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WHL Brandon Wheat Kings

Battle of Manitoba Continues Tuesday Night

December 17, 2019 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Brandon Wheat Kings News Release


Winnipeg, MB. - The Brandon Wheat Kings bring the curtain down on their pre-Christmas Western Hockey League schedule tonight with a game against the ICE in Winnipeg.

The Wheat Kings, who are coming off Friday night's 11-1 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors, can climb back to the .500 mark with a win tonight and if they do, it will mark the first time since the opening weekend of the regular season that they've been at that level.

Not only will Brandon be hoping to improve their record to 15-15-1-2, the Wheat Kings will be looking to climb to within six points of the ICE, who currently occupy second place in the WHL's Eastern Division with a record of 19-12-1-0.

To make matters even more interesting for the provincial rivals - tonight is the first of three straight games to be played between the two clubs.

Brandon and Winnipeg will open up the unofficial second half of the regular season on December 27th and 28th with a home and home series, beginning Friday night at Westoba Place.

Tonight is game six of the season series between these two clubs, with Brandon holding a 3-2 advantage. In games played in Winnipeg, the two have split.

For center Ridly Greig, who scored twice and set up another in last Friday's lopsided win, tonight's game is an important one for the Wheat Kings.

"(Friday) was obviously a really good victory," Greig told Perry Bergson of the Brandon Sun. "We want to get to .500 before Christmas and this was a huge game for that"

Greig, who was one of two Wheat Kings to be chosen to participate in next month's Top Prospects Game, has scored points in six of his last 7 games and during that span, he's scored six goals and ten points.

Tonight's game will feature two highly touted Vegas Golden Knights prospects facing off against one another.

While Peyton Krebs was the Knight's first round selection in last June's National Hockey League Draft, Brandon's Marcus Kallionkieli was taken in round five.

Injuries to start the season delayed each of their arrivals this season but since taking the ice last month, Krebs is averaging a point per game with two goals and 10 points in ten games.

Brandon's first round pick in this year's Canadian Hockey League Import Draft, the Finnish born Kallionkieli has appeared in two games for the Wheat Kings, scoring a goal and two assists. His first ever WHL goal came in Friday's win over Moose Jaw.

Krebs recently rejoined Winnipeg after being a late cut from the National Junior Selection Camp.

While the ICE will be seeing Kallionkieli for the first time this year tonight, Winnipeg has two new faces in their lineup in overage netminder Liam Hughes and 19-year old defenceman Ty Ettinger.

A former Wheat King blueliner, Ettinger's rights were acquired from the Vancouver Giants last week.

Ettinger, who played 46 games in a Brandon uniform during the 2017-18 season, has played three games for Winnipeg since the trade.

Tonight's game could also feature a battle between two sets of brothers - Brandon's Riley Ginnell will meet Winnipeg's Brad while Carson Lambos of the ICE will again face off against his older brother Jonny.

The elder Lambos led all skaters with a +4 rating in Brandon's last game against the Warriors and he currently leads all Wheat Kings with a plus 8 in the month of December.

On the strength of his six point performance against his former team last week, veteran Luka Burzan leads Brandon in scoring heading into tonight's game. He has fifteen goals and 36 points, followed by Cole Reinhardt with 33 points, including a team leading 21 goals, which is currently good for third place in the WHL.

Leading the ICE meanwhile are Connor McClennon and Michel Teply with 31 and 30 points respectively.

Following tonight's game, both teams will break for Christmas before returning to their respective cities on Boxing Day.

Tickets to Brandon's three upcoming Holiday games (Friday, Dec. 27th vs. Winnipeg; Monday, December 30th vs. Regina and Friday, January 3rd Family Skate Night vs. Calgary) are on sale now at the Keystone Centre box office, by calling (204) 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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