Battle for Backup Spot Set to Begin

Brandon, MB – The Brandon Wheat Kings enter their Western Hockey League camp on Tuesday with what the organization hopes is new depth between the pipes.

Starting goalie Ethan Kruger returns, with the battle to back him up including signed 2004-born prospect Nick Jones, 2003-born listed player Cole Plowman, and a pair of 2005-born prospects entering their 16-year-old seasons, draftee Carter Capton and list player Carson Bjarnason. Local free agent KC Couckuyt will also be on the ice.

Kruger, who will attend development camp with the Edmonton Oilers, put up a 2.30 goals-against average and .915 save percentage in 16 games last season, going 13-2-1-0 in his first campaign as starter.

Wheat Kings general manager Doug Gasper said the team was watching to see in the East Division hub in Regina last season if Kruger would take the next step into being a bona fide starter and was rewarded.

“It became pretty evident in the hub pretty early that this was a confident young man who was ready to be the number one guy,” Gasper said. “As the hub went on, it became more and more evident that Ethan was the guy. The players had trust in him, he was a guy who kept us in every single game. His confidence grew and his play just got better and better.

“It became pretty evident that Ethan was a number one guy in this league and a real good number one.”

He’ll have a new partner this season after Brandon traded backup goalie Connor Ungar to the Red Deer Rebels in May in return for big defenceman Mason Ward.

“That was a tough decision,” Gasper said. “Connor was a young man who when I first joined the Wheat Kings was on the prospects list so I was touching base with him as a prospect. He’s just a terrific kid and really enjoyable to talk on the phone and visit with. He’s a nice young man and he’s a good goaltender.

“I thought he played well in the hub too but to be fair to Connor, to be a 19-year-old backup in the league is very difficult. We wanted to give Connor an opportunity to be a starter so that he could grow his game.”

It was a trade that wouldn’t have been made without some measure of confidence in the other goalies in Brandon’s pipeline.

The heir apparent to Ungar will be decided at camp, but the 17-year-old Calgary product Jones might be the front runner.

Brandon chose him in the fifth round, 93rd overall, in the 2019 bantam draft, and signed him in December 2020. In four games with the Calgary Buffaloes in the ultra-competitive Alberta U18 AAA Hockey League, he posted a 1.50 goals-against average and a .945 save percentage.

Plowman, who had a pair of outstanding campaigns with the Winnipeg Thrashers in the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League, suited up for the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Selkirk Steelers last season, going winless in three starts with a 4.35 goals-against average and .883 save percentage as the club went 3-5-0-0.

“We were pretty confident with our young guys that we wanted to get some back up minutes and some experience. It could be Nick Jones, it could be one of our ‘05s coming in. We don’t know. They’re going to have to settle that, and we have Cole Plowman, an ‘03, coming in as well so those guys will come into camp and make that decision for us.”

The two 2005-born youngsters will also be looking to make a strong impression.

The Wheat Kings selected the highly touted Capton in the fifth round in 2020. In three starts this season with Yale Hockey Academy’s under-17 prep team, the Lethbridge product posted a minuscule 0.79 goals-against average and .975 save percentage.

Bjarnason, a Carberry product, was listed by the Wheat Kings. After playing at the U15 level in the Southwest Cougars system, he headed to the Rink Hockey Academy last season. In two starts, he had a 2.01 goals-against average and .914 save percentage.

Capton and Bjarnason are both considered young goalies with bright futures.

“From our evaluations on both players when I was running the scouting staff, we liked both players,” Gasper said. “All the reviews we’ve got from the schools they’ve been at and wherever they’ve been playing have been ‘Wow, you’ve got a couple of good ones here.’ There’s nothing but high praise for both of them so we’re pretty excited about our goalie depth all of a sudden from minimal so we have some good young guys coming up.”

While Brandon hasn’t kept a 16-year-old goalie full-time since Byron Penstock in 1990-91, the architect of the theory that young netminders need that year to develop and play a lot, former GM and owner Kelly McCrimmon, is no longer with the team.

Gasper can see both sides of the argument.

“I think with all 16-year-olds, you’re always looking at what’s best for their long-term development,” Gasper said. “Just like a highly skilled forward, he needs the puck on his stick all the time. Where are you going to get the most opportunity with the puck? A goaltender is the same way. You have to be a pretty elite player to play in the Western Hockey League at 16. It’s a hard league to play in, and we want to make sure we’re making the right decision both for the team and the player as well.”

It will be an interesting camp for the netminders, most of whom didn’t see the normal amount of game action last winter. While they’ve had a chance to see the puck in hockey schools, it’s impossible to replicate actually playing in games.

Jones attended former coach Dave Lowry’s hockey school in Calgary, so he has faced junior and professional players.

Capton was at the Yale Hockey Academy, so even though they couldn’t play against other teams, they were able to practise.

“It doesn’t replace game action but we’ll see where they’re at,” Gasper said.

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