WHL Brandon Wheat Kings

Wheat Kings to Kick off Pivotal Road Trip

March 1, 2019 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Brandon Wheat Kings News Release


Calgary, AB. - The Brandon Wheat Kings kick off a critical 6-game Western Hockey League road trip Friday night in Calgary.

With only seventeen days remaining in the 2018-19 regular season, the Wheat Kings find themselves on the outside looking in when it comes to post-season play.

As a result of Red Deer winning games in both Moose Jaw and Regina this week, the Rebels have moved past Brandon and into a tie with Medicine Hat for the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference with 67 points each.

Brandon is two points back at 29-23-3-4 but enjoy a game in hand on both the Tigers and Rebels.

Calgary meanwhile sits three points up on both Red Deer and Medicine Hat and five ahead of the Wheat Kings heading into Friday's game. Brandon has won two of the first three games between the two teams, including a 5-1 victory at Westoba Place two weeks ago.

While the Wheat Kings would certainly like to be in a much better position entering the final month of regular season play, Brandon coach David Anning says an 8-4-0 record in February has at least given them a good chance of qualifying for this year's playoff party.

"I give our guys full credit," Anning told Perry Bergson of the Brandon Sun this week. "They've battled hard, they've played against tough opponents, they've had to scratch and claw their way back into a playoff position, and it hasn't been easy. They've been tough, physical, emotional games so I give our guys a ton of credit for playing the way they have. They understand that."

"Never once did we have excuses from our guys," he went on to say. "We went about our business the right way. We've been able to recharge the batteries and our guys are going to be confident when we start on Friday."

Of the four teams battling for the final three playoff berths, the Wheat Kings face the biggest challenge. Not only do they finish up the regular season with nine games in sixteen days in March, seven of their remaining games will be played on the road.

As for the other clubs battling desperate hockey down the stretch, Red Deer and Calgary play four games at home and four on the road while the Tigers play five of their final eight games on home ice.

Following is a comparison of the four teams March schedules....

Brandon

Home - Moose Jaw, Regina

Road - Calgary, Edmonton, Kootenay, Lethbridge, Red Deer, Medicine Hat, Regina

Medicine Hat

Home - Swift Current, Brandon, Calgary, Red Deer, Lethbridge

Road - Edmonton, Lethbridge, Kootenay

Red Deer

Home - Brandon, Kootenay, Edmonton, Lethbridge

Away - Prince Albert, Saskatoon, Medicine Hat, Kootenay

Calgary

Home - Brandon, Kootenay, Edmonton (2)

Away - Kootenay, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Edmonton

The Wheat Kings have been forced out of Westoba Place by the Tim Hortons Brier, which begins this weekend.

Based on how his club has played in recent weeks, Anning is cautiously optimistic about the upcoming trip to the Central Division.

"Our game has taken strides, and our game has improved," he told the Brandon Sun before the team left the city this week. "Our players have gotten better so right now our group is confident. We understand what it takes to beat these teams and I think we recognize that it's a tight playoff race and there are a lot of teams involved and in the mix now. Every game is important now. Having success in Alberta will give us confidence, and now the reality is that we have to go out and perform at a high level in order to be successful."

Heading into the weekend, which happens to be the third last weekend of the regular season, Calgary has compiled a 32-22-5-1 record. Saturday's opponent - the Edmonton Oil Kings - sit atop the Central.

Entering the weekend, both Brandon and Calgary are playing some of their best hockey of the season right now.

The Hitmen are 6-3-1-0 in their last ten while Brandon has won seven of its last 10 games.

Brandon captain Stelio Mattheos, who was chosen the TELUS Player of the Month for February, remains in the top five in league scoring this season with 40 goals and 90 points in 56 games. Calgary's Mark Kastelic meanwhile is 15th in the WHL with 70 points, including 43 goals.

Following this six game in nine day stretch, the Wheat Kings will return home to play two of their final games during the final week of the campaign.

Brandon's next home game is Wednesday, March 13th - "Rain Check Night" - when the Moose Jaw Warriors pay a visit to Westoba Place.

Fans with unused tickets (dated Nov. 23rd - February 22nd) can exchange at the Keystone Centre box office for a "free" ticket to this game (regular box office agency fees apply).

Check out the Brandon Wheat Kings Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from March 1, 2019


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