WHL Brandon Wheat Kings

Brandon Wheat Kings Game Notes

Published on January 31, 2004 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Brandon Wheat Kings News Release


BRANDON GAME NOTES: The WHEAT KINGS will be hoping to close out a 4-game in five night Western Hockey League road trip on a winning note tonight, and at the same time finish up the excursion with a .500 record.After losing back to back games in MOOSE JAW (5-1 on Tuesday) and REGINA (3-2 on Wednesday), the WHEAT KINGS wiped out an early 1-0 deficit and stunned the Central Division leading SWIFT CURRENT BRONCOS 4-1 last night.ERIC FEHR and ERIK CHRISTENSEN each scored once and set up another for the WHEAT KINGS, who moved eight points up on the fourth place REGINA PATS in the Eastern Division.Newly acquired netminder JOSH HARDING was brilliant, stopping 46 of 47 BRONCO shots in posting his fifth victory since coming from REGINA on January 9th.TIM KONSORADA and TYLER DYCK also scored for the WHEATS, who got a 3-point effort from veteran defenceman ANDRE BLANCHETTE.Wednesday's loss in REGINA spoiled a homecoming of sorts for HARDING, who was last year's WHL Player of the Year and Top Goaltender.Last night's win was only BRANDONS second in it's last eight games (2-5-0-1) and pulled them to within two points of seventh place LETHBRIDGE in the Conference.The WHEATS are currently 19-25-6-3 on the season (12-11-3-1 at home and 7-14-3-2 on the road), with five of those road wins coming since Christmas.BRANDON and MEDICINE HAT will close out this home and home series Wednesday night at the Keystone Centre. Wednesday is RAIN CHECK NIGHT, the second last of the season, which means any unused tickets can be exchanged at the box office for free tickets to this particular game.

WHERE'S THE OFFENCE: For a team that returned after Christmas and scored eight goals against REGINA on December 27th and went on a ten game points streak (7-0-2-1), the WHEAT KINGS have suddenly hit a dry spell when it comes to scoring goals.Not only has the club scored just nine even strength goals during the past eight games, they're 1-18 with the man advantage through the first three games of this 4-game excursion.

HARDING'S HOMECOMING: Wednesday's game in REGINA was the first time since the January 7th trade between BRANDON and REGINA that 19-year old netminder JOSH HARDING took to the Agridome Ice wearing a WHEAT KINGS' jersey.Last year's WHL Player of the Year and Top Goaltender played two and a half seasons with the PATS and the second round draft choice of the NHL's MINNESOTA WILD is the PATS' all time leader with nine shutouts.His 10th career shutout came on January 10th in his "home" debut for the WHEAT KINGS, blocking 17 shots in a 6-0 victory over SASKATOON.Since joining the WHEATS, the Regina product has played in eleven of 12 games, posting a 5-6-0 record, a 2.79 goals against average and one shutout.

INJURY UPDATE: Captain TIM KONSORADA (shoulder), LANCE MONYCH (shoulder),JEFF TOPILKO (knee) and DEREK LEBLANC (shoulder) have all returned to the lineup in the past week .MONYCH rejoined the lineup last night, assisting on two goals.KONSORADA missed the first four months of the regular season after undergoing shoulder surgery in September. He's 2-3-5 in six games since coming back.Veteran defenceman OLE-KRISTIAN TOLLEFSEN sustained a bruised sternum in SASKATOON last Tuesday and will miss at least the next two weeks. Another defenceman - newly acquired STEVEN LATER suffered a shoulder injury last Friday and is out indefinitely.RICHARD JASOVSKY is day to day (shoulder).

WHOSE HOT? RYAN STONE had his career high 10-game point scoring streak snapped Tuesday night in MOOSE JAW. During that stretch, the PITTSBURGH PENGUINS' second round draft choice was 4-12-16. Stone has at least a point in 11 of his last twelve games (4-13-17).Overage center TYLER DYCK is averaging more than a point per game this season (27-27-54 in 53 games played).Netminder JOSH HARDING continues to lead the Eastern Conference with a .921 save percentage and in BRANDON'S last two victories, he's stopped 93 of 96 shots.

MILESTONES: 16-year old rookie defenceman MARK LOUIS picked up his first ever WHL point last Friday, assisting on ERIC FEHR'S second period goal against the WARRIORS.JOSH HARDING surpassed the 8,000 minute mark in his WHL career Wednesday in REGINA.BRANDON'S top three scorers - ERIC FEHR (32), TYLER DYCK (26) and LANCE MONYCH (24) - have career highs in goals this season.LANCE MONYCH is six games away from 250 in his WHL career.

STATISTICAL ODDS 'N ENDS: Former MIDGET AAA WHEAT KING scoring star MARK DERLAGO leads BRANDON'S rookie scoring (7-14-21) .BRANDON is 16-8-2 when opening the scoring.WHEATS are 2-3-6 in overtime games this year.Defencemen JON WEBB leads BRANDON with 134 penalty minutes.Overage center TYLER DYCK has moved to within two goals of the league lead in powerplay goals (16).Despite going 0-12 in the last two games, BRANDON'S powerplay is still ranked third in the league (22.4%) while it's penalty killing has been 80% efficient, good for 15th in the WHL.

DRAFTED PLAYERS: ERIC FEHR (Washington, 2003), RYAN STONE (Pittsburgh, 2003), LANCE MONYCH (Phoenix, 2002), TIM KONSORADA (Columbus, 2002), ERIK CHRISTENSEN (Pittsburgh, 2002), TYLER BOLDT (Atlanta, 2002), JOSH HARDING (Minnesota, 2002) and OLE-KRISTIAN TOLLEFSEN (Columbus, 2002).

DID YOU KNOW? JOSH HARDING'S shutout two weeks ago in his "home" debut against SASKATOON made him only the third BRANDON goalie in league history to record a shutout in their debut at the Keystone. The only others were JAMIE HODSON (1997) and CHRIS OSGOOD (1991).WHITE TEAM captured six of the seven events Sunday to win the 2nd ANNUAL SKILLS DAY. Individual winners included REAGAN LESLIE (Rapid Fire), TIM KONSORADA (Accuracy), MARK LOUIS (Breakaway Shootout), ERIC FEHR (Hardest Shot) and JEFF TOPILKO (Fastest Skater).$1,470 was raised for the BRANDON YOUTH HOCKEY ASSOCIATION during the 5th Annual RBC TOONIE TOSS at Friday's game vs. MOOSE JAW.Former SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDER GLEN SUITOR, MAPLE LEAFS' play-by-play announcer DENNIS BEYAK and former OTTAWA SENATORS' GM MARSHALL JOHNSTON headline this year's SPORTSMAN'S DINNER.

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Western Hockey League Stories from January 31, 2004


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