Sports stats



WHL Brandon Wheat Kings

Trio of Wheat Kings off to NHL Camps

September 4, 2019 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Brandon Wheat Kings News Release


Brandon, MB - A trio of Brandon Wheat Kings will head off to NHL rookie camp's this week.

Luka Burzan (Colorado), Jiri Patera (Vegas) and Ben McCartney (Philadelphia) all head south this week with hopes of turning heads at the pro level.

Burzan, a 6th round pick of the Avalanche in June's Entry Draft has had an impressive summer. Coming off a career-high 40-goal season Burzan joined teammate Braden Schnieder in Plymouth, Michigan representing Team Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship showcase tournament.

"This is something you look forward to your whole life," Burzan said. "You work hard to get to this level. I'm going to go there and soak in as much as I can."

The Surrey, BC native will join former Wheat Kings Ty Lewis at rookie camp.

Players will report to Denver this week before heading to Anaheim for a rookie showcase tournament.

Meanwhile, in Vegas, a pair of Wheat Kings will put their skills on display for new General Manager Kelly McCrimmon and the hockey staff of the Golden Knights.

Jiri Patera enters his 3rd NHL training camp after being selected by the Knights in the 6th round of the 2017 Entry Draft.

While he remains unsigned, his status as a European Import allows the Knights an extra year to sign him, taking some of the pressure off.

"The goal is to impress the coaches and the organization," said Patera. "I want to show them I'm capable of signing a contract and playing pro hockey."

Finnish import Marcus Kallionkieli has spent the last few weeks in Las Vegas rehabbing an injury with team doctors and trainers. There is no official word on if he will compete in camp.

Like Burzan and the Avalanche, the Golden Knights rookies will head to Anaheim for the Ducks rookie showcase.

In Philadelphia, PA Ben McCartney will continue to try and impress as a free agent invite.

The undrafted forward is coming off a career year where he scored 21 times and added 20 assists for 40 points. He attended Flyers development camp in spring and is ready to build off that opportunity.

"I want to go there and be the hardest working guy in camp," said McCartney. "I want to come back to Brandon with zero regrets."

McCartney missed the last two days of Wheat Kings camp due to a lower-body injury but is expected to take part in all Flyers scheduled camp activities.

The rest of the Wheat Kings will continue their preparations this week for the first weekend of WHL pre-season action. Brandon welcomes Winnipeg to town on Friday night. Game time is 7:30pm, with the QCountry pre-game show on the air at 7:00pm. Throughout the day the Wheat Kings will be holding Season Ticket Pick-Up Day at the Keystone South Parking lot from 10:00am-7:00pm. Fans that have purchase season tickets are encouraged to pick their up that day, there will be complementary Tim Horton's, Chip Truck and Montana's available that day as well.

Check out the Brandon Wheat Kings Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from September 4, 2019


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.

Other Recent Brandon Wheat Kings Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central