The future of the Brandon Wheat Kings is front and centre beginning today at Westoba Place inside the Keystone Centre.
The team is hosting rookie camp for the next two days. The rookies are split between two teams (Black & White). Each team practices twice, and they will play each other twice as well.
I’ll take a look at some players who are expected to make an impact over the next two days.
Nate Danielson:
The hype around the Red Deer native is extremely high. He was taken fifth overall in this past May’s WHL Bantam Draft.
After a highlight reel season last year, there is a good chance that Danielson could play all five of the games he will be eligible for this season, and perhaps many more.
Playing with the Red Deer bantam Rebels AAA team, Danielson was sixth in league scoring with 59 points in just 29 games. 26 of the points were goals, and that was seventh in the league.
Nate didn’t stop there. In the playoffs, he added 22 points (9G), which were enough for third in playoff scoring. He also played two games for the Red Deer Northstar Chiefs minor midget team, where he had four goals.
Tyson Zimmer:
Taken sixth overall, Zimmer only had to wait a minute or so longer than Danielson had to. Also taken in this past May’s WHL Bantam Draft, Tyson has a goal to play at least the five games he’s eligible for this season, but he knows the U-18 route for a season is a good thing for him.
“This is a big year for me. I obviously want to play those five games,” he added. “It’s going to be a good year. I’ll be able to play U-18 full-time, and that will allow me to develop even more and get better.”
Tyson isn’t known for his size, as not many 14-year-olds are, but his speed can separate him from many others.
Just as Danielson, Tyson was among the league leaders with 52 points (26G) in the regular-season. That had him in a tie for 11th with two other players. He played in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League with the bantam prep Okanagan Academy team.
With two practices and two games to impress the Wheat Kings before main camp begins, Zimmer knows exactly what he needs to do.
“When I’m having success, I’m skating fast and moving the puck really well,” he concluded. “I always stress play in my own end as well. My shot is also important to me. I pride myself on making it accurate with a lot of power as well.”
Rylen Roersma:
After picking Danielson and Zimmer fifth and sixth, Brandon was on the clock again with the 16th pick. With that pick, they selected Raymond, Alberta’s Rylen Roersma.
Playing on the Lethbridge Golden Hawks bantam AAA team the past two seasons, Rylen stepped up his game last year.
After a modest 22 points (10G) in 35 regular season games in the 2017-18 season, Roersma really found his scoring touch in the playoffs and last season, especially.
After a five-point performance (1G) in four games, Roersma had a great offseason of preparation ahead of his return to the team.
He immediately produced on a nightly basis for Lethbridge, putting up 44 points (23G) in 29 games.
Here’s a fun fact about Rylen — he was the only player from Raymond, Alberta, that was selected in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft.
Wrap up:
Each three of the highlighted players have strong chances of making some sort of impact with Brandon this season. First, they must impress the scouts enough to advance to main camp, which starts on Friday.
With that being highly likely, the future of the Wheat Kings should extend into the weekend, and you can watch all the action live.
Every session through Saturday is free. There will be a minimal fee for Sunday’s Canad Inns Intrasquad game.
ROOKIE CAMP:
Wednesday, August 28th
9:00 a.m. Team Black Practice.
10:30 a.m. Team White Practice.
6:00 p.m. Black vs. White.
Thursday, August 29th
9:00 a.m. Team White Practice.
10:30 a.m. Team Black Practice.
6:00 p.m. Black vs. White.
MAIN CAMP:
Friday, August 30th
9:00 a.m. Team Black Practice.
10:30 a.m. Gold vs. White.
12:30 p.m. Goalie Session.
5:00 p.m. Team Gold Practice.
6:30 p.m. Black vs. White.
Saturday, August 31st
9:00 a.m. Team White Practice.
10:30 a.m. Black vs. Gold.
6:00 p.m. Main Camp Scrimmage.
Sunday, September 1st
2:00 p.m. Canad Inns Intrasquad Game.
