WHL Brandon Wheat Kings

Wheat Kings arrive in Prince Albert

Published on March 28, 2007 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Brandon Wheat Kings News Release


Prince Albert, Saskatchewan -- The Brandon Wheat Kings arrived in Prince Albert Tuesday night, in preparation for meeting the hometown Raiders in game three of their best of seven Western Hockey League opening round playoff series on Wednesday.

The Wheat Kings will be looking to solve Raiders' netminder Jesse Deckert and hope to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the WHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinal.

Brandon is coming off back to back overtime victories at the Keystone Centre this past weekend, beating the Raiders 4-3 on Friday and 3-2 the following night on goals by Daniel Bartek and Mark Derlago.

The Wheat Kings outshot the Raiders 90-40 during the first two games, dominating their Saskatchewan visitors at times and enjoying numerous scoring chances, only to have the 20-year old Winnipeg product shut the door on them time and time again.

"It's been two overtime games and that's as close as you can be coming out of the gate and it's what we expected," Brandon coach and general manager Kelly McCrimmon told James Shewaga of the Brandon Sun earlier this week. "I"m not surprised that is how the series has unfolded so far....hot goaltenders are a part of the playoffs and Deckert has stood tall for Prince Albert and I think that our guys have been able to avoid frustration."

As in most playoff series, game three can be pivotal and this one is no different. A Brandon victory on Wednesday will push the Raiders to the brink of elimination while a Raiders' win will put Prince Albert right back into the series.

"We know the fans will be excited and we are looking forward to playing in our own atmosphere," Raiders' captain Mike Hellyer told the Prince Albert Daily Herald after game two in Brandon. "We know all our fans are behind us and we have to play our hearts out."

The Raiders expect the Art Hauser Centre will be sold out Wednesday and Thursday for games three and four. Should a fifth game be necessary, it would be played Saturday night in Prince Albert. Brandon attracted less than 7,000 fans to its first two games this past weekend at the Keystone Centre, after averaging over 4,100 fans per game during rhe regular season.

"We expect a real test in Prince Albert," says McCrimmon.

After finishing fourth on the team in scoring this past season with 28 goals and 60 points in 72 games, 18-year old Andrew Clark shares the Wheat Kings' playoff scoring lead with defenceman Dustin Kohn. During the first two games of the series, Clark has two goals and 3 points while Kohn has three assists. Rookie Daniel Bartek and captain Mark Derlago have two goals each. Codey Burki meanwhile has two assists after leading the club and finishing fifth in the WHL scoring race during the regular season with 36 goals and 85 points.

Game three is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Wednesday night. The CKLQ playoff pre-game show gets underway at 8:15 p.m. with Bruce Luebke.

Three other Eastern Conference series will continue Wednesday - in Swift Current, Calgary and Red Deer. In Calgary, the Hitmen and Kootenay Ice will face off in game three, with that series deadlocked at one win a piece. Medicine Hat takes a 2-1 series lead into game four in Red Deer while Regina has a 2-1 lead on the Broncos entering tonight's game in Swift Current.

In Tuesday night's action, the Tigers got goals from five different players en route to a 5-3 victory over Red Deer while Logan Pyett's goal in the final minute of the second period proved to be the difference as the Pats defeated Swift Current 5-4.

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Western Hockey League Stories from March 28, 2007


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