Prior to puck drop on Friday night at Westoba Place, the night was sure to be a historic one for a few reasons. The first was the Brandon Wheat Kings were set to unveil a brand new state-of-the-art jumbotron at centre ice.
Another reason it was a special night was because the Winnipeg ICE were playing their first regular-season game in franchise history.
60 minutes after it started, it’s certainly a night the ICE organization won’t ever forget. The team scored a 3-2 win over their new provincial rival Wheat Kings at Westoba Place.
The first period was full of penalties. It took just 21 seconds to see the first ejection of the season. That’s when Ridly Greig received a five-minute major for a check to the head on Winnipeg’s Chase Hartje. At the same time, Winnipeg’s Isaac Johnson took a roughing penalty.
In all, there were 15 penalty minutes between the two teams in the first.
“I liked the way we played for 50 minutes. There were a lot of emotions. It was the first game in the league for many players,” said James Patrick after the game to winnipegice.ca. “The game started with a real physical tone, and I think we handled it well.”
“We were okay for the first seven or so minutes, and I think we played really well for the next 40,” continued Patrick. “We did so many things well, and Patera was really good.”
In front of just fewer than 5,000 fans, Winnipeg got on the board first. Connor McClennon scored 5:58 into the second to give Winnipeg a 1-0 lead. Carson Lambos and Brad Ginnell earned the assists.
After acquiring him in the offseason, it didn’t take Isaac Johnson long to show his stuff. He scored his first marker with just less than three minutes left in the second at the 17:11 mark. Michal Teply earned his first assist, the primary one, while the second went to Owen Pederson.
“Michal made a great pass to me out front, and I just put it in,” said Johnson after the game to winnipegice.ca.
With just 33 seconds left, Teply kept it going. He scored what would end up being the game-winning goal with Carson Lambos and other import selection Nino Kinder getting the assists.
With a 3-0 lead going into the third, Brandon made it a game. Vincent Iorio took a pass from Lynden McCallum, and he beat Dean McNabb, who was picked up earlier this week from Regina, to trim the deficit to 3-1. Luka Burzan also got an assist.
The Wheat Kings didn’t stop there. Veteran Zach Wytinck scored his first of the game at the 15:20 mark with Burzan getting credit for his second assist.
Despite late pressure, Brandon wasn’t able to get any closer as Winnipeg capped off the historic night with two points.
“We started off pretty good and we just kept going to get the 3-0 lead,” Johnson concluded. “Some bounces went the other way, but we kept battling and got the win.”
ICINGS:
- In net for Brandon was Jiri Patera and the Vegas Golden Knights pick was sensational. He was awarded the game’s first star for making 42 saves.
- McNabb turned away 24 shots.
- Michal Teply ended as a +2 and he also had six shots, a team-high.
- Connor Gutenberg was a +1 for Brandon and he won 13-of-21 faceoffs
- Rookie superstar Matthew Savoie played his first regular-season game and he ended as a -1.
- Rookie Carson Lambos was a great +3 and he had two assists in just his sixth Western Hockey League game.
