Brandon Wheat Kings this week –
The Wheat Kings were busy on and off the ice this past week as they continue to battle the Medicine Hat Tigers and Regina Pats for top spot in both the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Division and Conference.
Entering the first full week of 2015 the Wheat Kings sit atop the division and conference with an impressive 29-7-3-1 record and they have managed to collect at least a point in ten consecutive games.
Winners of five straight games, the Wheat Kings lead the second place Medicine Hat Tigers by six points in the Conference and the second place Regina Pats by eleven in the Eastern Division.
THIS PAST WEEK:
Tuesday, December 30th – Wheat Kings 4 Prince Albert Raiders 1
First period goals by Jayce Hawryluk, Tim McGauley and Braylon Shmyr helped to propel the Wheat Kings to the win in Prince Albert’s first trip to Brandon this season.
Thursday, January 1st – Wheat Kings 5 Saskatoon Blades 2
Nolan Patrick and Braylon Shmyr scored two goals each for the Wheat Kings, who scored the final four goals of the game to wipe out a 2-1 second period deficit. Former Blades’ netminder Alex Moodie turned aside 30 shots in posting his second win as a Wheat King
Saturday, January 3rd – Wheat Kings 7 Calgary Hitmen 4
The Wheat Kings wiped out a 3-1 second period deficit with three goals – 3:24 apart – en route to the win. Newly acquired Morgan Klimchuk netted the game winner after Calgary had tied the score at four in the third.
THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE:
Tuesday, January 6th vs Everett Silvertips @ 7pm
(January’s 2 for Tuesday! – Purchase a ticket at the regular price and receive a second free)
Saturday, January 10th @ Red Deer Rebels
Sunday, January 11th @ Calgary Hitmen
THIS WEEK’S PRACTICE SCHEDULE:
Monday, January 5th @ 1:45pm
Wednesday, January 7th @ 1:45pm – Skate with members of CFB Shilo
Thursday, January 8th @ 1:45pm
THIS WEEK’S PLAYER APPEARANCES:
Wednesday, January 7th @ 11:45am
MPI – Brandon Sun School Patrol Luncheon – Betty Gibson School
Wednesday, January 7th @ Gunnar Arena, CFB Shilo
Wheat Kings Minor Hockey Caravan – presented by Canadian Tire, Construction Association of Rural Manitoba
PLAYER TRANSACTIONS:
With the WHL Trade Deadline this Saturday, the Wheat Kings got a jump-start on what could be a busy week by landing one of the league’s premier scorers in 2-time 30-goal scorer Morgan Klimchuk from the Regina Pats in exchange for second year forward Jesse Gabrielle.
In 229 career games in the WHL, Klimchuk has scored 219 points, including 99 goals. In nine playoff games, he has three goals and six points.
“Klimchuk is an elite scorer who during his four years has developed into one of the top two-way players in the league,” says McCrimmon. “He will have an immediate impact on our team in many different situations.”
“The price for Klimchuk was a good young player,” he went on to say. “However, we felt the chance to acquire a player of his caliber made the deal affordable.”
Meanwhile the WHL club has also reassigned 16-year old center Ty Lewis to the AAA Midget Wheat Kings for the balance of the 2014-15 season.
IMPACT PLAYER OF THE MONTH – JORDAN PAPIRNY
Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries is pleased to announce that 18-year old goalkeeper Jordan Papirny has been chosen the Wheat Kings IMPACT Player of the Month for December. A former first round bantam draft choice, “Paps” appeared in eight games last month, compiling a 5-2-1 record, a 2.49 goals against average and a .924 save oercebtage and two shutouts.
Papirny joins Latvian left-winger Rihards Bukarts and center Tim McGauley as winners of this year’s monthly awards.
RYOBI HARDEST WORKING PLAYERS OF THE MONTH
December’s Hardest Working Players were defenceman Macoy Erkamps and forward Tyler Coulter. Presentations to both players will be made at Tuesday’s game against Everett.
In 40 games this season, Coulter has nine goals and 19 points while Erkamps, a former Lethbridge Hurricane, has one goal and 19 points in 36 games. He’s also second on the team with an impressive plus / minus ranking of +20.
WORLD JUNIOR HOCKEY UPDATE:
Rookie defenceman Ivan Provorov will be coming home with a medal from the World Junior Hockey Championship. Team Russia defeated Sweden 4-1 Sunday afternoon, earning a berth into tonight’s Gold Medal game against Canada.
BRANDON BITS:
Wheat Kings are 8-0-1-1 in their last ten games … Brandon’s home ice record of 15-2-3-0 continues to lead the Western Hockey League … Klimchuk has scored game winners in his last three games, including two with the Pats before last week’s trade … Tim McGauley leads the club in scoring with 25 goals and 49 points in 40 games, good for a seventh place tie with Austin Carroll of Victoria in the WHL scoring race … McGauley’s 7 game winning goals are second only to Kelowna’s Rourke Chartier (9) … Papirny is currently tied with the Rockets’ Jackson Whistle with 24 wins between the pipes … Provorov continues to lead all rookies in scoring with ten goals and 37 points, despite missing the Wheat Kings last five games. He’s also third in scoring among blueliners while Ryan Pilon (6-27-33) is eighth … Brandon’s roster currently features ten first round bantam draft choices and two selected in the opening round of the Canadian Hockey League Import Draft … Well over 500 tickets have been sold for the 2015 CKLQ Wheat Kings Sportsman’s Dinner, which will feature Hometown Hockey’s Ron MacLean. To order tickets call the Wheat Kings office at 726-3535.
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