Brandon Wheat Kings News For The Week Of Jan. 13 – Jan. 19 –
The Brandon Wheat Kings will be hoping to close out their current 5-game Western Hockey League homestand on a winning note this Friday when they play host to the Eastern Division leading Swift Current Broncos at Westman Communications Group Place.
After splitting a 2-game weekend series against the visiting Prince Albert Raiders, the Wheat Kings are 3-1-0 through the first four games and have improved their record to 23-17-4-0 overall.
The Brandon Wheat Kings, who don’t play until Friday due to the annual BMO MasterCard Top Prospects Game in Calgary, are currently sitting alone in sixth place in a very tight Eastern Conference playoff race. While Brandon sits one point back of both Regina and Medicine Hat, the Wheat Kings will enter Friday’s game against the Broncos trailing first place Swift Current by just two points.
In fact, only six points separate seven of the nine teams currently battling for one of eight Eastern Conference playoff berths. Kootenay is two points back of Brandon while Prince Albert and Red Deer sit four points off the pace entering the week.
Following Friday’s home game,the Wheat Kings will hit the road for games in Saskatoon on Saturday and Swift Current on Wednesday as Manitoba Ag Days invades the Keystone Centre.
THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE:
Friday, January 17th vs. Swift Current Broncos @ 7:30pm
(Presented by Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries)
Saturday, January 18th @ Saskatoon Blades
THIS WEEK’S PRACTICE SCHEDULE:
Monday, January 13th @ 1:45 pm
Tuesday, January 14th @ 1:45 pm
Wednesday, January 15th @ 1:45 pm
Thursday, January 16th @ 1:45 pm
WHL TRADE DEADLINE COMES AND GOES:
Friday’s WHL Trade deadline turned out to be a quiet day for the Brandon Wheat Kings as the club didn’t make any moves. That was a big contrast from 12 months ago when Brandon made three separate deals, and it’s the first time since 2009 the club hasn’t done something either at or just before the trade deadline.
“When it comes down to it, we didn’t want to change the makeup of our team. We’re encouraged with the young players that we have. We don’t have a lot of older player and the ones that we have are valuable, important and are good contributors to our team,” Brandon GM/Coach Kelly McCrimmon told CKLQ on Friday afternoon, “If you’re not prepared to move prospects, draft picks or players then you can’t expect that you’re going to be very deeply involved in discussions for some of the players that were traded.”
McCrimmon also notes that the moves the team made in November to acquire forward Peter Quenneville and defenceman Ryan Pilon in separate deals had a bearing on standing pat on Friday.
WHEAT KING GREAT ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT:
After playing 14 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), Wade Redden announced his retirement last week.Redden played a total of 1,023 games with four different NHL teams: the Ottawa Senators, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins. He amassed career totals of 109 goals, 348 assists and 457 points in the regular season, while appearing in 106 career playoff games, recording 49 points. Redden had a career plus-minus of +160 and he played in one All-Star Game (2002).
Throughout his hockey career, Redden accumulated a great deal of international experience playing for Canada. In 2004, he played in the World Cup of Hockey, helping Canada win the Gold Medal, while in 2006 Redden played in the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Twice he helped Canada win the Gold Medal at the World Junior Championships (1995, 1996). He also represented his country three times at the World Championship (1999, 2001, 2005). During the 2005 tournament, Canada earned a Silver Medal and Redden was named Best Defenceman of the Tournament by the Directorate.
Prior to reaching the NHL, Redden played three seasons of junior hockey for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL). He helped Brandon reach the Memorial Cup in 1995 and 1996, and he was chosen for the Memorial Cup All-Star Team (1996). In 179 regular season games as a Wheat King, Redden scored 27 goals and 153 points. In 51 playoff games in a Brandon uniform, Redden scored 12 goals and 36 points.
PLANS WELL UNDERWAY FOR 2014 SPORTSMAN’S DINNER:
Ticket sales have been brisk for the CKLQ Dinner, which is held annually to raise money for the hockey club’s Scholarship Foundation. Headlining this year’s event, scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 6th is 6-time Stanley Cup Champion Bryan Trottier. Joining him will be Sportsnet’s Gord Stellick and comedian Andrew Grose of Edmonton. For tickets call the Wheat Kings office at (204) 726-3535.
BRANDON BITS:
Former Brandon Wheat Kings forward Ryan Reaves signed a four-year, 4.5 million dollar contract extension with the St. Louis Blues on Friday … The National Hockey League’s Central Scouting Bureau’s mid-term rankings have been released. Edmonton’s John Quenneville is currently ranked 34th, Roblin’s Jayce Hawryluk is 42nd and veteran Richard Nejezchleb is 114th among North American skaters. Quenneville currently leads the Wheat Kings in scoring this season with 21 goals and 43 points, followed by Hawryluk with 41 and Nejezchleb with 37 … Rookie netminder Jordan Papirny enters the week with a record of 16-9-3, a 3.27 goals against average and an .894 save percentage in 29 appearances.
Courtesy of BrandonWheatKings.com
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