WHL Brandon Wheat Kings

Wheat Kings Set for Game 3

Published on April 10, 2012 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Brandon Wheat Kings News Release


Brandon, MB. -- The Brandon Wheat Kings biggest challenge of the season is staring them square in the face this morning as they continue preparations for Tuesday's Game Three of the Western Hockey League Eastern Conference Semi Final against the visiting Edmonton Oil Kings.

The Wheat Kings, who have advanced to the second round of post-season play for the eighth time in the past eleven years, are trailing the Oil Kings two games to nothing in the best of seven series after losing back to back one goal decisions at Rexall Place this past weekend.

Tuesday's game will be Brandon's first game at Westman Communications Group Place in almost a month as the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair forced the Wheat Kings to play all three first round games at MTS Centre in Winnipeg. Having been on the road for most of that time, veteran left-winger Michael Ferland says that the team is excited to be getting the chance to play in front of their fans.

"It's going to mean a lot to go back home and play in front of our fans again," Ferland recently told CKLQ's Bruce Luebke. "They're great so everyone is looking forward to getting back there."

As of Monday afternoon, less than 2,900 tickets had been sold for Tuesday night's game.

Facing the prospects of having to win four of the next five games in this series, the Wheat Kings understand the magnitude of that challenge and head coach Cory Clouston expects his team to come out hard tonight.

"We still feel that we're in this series," Clouston told reporters this past weekend. "It's an uphill battle, but our focus is on Game 3 and winning that. If we can win that, we're right back in the thick of things."

Clouston isn't the only one that expects the Wheat Kings to be much better on home ice this week. So does Oil Kings' star Michael St. Croix - a Winnipeg native.

"They're going to be tough," St. Croix told the Edmonton Journal. "Brandon has played us tough the first two games. A couple of bounces here or there and it could have been a different game, but obviously it's going to be a tough battle.

"It's going to be a war out there, but I'm expecting us to come out and play with confidence and hopefully take Game 3 here," says St. Croix, whose Oil Kings have won seventeen straight games.

A quick start and a better powerplay could go a long ways in helping the Wheat Kings get back in this series. In the two weekend losses, Brandon was 0 for 5 with the man advantage and are now just 2 for 22 in the 2012 playoffs.

"Our players need to move more. We have to have more movement out of our players, not just the puck moving, we need to get the guys moving a bit more," Brandon assistant coach Darren Ritchie told CKLQ's Bruce Luebke. "I thought we had a couple of good looks in the third period. I thought we had some opportunities but not the full, sustained pressure you would like when you have a power-play at a key point in the game."

With more than 2,000 tickets still available for Tuesday's game, fans should have little trouble getting tickets and do so they can stop by the Keystone Centre box office, visit ticketmaster.ca or call 726-3555. Brandon averaged over 4,100 fans during the regular season.

Fans attending tonight's game will receive a special "Go Wheat Kings Go" Noisemaker, courtesy of Westside Plumbing and Heating and 880 CKLQ, the play by play voice of the WHL club.

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Western Hockey League Stories from April 10, 2012


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