Wheat Kings prepare for Winterhawks

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This article was published 04/01/2023 (623 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon Wheat Kings renew acquaintances with one of the top teams in the Western Hockey League tonight when the Portland Winterhawks visit Westoba Place for the first time in four years.

The last game between Portland and Brandon at Westoba Place was on Jan. 8, 2019, with the Winterhawks scoring four times in a row after Ben McCartney gave the hosts an early 2-0 lead in a 4-3 Portland victory. The most recent game between the teams was a 4-1 Winterhawks win in Portland on Oct. 19, 2019.

Brandon has just one player who’s skated against Portland this season, defenceman Luke Shipley. His last two games with the Victoria Royals before a trade to Brandon on Nov. 24 happened to be losses to Portland on Nov. 11 and 12.

“They’re a good, fast team,” Shipley said. “They move the puck around pretty well and I know they have a lot of fast players.”

The Winterhawks (26-4-2-1) sit in second in the Western Conference and fourth overall as they play their first of six road games in 10 days against East Division opponents. After 33 games, the Winterhawks have 55 points, one behind the Winnipeg Ice, Seattle Thunderbirds and Red Deer Rebels, with the latter having played three more games.

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray has been impressed by the Winterhawks and Mike Johnston, the former Brandon University Bobcats hockey player who serves as Portland’s head coach and general manager.

“They’re one of the best teams in the league,” Murray said. “They play exceptionally fast, they’re deep, they roll one line over after another. Mike Johnston is a guy I’ve respected for a long, long time. I had him in the world juniors and I had him in L.A., and his teams always play the right way.”

Johnston served as an assistant coach with the Canadian world junior team when Murray played in 1993-94 and 1994-95, and the pair reunited in the National Hockey League with the Kings during the 2006-07 season when Johnston was an associate coach.

Portland will come into the game fresh, with its last game a 7-2 victory over Everett on Dec. 31.

Brandon (15-17-4-0) has also been playing better of late, winning three of their four games since the Christmas break. A 6-2 victory over the Regina Pats on Wednesday moved the Wheat Kings into eighth place in the Eastern Conference, and a win over Portland would certainly cement its status as a team on the rise.

“I think we need to play physical,” Shipley said. “They’re a team that doesn’t like to get hit and I know their defensive zone is vulnerable. They like to get up the ice with four guys on the attack and they have a lot of offensive-minded players. If you play them hard in the D-zone, they’re not going to like that.”

In its previous matchups against the U.S. Division, Brandon lost 6-3 to the Everett Silvertips on Nov. 2, fell 4-3 in overtime on Nov. 4 to the Tri-City Americans and beat the Spokane Chiefs 2-1 on Dec. 10 in the team’s teddy-bear-toss game.

The Wheat Kings finish up their 10 Western Conference matchups this season when the Seattle Thunderbirds visit next Tuesday, which happens to be the league’s trade deadline.

Brandon forward Calder Anderson, who had three assists in Wednesday’s victory, said the games against Portland and Seattle — with a visit to the Prince Albert Raiders on Saturday sandwiched in the middle — are big ones.

“I think it can be a season changer for us,” Anderson said. “If we get two wins against those two good teams, that turns our season right around. I think we’re on the rise right now.”

It’s been a back-and-forth series over the years but the Winterhawks have held a decided edge since a 5-4 shootout victory in Portland on Oct. 27, 2009, winning 10 of the last 11 games between the two clubs. Oddly, the Brandon victory that punctuated the streak was a 10-3 shellacking on Oct. 18, 2014, the most lopsided victory in the Internet era between the clubs.

Since the 1996-97 season, Portland has 17 wins, including one in overtime and one in a shootout, while Brandon has 10 victories, with one in overtime.

The franchises have met twice in the league final, with Brandon winning in six games in 1979 and Portland sweeping in 1998.

“Back in my era, they always had really good teams,” said Murray, who skated with the Wheat Kings for four seasons from 1991 to 1995. “I seem to remember playing them more there. It was kind of a big thing to go to the States back then and they always had loud crowds and great atmosphere. It’s always been a real good hockey town.”

The Wheat Kings are 6-9-2-0 at home while the Winterhawks have been road warriors, posting a 9-3-1-0 record away from Portland.

“We’ve talked about that quite a bit here lately, trying to build an identity at home where we’re a tough team to play against,” Anderson said. “That’s kind of been Brandon’s go-to for quite some time now, they’re tough to play in their home rink. We want to get back to the Brandon Wheat King hockey that everyone knows.”

With a 6-2-2-0 record in their last 10 games and earning 14 of a possible 20 points, they’re also a club starting to feel good about themselves for the first time since their trip through the B.C. Division in October.

“I think we’re moving in the right direction,” Shipley said. “We’re finding ways to get it done. It’s been super exciting and great to get going with this group.”

ICINGS: There were a pair of deals on Thursday as the league inches closer to Tuesday’s trade deadline. The Prince George Cougars sent 17-year-old forward Ryker Singer to the Red Deer Rebels for 17-year-old forward Arjun Bawa, a second-round pick in 2023 and a seventh-round pick in 2023. Meanwhile, the Spokane Chiefs dealt 19-year-old forward Blake Swetlikoff to the Lethbridge Hurricanes for unsigned 16-year-old forward Jack Lackas of Las Vegas, plus a second-round pick in 2026 and a sixth-round pick in 2025.

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