Wheat Kings This Week: Black and Gold Look To Continue Homestand Hot Streak

An extended winning streak has pushed the Brandon Wheat Kings well up the standings in the Eastern Conference, into fourth place and just a single point out of third. They’ll have a chance to make up that point this week against the very opponent they’re chasing.

First up, the Wheat Kings welcome the Kelowna Rockets on Wednesday, December 13. That will be a Willie Wednesday, with $2 hotdogs all game long, and it will also feature a U11 minor hockey shootout in the intermission.

As for the game itself, the Wheat Kings will face the Rockets in Brandon for the first time in four years, and look to catch them road weary as they’ll have played the previous night in Moose Jaw. But regardless of their opponent, the Wheat Kings have reason to come in with confidence, having won their last five in a row.

“It’s more enjoyable to come to the rink, that’s for sure, for everyone from the staff to the players,” said head coach and GM Marty Murray. “When you’re playing well and things are going well, it’s enjoyable to come to the rink. At the same time, you can’t get too far ahead of yourself. We’ve got a lot of work here to do before the break.”

The Wheat Kings will be playing the next game (and possibly into early January) without captain Nate Danielson, as he’s at Canada’s World Junior camp vying for a spot on the national team. In his absence, younger players are going to get more of an opportunity.

“Nate is an elite player at our level and we’re not looking at one particular person to come in and replace him,” Murray said. “It’s by committee. We’re looking forward to seeing who does step up… Guys like Joby Baumuller are going to climb up the lineup and it’s an opportunity for Dominik Petr to show he can lead the way.”

In that case, it was a good time for Baumuller and Caleb Hadland to find the scoresheet as they did against the Kamloops Blazers. Baumuller’s second period tally stood up as the game winner, and was his first of the campaign.

“We’ve been talking about Joby for a while, he’s been getting some looks,” said Murray. “It was nice to see him get rewarded there. Hopefully it’s a big weight off his shoulders and he gets some confidence going forward. He’s going to start on a line with Brett Hyland and Roger McQueen tomorrow, so that’ll be a good opportunity for him.”

Next up after the Rockets are the Moose Jaw Warriors, the team the Wheat Kings are immediately behind in the standings and who they beat in a shootout thriller in their last meeting on December 8. That game is also a huge one off the ice, as it’s Teddy Bear Toss Night, so that first Wheat Kings goal will bring a cascade of teddy bears, toques, and mittens to the ice.

CLICK HERE to grab your tickets for the final two home games before the Christmas Break!