The Brandon Wheat Kings’ season has been one of ups and downs, peaks and valleys if you will, as most teams experience throughout the grind of a Western Hockey League season. One of the toughest stretches Brandon has gone through this season — at least in terms of losses — began on September 27 and it lasted for just about a month.
From that day until October 25, the Wheat Kings went just 4-8. With the roster that was assembled and with the addition of head coach Dave Lowry and Darren Ritchie getting the promotion to general manager, that just wasn’t good enough for a team that had championship aspirations.
But as they say, you certainly can’t win a championship until the end of the playoffs. Now, as the playoffs approach quickly, Brandon has certainly turned things around as the regular season rolls on.
Since that poor month was brought up, we also have to talk about a time when no one could beat Brandon. Starting with a 4-1 win against Regina on December 30 and up until a 6-3 win against Victoria on January 24, Brandon won 10 straight games. That hot streak has been followed by some steady play by a team that now has 30 wins on the campaign.
Brandon is 30-20-3-2 which gives them 65 points, good enough for the third spot in the highly competitive East Division. They’re also just six points back of Prince Albert for the top spot.
They won their last game out and are 5-3-2 in their past 10 games.
“We knew going into the season that things would be a process,” said Dave Lowry, head coach. “It would take some time for our guys to understand how we needed to play and how we needed to play to compete on a consistent basis.”
“I like our group today. I like how we understand how we need to play to have success,” continued Lowry. “Everyone these days talks about playing fast and that’s what we want to do. Whether we have the puck or not, we need to play fast and guys understand that.”
Brandon is preparing for a big weekend of game action. On Friday, the team welcomes the Edmonton Oil Kings to Westoba Place. On Wednesday night, Edmonton dismantled Winnipeg and the Oil Kings will come into the game with 85 points, tied for the most in the Western Hockey League. Back on January 28 when Brandon played the Oil Kings in Edmonton, the Wheat Kings lost 6-2.
“Last time we played Edmonton, we weren’t good. We got our lunch fed to us. They gave us some lessons on how to play the game the right way,” continued Lowry. “We need to be better.”
Brandon’s tough schedule continues on Saturday night when the team welcomes the East Division-leading Raiders to Westoba Place. The Raiders beat Brandon 4-1 just under a week ago.
Right after Saturday’s game, Brandon will board its charter and call the road home. On Sunday, the Wheat Kings are in Regina before they play in Swift Current on Wednesday. That’s followed by games against Calgary and Lethbridge on February 28 and 29, respectively. On March 6, Brandon is in Prince Albert to play the Raiders.
“I look at our schedule moving forward and there is no easy game,” continued Lowry. “Everyone is playing for different reasons here. Edmonton and Prince Albert are looking to stay on top and we’re chasing. Regina is trying to play spoiler here.”
“For us, it’s about preparing for Friday to make sure that we’re better on Saturday to give us a chance on Sunday.”
Brandon is led offensively this season by Luka Burzan as expected. However, a few different Wheat Kings are right behind. Ben McCartney has chalked up 55 points. Ridly Greig has 49, while Cole Reinhardt has posted 48 so far. The four have combined for 101 goals. One of the surprises of the season has been Lynden McCallum. After posting just four goals and seven points last season, the hometown Brandon native has 18 goals and 30 points this season.
Braden Schneider has been solid on the back end all season and he’s added 35 points. Chad Nychuk, meanwhile, has offered up 36.
In net, Jiri Patera has 20 wins to go along with a solid .921 save percentage and a 2.61 goals-against average. Ethan Kruger, who saw the bulk of action while Patera was injured, has compiled 10 wins with a .915 save percentage and a 2.74 goals-against average.
“We like where we’re at today. With that said, we know we have more and we know we can get better,” concluded Lowry.
After their game in Prince Albert on March 6, the Wheat Kings finish their season with four out of five games on home ice. The season concludes with a home-and-home against Winnipeg on March 20 in Winnipeg and March 21 in Brandon.
