolan had a goal and two assists in the Chiefs win…Vancouver’s Jared Dmytriw had two assists in the Giants 3-2 overtime win over the Blazers….Kelowna’s Roman Basran had 35 saves in a 3-2 overtime loss to Seattle….Seattle’s Henry Rybinski put on a nifty move to secure the Thunderbirds the win…

Troubling Moments

-Kamloops Blazers defenceman Jeff Faith was given a five minute major for kneeing and a game misconduct at the 1:52 mark of the second period. The overager was suspended for five games earlier this month for a check to the head in a January 9th game against the Victoria Royals.

-As the game was out of reach in Spokane, tensions boiled over between John Ludvig of the Winterhawks and Luc Smith of the Chiefs.

Rich Campbell, Portland’s trainer was tossed after arguing with the referees shortly thereafter. The league will surely look into this incident and could be handing out fines and/or suspensions.