Game 14 - WCT Game 2/5 - Brandon @ Kamloops

[Allin44]

Wheat Kings Preview

By Bruce Luebke

Brandon Wheat Kings (8-4-1-0) at Kamloops Blazers (6-8-0-2 )

Sunday, October 26, 2008 7:00 p.m. (CDT) Interior Savings Centre



Brandon Game Notes: The Brandon Wheat Kings opened a five-game road trip through the B.C. Division Saturday n ight with a 3-2 victory over the Kelowna Rockets. Colby Robak scored twice for the Wheat Kings while Scott Glennie also scored for Brandon. Andrew Hayes stopped 17 shots in the Wheat Kings net. The victory was Brandon’s third in a row and fifth in the last six games (5-0-1-0).



2010 Memorial Cup: The Brandon Wheat Kings were awarded the 2010 Memorial Cup by the WHL’s Board of Governors earlier this month. The event will take place from May 14-23, 2010 with a theme of “Where Tradition meets Tomorrow.”



Vs. Kamloops: This is the only meeting of the 2008-2009 regular season between these two teams. Last season, Andrew Clark had a goal and two assists as the Wheat Kings were 5-2 winners over the Blazers in Brandon on February 22, 2008. Brandon’s last visit to Kamloops was October 29, 2006 with the Blazers winning by a score of 5-2. The Wheat Kings last win in Kamloops was their previous visit, January 24, 2006, with Mark Derlago scoring the overtime winner in a 2-1 Brandon victory.



Last Five Games:

(4-0-1-0 22 GF, 12 GA Brd PP: 8-26 or 30.8% Brd PK: 15-22 or 68.1%)

Oct. 25 – Brandon 3 @ Kelowna 2 – Robak 2 G’s.

Oct. 18 – Swift Current 1 @ Brandon 3 – Schenn 2 G’s

Oct. 17 – Portland 1 @ Brandon 5 – Fehr 2-2-4

Oct. 13 – Brandon 5 @ Edmonton 6 (OT) – Fehr 2-2-4

Oct. 12 – Brandon 6 @ Red Deer 2 – Green 1-3-4, Calvert 2-1-3



Next Five Games:

Oct. 29 – Brandon @ Prince George, 9:00 p.m. (CDT)

Oct. 31 – Brandon @ Chilliwack, 9:00 p.m. (CDT)

Nov. 1 – Brandon @ Vancouver, 9:00 p.m. (CDT)

Nov. 7 – Swift Current @ Brandon, 7:30 p.m. (CDT)

Nov. 8 – Medicine Hat @ Brandon, 7:30 p.m. (CDT)



Specialty Teams: Brandon’s power-play is 8-for-26 (30.8%) in their last five games and, overall this season, sits 5th in the WHL with a 21.6% success rate (17-for-79). Penalty-killing, Brandon is 15-for-22 in their last five games (68.1%) and have fallen to 10th overall in the WHL with an 83.3% success rate (45-for-54).



Drafted Players: D Keith Aulie (Calgary, 4-116-07); D Colby Robak (Florida, 2-46-08); F Matt Calvert (Columbus, 5-127-08).



Injury Report: D Chad Erb returned to the lineup Saturday after missing eight games with a jaw/mouth injury…D Brodie Melnychuk returned to the lineup Saturday after missing one game with a hip flexor…F Cale Jefferies (thumb, 4-6 weeks) has missed three games.



Roster: Brandon designated D Alexander Grill-Donovan, 18, for assignment prior to leaving Brandon Thursday for the start of their B.C. Division road trip. That leaves the Wheat Kings with 25 players on their roster (2 goaltenders, 8 defencemen and 15 forwards). Brandon’s roster does not include any players from British Columbia. It does, however, have 18 Manitoba-born players including 13 of the 15 forwards.



Who’s Hot: F Scott Glennie has points in six straight games (3 G, 5 A)…F Jay Fehr had a five game point scoring streak (5 G, 6 A) snapped Saturday…F Brayden Schenn is on a three-game point scoring streak (3 G, 3 A)…G James Priestner is 2-0 with a 1.50 GAA and .939 SCPT in his last two starts…F Aaron Lewadniuk had a three-game point scoring streak (2 G, 3 A) end Saturday.



Milestones: F Matt Lowry played in his 150th career game Saturday. The Neepawa product has 36 goals and 95 points in his WHL career…F Andrew Clark is three points shy of 150 for his career (58 G, 89 A).



This’n’that: Brandon C Brayden Schenn was assessed an elbowing major and game misconduct with 3:23 to play in the third period of Saturday’s game in Kelowna and could be facing a suspension from the WHL…Sunday’s game is a homecoming for two former members of the Blazers that were acquired by the Wheat Kings earlier this month. The Wheat Kings picked up G James Priestner for a 3rd round pick in the 2009 WHL Bantam Draft on October and acquired D Mark Schneider, 18, on October 14th for a 7th round pick in the 2009 or 2010 WHL Bantam Draft. Priestner is 2-1 with a 2.34 GAA and .901 SPCT in three games and Schneider is pointless and +1 in three games since joining the Wheat Kings…Brandon has allowed two or fewer goals in five of their last six games…Brandon has attracted 31,407 fans through eight homes games, an average of 3,926 per game…the next Brandon home game is Friday, November 7th when the Wheat Kings host the Swift Current Broncos…Brandon has surpassed the 2,700 mark in season ticket sales for this season. A total of 73 season tickets have been sold since last week’s announcement to award the 2010 Memorial Cup to Brandon.

Link to Blazers Preview

http://www.blazerhockey.com/content/media-room/102608vsBRN.pdf

Predictions?

