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Brandon Wheat Kings

Focus Turns to WHL Playoffs

March 24, 2015 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Brandon Wheat Kings News Release


Brandon, MB. - Now that the regular season is over, the Brandon Wheat Kings have turned their focus to the defending Memorial Cup Champion Edmonton Oil Kings and their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series that begins later this week at Westman Communications Group Place.

Winners of eight of their last ten regular season games (8-1-0-1), the Wheat Kings are coming off their first Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy regular season title since 1996. The Wheat Kings certified themselves as the team to beat by finishing the regular season with an impressive 53-11-4-4 record.

"(Leading the WHL is) huge and we're going to be really excited about it for the next three or four days and then it's right back to business," Morgan Klimchuk told the Brandon Sun this week. "We know that in the long run it doesn't mean a whole lot, you can be a great regular season team but it really doesn't matter in the playoffs."

Despite the club's best finish since 1979, Wheat Kings coach and general manager Kelly McCrimmon agrees with Klimchuk, who finished in the top 20 of league scoring this season with 34 goals and 80 points.

"Totally different landscape now with that behind us," McCrimmon told the Sun. "We'll turn our attention to Edmonton on Thursday. This is just one of the milestones along the way."

While Klimchuk finished the season in 19th place in the WHL scoring race, Brandon's Most Valuable Player Tim McGauley wound up third with 42 goals (6th in the WHL) and 105 points. The 19-year old Wilcox, Saskatchewan product also finished fourth in the WHL with a plus/minus ranking of +43.

Among the other Wheat Kings that finished among the league leaders this past season were defenceman Ivan Provorov, goalkeeper Jordan Papirny and 16-year old Winnipeg native Nolan Patrick.

In addition to leading all first year players in scoring this past season, Provorov's fifteen goals and 61 points were fourth best among defencemen. Patrick meanwhile finished third among rookies with 56 points, including a league leading thirty goals.

A former first round bantam draft choice, Papirny is coming off a stellar campaign that saw him post a 2.74 goals against average (6th in the WHL), 5 shutouts (4th), a .910 save percentage (6th) and 44 wins (1st) in 59 (4th) appearances. The 18-year old from Edmonton became the first Brandon netminder to win over forty games since Glen Hanlon established a league record 49 in 1976-77.

This will mark the third time in four seasons that the Wheat Kings and Oil Kings have played one another in post-season play. Last season, Edmonton won the best of seven Eastern Conference Semi-Final four games to one en route to the league championship and eventually the Memorial Cup.

The Oil Kings, who earned the right to meet Brandon by finishing in the second Wild Card Spot in the Conference with a record of 34-31-4-3. In the 4-game season series between the Kings, Brandon won three of four games.

Games one and two of the best of seven opening round series will be played Thursday and Friday nights at Westman Place, before the series shifts to Edmonton for games three, four and five. Should a sixth and / or seventh game be necessary, they will be played Tuesday and Wednesday, April 7th and 8th in Brandon.

Tickets to the first two playoff home games - presented by DMS Industrial Constructors - are on sale now at the Keystone Centre box office, by calling 726-3555 or online at keystonecentre.com.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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