Wheat Kings Reach 1,800 WHL Wins
November 12, 2019 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Brandon Wheat Kings News Release
Brandon, MB. - The Brandon Wheat Kings joined some pretty select company Monday afternoon when they downed the visiting Winnipeg ICE 7-2 at Westoba Place.
The win - Brandon's ninth of the season - was the club's 1,800th win since joining the Western Hockey League (previously known as the Western Canada Hockey League) in 1967.
By doing so the Wheat Kings have become only the second team / city in league history to reach the 1,800 win plateau and have pulled to within one victory of the league leading Medicine Hat Tigers.
Entering this weekend's 3-game Alberta road trip, the Wheat Kings are 9-12-0 this season and since leaving the Manitoba Junior Hockey League for the WHL in '67, they've compiled an overall record of 1800-1613-67-54, which translates to a winning percentage of .526
The WHL's all time leader in wins happens to be the Medicine Hat Tigers.
Since joining the WCHL as an expansion franchise in 1970, the Tigers have accumulated 1,801 victories, including twelve this season.
Rounding out the top five winning teams are the Saskatoon Blades (1,763), Regina Pats (1,737) and Kamloops (1,626).
Unlike the top four teams, the city of Kamloops has featured three different WHL clubs - the Chiefs, the Junior Oilers and the Blazers, who began play in 1984.
One other club - the Portland Winterhawks - has eclipsed the 1,600 win plateau. Including eleven wins this season, the Hawks have won 1,612 games since moving from Edmonton in 1976.
Calgary clubs meanwhile have managed to win 1,572 games since the WCHL began in 1966.
The Hitmen have won 935, the Wranglers won 341, the Centennials 294 and the old Buffaloes managed four wins during their one and only season.
The Wheat Kings, who have captured three league titles (1979, 1996 and 2016) may not be the overall leader in WHL wins but the club continues to have a stranglehold on the Canadian Hockey League's all time record of 125 points, which they finished with during the 1978-79 campaign. The club, which was led by the likes of Brian Propp, Ray Allison, Laurie Boschman and Brad McCrimmon posted a brilliant 58-5-9 record on their way to a league championship and to within a goal of capturing the Memorial Cup.
Brandon lost to the Ontario Hockey League Champion Peterborough Petes in overtime in the Cup Final.
The Wheat Kings began the 2019-20 season having qualified for post season play in seventeen of the last 19 seasons.
The Tigers meanwhile captured back to back league titles and Memorial Cups in 1987 and 1988. Medicine Hat was led by the likes of Mark Pederson, Trevor Linden and Rob Dimaio during that two year run.
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