I am going to go with a 4-3 Brandon win. Schenn with a pair, Fehr with a single and Clark with the other. Priestner will stop 24 of 27.

[Philly8]

Down 3 early in the third. Need a big comeback in this one.

[Allin44]

Really sounds like Kamloops is taking it to us

[sbtatter]

Strange ending with 5 seconds left, a scrum, penalties then the refs wouldn't restart play, they just told the timekeeper to run the clock so no more play could resume. Maybe that's bc they were afraid Hale and Erb were going to get some revenge or the ugly hit from behind Dulle had laid on Robak....

[Purple_Monkey_Dishwasher]

It was Brandon vs the Refs with all the damn 5 on 3's. Is that really hockey anymore?

[sbtatter]

It was Brandon vs the Refs with all the damn 5 on 3's. Is that really hockey anymore?
The refs were poor tonight, inconsistent for both teams

[Vik]

It was looking like there might be a riot at the OCN-Saints game today. Apparently even the guys in the sound booth were throwing things at the ref after the game.

As for Jordan DePape, I have no idea why he's brought up so often on here. I was expecting a good power forward but about the only time I noticed him was when he was making bad passes (one of which ended up in the Saints net). He wasn't that terrible but he didn't do anything to show that he should be at the next level.

[sbtatter]

It was looking like there might be a riot at the OCN-Saints game today. Apparently even the guys in the sound booth were throwing things at the ref after the game.
.
Didn't the goalies scrap? I saw they got penalties for leaving the crease

[Vik]

Didn't the goalies scrap? I saw they got penalties for leaving the crease
Yeah, that was pretty good. The Saints guy had started to go to the bench for a delayed penalty and then there was a bit of a scrum in the one corner (with no one dropping the gloves). Then Aime (who you may remember as PA's former back up) and the Saints feller had a bit of a discussion and out comes Aime. The fight was pretty much all Aime too. No huge shots or anything but he was throwing all the punches.

[Brandonite]

Yeah, that was pretty good. The Saints guy had started to go to the bench for a delayed penalty and then there was a bit of a scrum in the one corner (with no one dropping the gloves). Then Aime (who you may remember as PA's former back up) and the Saints feller had a bit of a discussion and out comes Aime. The fight was pretty much all Aime too. No huge shots or anything but he was throwing all the punches.

Thats all the MJHL even is!! Just a bunch of goons and fights thats all!! Its a bunch of players who could never make the next step to the WHL, and thats all it is, just fights! Its brutal hockey, and probably the worst Junior A league in the country. You wanna see real Junior A hockey, go to BC or Alberta. Thats decent hockey, the MJHL is a pure joke! PERIOD!

[Purple_Monkey_Dishwasher]

Thats all the MJHL even is!! Just a bunch of goons and fights thats all!! Its a bunch of players who could never make the next step to the WHL, and thats all it is, just fights! Its brutal hockey, and probably the worst Junior A league in the country. You wanna see real Junior A hockey, go to BC or Alberta. Thats decent hockey, the MJHL is a pure joke! PERIOD!

The SJHL is golden as well. Just look at the defending RBC Champion, Humboldt Broncos.

[Vik]

Thats all the MJHL even is!! Just a bunch of goons and fights thats all!! Its a bunch of players who could never make the next step to the WHL, and thats all it is, just fights! Its brutal hockey, and probably the worst Junior A league in the country. You wanna see real Junior A hockey, go to BC or Alberta. Thats decent hockey, the MJHL is a pure joke! PERIOD!
So you're a big MJHL supporter then? (Though, I'm not sure what a goalie fight has to do with goonery.)

But yeah, I'm not a big fan of the MJ. I don't mind guys getting physical but there are way too many guys running around like chickens with their heads cut off just looking to lay someone out. The way they play, you sometimes got to take over half a team just to get one brain between them (like the Blizzard). But you gotta take what you got (unless I wanted to go an hour and a half to and from Flin Flon and watch the Bombers in some SJHL action).

[Brandonite]

So you're a big MJHL supporter then? (Though, I'm not sure what a goalie fight has to do with goonery.)

But yeah, I'm not a big fan of the MJ. I don't mind guys getting physical but there are way too many guys running around like chickens with their heads cut off just looking to lay someone out. The way they play, you sometimes got to take over half a team just to get one brain between them (like the Blizzard). But you gotta take what you got (unless I wanted to go an hour and a half to and from Flin Flon and watch the Bombers in some SJHL action).

I hear and understand exactly what your saying for sure! Its still hockey, I hear ya! Its just a bad league for Junior hockey! Obviously, like any league they have their good players who actually focus on the game rather than just looking for a hit but for the most part its just a scrapping league. This is why when most players dont stick in the WHL, they almost always end up going out to BC, Alberta or sometimes Saskatchewan. The MJ isn't a finesse league and never will be. I read in the paper the other day that Dauphin Kings added Joe Caliguiri (P.G.), Nick Dietrich (Portland), Bryce Lamb (P.A.) & Cale Jefferies (BDN) in case they dont stick in the Dub next season seeing as Dauphin is hosting the "big" cup (whatever its called again). Thats different, that would be a great opportunity for any player to play in the biggest event in Junior A.

[wheat_city96]

give me the SJ over the MJ any day

[Brandonite]

give me the SJ over the MJ any day

Yeah for sure! The fact that you gotta remember too is that last years MJHL scoring champion was former wheat king Bryan Kauk. He absolutely tore the MJHL up in his final junior year. And for all you wheat kings fans, you know what Kauk did in his time with brandon! NOTHING! You know when a guy goes from team-to-team in 2+ years in the WHL, then goes to the MJHL and scores like 60 goals in 60 games or what ever, something definitely is odd!!