WHL Brandon Wheat Kings

Wheaties-Raiders rivalry continues

Published on March 23, 2007 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Brandon Wheat Kings News Release


Brandon, Manitoba -- (Courtesy of Bruce Luebke, 880 CKLQ)The Prince Albert Raiders are, arguably, the Brandon Wheat Kings biggest Western Hockey League rival.

The animosity between the two teams can be partially traced to having met in the playoffs in 2004 and 2005.

In 2004, the third-place Wheat Kings eliminated the second-place Raiders in six games in the first round while in 2005; the teams played a seven-game series in the Eastern Conference Final with Brandon winning the decisive contest 5-1 at the Keystone Centre.

However, one night, February 19, 2005, may be one of the biggest contributing factors to the rivalry between the two clubs in recent seasons.

That night, the teams combined for 390 penalty minutes in what was a 6-1 Brandon victory.

'That was a bit of a crazy game,' says defenceman Theran Yeo, one of six remaining Wheat Kings who played that night, 'I learned a lot during that, actually. It's made the rivalry strong and its definitely fun playing against them.'

Prince Albert head coach Peter Anholt added some fuel to the fire when he failed to take part in the traditional playoff handshakes following the Raiders' game seven loss to the Wheat Kings in the 2005 Eastern Conference Final.

This season, Brandon won five of the eight meetings between the two teams including all four games played at the Keystone Centre.

'I think there's a big rivalry between the two teams and I think the games have been competitive and we expect this to be a real tough series,' says Brandon GM/Coach Kelly McCrimmon, 'We need to worry about playing our game and doing the things that we do well and want to do.'

'There's a big, physical team and they'll chip it in and chase you down and move the puck to the front of the net with some traffic,' adds Brandon goaltender Tyler Plante, who was 4-1 in five games versus PA this season, 'We have to be ready to work in the defensive zone and work all around because they're not a bad team.'

The Wheat Kings are, no doubt, favoured in the series after finishing 33 points ahead of Prince Albert in the regular season but both teams will agree that those numbers can be tossed out the window once the pucks drops Friday night.

As of 6 p.m. Thursday, just over 2,400 tickets had been purchased for Friday's series opener. "I don't think it's unfair at all to say we're disappointed," McCrimmon told reporters on Thursday. "It was a lot of effort on the part of the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair, a lot of effort on the part of the Keystone Centre to make these two games possible."

Fans wanting to purchase tickets can visit the Keystone Centre box office, call 726-3555 or go online at ticketmaster.ca.

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Western Hockey League Stories from March 23, 2007


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