WHL Brandon Wheat Kings

Deckert backstops Raiders to win

Published on March 29, 2007 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Brandon Wheat Kings News Release


Prince Albert, Saskatchewan -- Netminder Jesse Deckert was at it again Wednesday night, turning aside 40 shots and leading the Raiders to a 2-0 victory over the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.

Brandon product Devon LeBlanc and Ryan McDonald scored second period goals for the Raiders, who still trail the best of seven Western Hockey League Eastern Conference quarterfinal series two games to one. McDonald's goal came with just over two minutes remaining in the second period - a period that saw referees Adam Byblow and Reagan Vetter hand the hometown Raiders five straight powerplay opportunities.

Prince Albert was 1-7 with the man advantage in game three while the Wheat Kings were 0-5 and have now scored just one powerplay goal on 15 chances in this series. Brandon finished second in the WHL during the regular season (21.2%).

An undrafted 20-year old Winnipeg product, Deckert has been the story during the first three games of this series, stopping 123 of 130 shots. The third highest scoring team in the WHL this season, the Wheat Kings have been held to just seven goals in three games and a number of key veterans have yet to solve the Raider netminder including former Portland Winter Hawk Rob Klinkhammer and Codey Burki, who led the Wheat Kings in scoring this past season with 36 goals and 85 points. A second round draft choice of the National Hockey League's Colorado Avalanche, Burki remains the Wheat Kings active playoff scoring leader with 6 goals and 16 points in 41 career post-season games.

"I just didn't think we had the composure that you have to have to win at playoff time," Wheat Kings' coach and general manager Kelly McCrimmon told Bruce Luebke during CKLQ's post-game show Wednesday. "I didn't think we payed full price...I thought we were okay...we had 40 shots and some great chances but I think if we're honest with ourselves, we could have been better in this hockey game than we were."

In making his third start of the series and 33rd of his playoff career, netminder Tyler Plante stopped 33 of 35 Prince Albert shots. The franchise record holder for Most Career Shutouts (12), Plante has moved to within four games of Robert McVicar and the Wheat Kings' all time record for playoff appearances by a goalkeeper (37).

19-year old right-winger Juraj Simek returned to the Brandon lineup Wednesday, after missing the first two games of the series with a sprained ankle.

The Wheat Kings will have another chance to solve Deckert, while the Raiders will have a golden opportunity to even the series Thursday night when Prince Albert hosts game four. Game time is 8:30 p.m. (Manitoba time) and can be heard on 880 CKLQ.

Game five of the series will be Saturday night in Prince Albert, with the series then shifting back to Brandon (if necessary) for games six and seven next week.

Check out the Brandon Wheat Kings Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Western Hockey League Stories from March 29, 2007


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.

OurSports Central