Giants Lose Tight Contest to Wheat Kings
Published on October 10, 2025 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Vancouver Giants News Release
Vancouver Giants battle the Brandon Wheat Kings
(Vancouver Giants, Credit: Jillybean Photography)
Brandon, Man. - The Vancouver Giants dropped a 4-3 decision to the Brandon Wheat Kings on Friday night at Assiniboine Credit Union Place.
The loss drops the Giants' overall record to 2-6-0 and to 1-4 on the current East Division road trip. Brandon is now 1-4-1 this season.
Aaron Obobaifo, Jakob Oreskovic and Ryan Lin each scored for Vancouver, who were outshot in the game 38-21.
Luke Mistelbacher, Nic Johnson, Chase Surkan and Brady Turko provided the offence for the Wheat Kings.
The Giants got out to a 2-0 lead, but entered the first intermission tied 2-2.
Obobaifo got things started with a great individual effort, chipping the puck from the neutral zone down the left boards to himself before outwaiting the goaltender and scoring on a wrap-around.
Oreskovic made it 2-0 less than two minutes later when he deflected Lin's wrist shot past Ruzicka.
Mistelbacher made it 2-1 when he scored from the right circle and then Johnson poked home a loose puck in the crease to make it 2-2.
In the second, Brandon capitalized big time on a four-minute power play.
Surkan made it 3-2 on a backdoor feed from Jacobson, and then Turko one-timed a shot from the top of the right circle that went post and in.
Brandon had the momentum for most of the third period, but an outstanding effort from Halaburda and Lin led to a shorthanded goal that got Vancouver to within one.
Halaburda first stole the puck and had a breakaway but fanned on the initial shot. He followed it up though by getting first to the puck behind the net and saw Lin in front, who one-timed it home on the blocker side.
The Giants pulled the goalie but couldn't get any sustained pressure, making the 4-3 score hold up as the final. STATISTICS
SOG: VAN - 9/7/5 = 21 | BDN - 13/13/12 = 38
PP: VAN- 0/1 | BDN - 2 /6
Face-Offs: VAN - 32 | BDN - 25 3 STARS
1st: BDN - Jaxon Jacobson - 2A, 2 SOG, -1
2nd: BDN - Caleb Hadland - 2A, 1 SOG, +1
3rd: VAN - Ryan Lin - 1G, 1A, 6 SOG, +1 GOALTENDING BATTLE
Vancouver: LOSS - Burke Hood (34 saves / 38 shots)
Brandon: WIN - Filip Ruzicka (18 saves / 21 shots) THEY SAID IT
"We knew we had to respond from the whole game in P.A. So yeah in the first we came out hard. We did a lot of hard things that led to our success in that first. The energy was good. The buy-in was there from all 20 guys, so it was a good start." - Giants Assistant Coach Gaelan Patterson on the strong start
"It feels like groundhog day. You can't take that many penalties. It's extremely hard to kill it all off. We've been doing that consistently so it puts our guys in a very tough spot. We're emphasizing what we have to do: our sticks in the lanes, our scans, what we're going to see and sometimes teams are very highly skilled and they're making those seam passes even though we're absolutely trying our best and doing exactly what we should be doing. Sometimes they make that good pass." - Giants Assistant Coach Gaelan Patterson on being shorthanded six times
UPCOMING
The Giants play their sixth and final game of the East Division road trip on Saturday in Regina against the Pats at 5 p.m. PDT.
Stream all Giants games for free on Victory+.
Date Opponent Time Location
Saturday, October 11 Regina 5:00 PM PDT Brandt Centre
Friday, October 17 Wenatchee 7:00 PM PDT Langley Events Centre
Saturday, October 18 Penticton 6:05 PM PDT SOEC
Sunday, October 19 Medicine Hat 4:00 PM PDT Langley Events Centre
Giants single game tickets are NOW ON SALE! For the best value, grab your s eason ticket package, starting as low as $18.26 per game. Flex packs start at just $135 and come in six,12 or 36-ticket packs. Call the Giants Office at 604.4.GIANTS (+1 (604) 444-2687) or contact the Giants at: sales@vancouvergiants.com.
Images from this story
 Vancouver Giants battle the Brandon Wheat Kings (Jillybean Photography) |
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