Leschyshyn and Patrick smart NHL Draft picks despite injuries

Jake Leschyshyn (#19) wins a battle in the corner for the Pats

    The player personal staffs of the Vegas Golden Knights and the Philadelphia Flyers might one day look back in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft and give themselves a pat on the back for their bravery.

    Both clubs each picked a player from the WHL who had their respective 2016-17 campaigns cut considerably short due to injury.

    The Golden Knights selected 18-year-old centre Jake Leschyshyn of the Regina Pats in the second round and 62^nd overall. Leschyshyn was limited to 47 regular season games and missed the Pats entire post-season run to the WHL Championship series after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee.

    The Flyers picked centre Nolan Patrick, who will turn 19 in September, in the first round and second overall. The Brandon Wheat Kings star was often projected to be the first overall selection, but two sports hernia injuries limited him to 33 regular season games and kept him out of the playoffs.

Nolan Patrick in action for the Wheat Kings in May of 2016.

    Any teams that passed on either player might regret that decision one day. If you are an elite athlete that plays any sport at a high level over a lengthy period of time, chances are high you will eventually have to deal with a major injury in your career.

    Due to the fact Leschyshyn and Patrick are really young looking at the grand scheme of the hockey picture, they have lots of time to make respective full recoveries and return better than ever.

    Leschyshyn, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 182 pounds, first really turned heads in the WHL after putting on a gritty performance in the 2016 playoffs. He had a goal and three assists in 12 games as the Pats advanced to the second round before falling 2-1 in a series deciding Game 7 to the Red Deer Rebels. During that post-season, Leschyshyn was noticeable on the ice due to a fierce work ethic that was displayed when he had to battle in the hard areas.

    This season, Leschyshyn piled up 17 goals and 23 assists in 47 regular season games. When he did hit the ice, he gave the Pats a dynamic one, two, three punch at centre playing behind Sam Steel and Adam Brooks. Leschyshyn played a big part in helping the Pats post the best record in the league at 52-12-7-1.

Jake Leschyshyn (#19) creates a screens a goalie for the Pats.

    He comes from a real good family that is tied into the game too. Father, Curtis, had a lengthy NHL career as a defenceman and younger sister, Anna, is a star centre with the Saskatoon Stars female midget AAA team. Thanks to his family, Jake will have great guidance when it comes to a career in the NHL.

    As for Patrick, he watched the New Jersey Devils pick 18-year-old centre and Switzerland product Nico Hischier first overall. Flyers proceeded to select Patrick with the second overall pick.

    It almost seemed like Patrick’s spectacular sophomore season with the Wheat Kings in 2015-16 was forgotten. The Winnipeg product appeared in all 72 of the Wheat Kings regular season games piling up 41 goals and 61 assists.

    He played a huge role in helping the Wheat Kings capture the WHL Championship in 2016 recording 13 goals and 17 assists in 21 post-season games. Patrick, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 198 pounds, was named the MVP of the playoffs that season.

Nolan Patrick (#19) sets up in the offensive zone in May of 2016.

    Due to his later in the year birth date, Patrick wasn’t eligible for the NHL Entry Draft until the end of his 18-year-old season. After he played so spectacular as a 17-year-old, it seemed almost inevitable Patrick would be a first over selection.

    Having played such a big role in Brandon in 2015-16, one wondered what more amazing things he could do for an encore. Injuries hampered those hopes.

    Patrick also comes from a good family that has a strong hockey background. His father, Steve, played six seasons in the NHL at right wing in the 1980s. His uncle, James, had a lengthy career as a defenceman.

    The influence of both Steve and James, who is the new head coach of the WHL’s Kootenay Ice, will ensure Nolan has a pretty good heads up regarding waters he will have to navigate as a professional.

    The injuries both Jake Leschyshyn and Nolan Patrick had to battle through would definitely create doubts for some. At the moment, their ability to help a club in the immediate short term is still questionable.

    Over the long term, both the Golden Knights and Flyers will likely be rewarded with their sound selections of the two respective centres.

Rush thank you commercial sweet touch

The Rush players salute the SaskTel Centre fans.

    The Saskatchewan Rush gave a salute to their fans since their National Lacrosse League campaign came to an end.

    In both years the NLL franchise has been based out of Saskatoon, the Rush have advanced to the best-of-three league championship series. A year ago, the Rush swept the Buffalo Bandits 2-0 to claim the Champion’s Cup.

    Game 2 of that series was one for the ages as Rush defenceman Jeff Cornwall went coast-to-coast to score the series-winning goal with 12 seconds to play that broke a 10-10 tie and gave the Rush an 11-10 victory before 15,182 spectators at the SaskTel Centre.

    Having won the Champion’s Cup in 2015 when the team was still located in Edmonton, the Rush franchise was trying for the three-peat this season. The Rush returned to the NLL championship series only to be swept 2-0 by the Duluth-based Georgia Swarm. Game 2 of the series was a heartbreaker for the Rush, who fell 15-14 in overtime at the SaskTel Centre on June 10.

    During the regular season, the Rush topped the Western Division standings with a 12-6 mark. Between the regular season and playoffs, the Rush always drew over 14,000 spectators to each of their home games. The energy created by the fans at Rush games is second to none.

    Since falling in the NLL finals, the Rush have run commercials on local television to thank the fans. The commercial is also posted on the team’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

    It was a classy move by the team and one that will always payoff in some positive way down the road.

Back in the Express with Roughriders analysis

Kevin Glenn (#5) throws a pass downfield at Roughriders training camp.

    I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express this past week with a column that provide analysis about the Saskatchewan Roughriders prospects for the 2017 CFL season.

    Due to the nature of writing for a weekly publication, the piece went to print before the team announced final cuts on June 17. The issue of the Express that contained the piece hit the streets on June 19.

    Since that time, the Roughriders opened the regular season dropping a 17-16 heartbreaker on the road to the Alouettes in Montreal last Thursday. I wrote in my piece that playoffs are possible for the Roughriders, and I still hold on to that despite the opening day result.

    When you check social media lines, the loss to the Alouettes has some Roughriders fans jumping ship. Had Roughriders kicker Tyler Crapigna nailed a 45-yard field goal attempt on the game’s final play to win it, you would see fans jumping on the bandwagon. Those reactions come with the territory of following Saskatchewan’s CFL franchise.

    The season opening game likely worked out a lot of emotion regarding Roughriders head coach and general manager Chris Jones and Alouettes and former Roughriders franchise quarterback Darian Durant. Jones traded Durant to the Alouettes in January as part of a huge effort to retool the Roughriders.

    After Crapigna missed his kick, Durant gave a big celebration directed at the Roughriders bench. Jones walked off the field looking more upset than normal after the setback. It was obvious from their respective reactions and both Durant and Jones have personal upset feelings regarding the end of Durant’s time in Saskatchewan.

    With all that said, the CFL regular season is a marathon and not a sprint due to the fact every club plays 18 regular season games. The Roughriders return to action this coming Saturday, when they host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at 7 p.m. at new Mosaic Stadium.

    The piece I wrote on the Roughriders for the Express can be found here.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

Wheat Kings are the toast of Brandon

Jayce Hawryluk (#8) and Nolan Patrick (#19) enjoy a Wheat Kings win.

  Since winning the WHL championship on Friday night in Seattle, the Brandon Wheat Kings and their fans have enjoyed the spoils of victory, and they should enjoy every good moment associated with that win.

    When the Wheat Kings downed the host Thunderbirds 8-4 in Game 5 of the WHL Championship series at the ShoWare Center on Friday night, Brandon claimed its first league title since 1996 with a 4-1 best-of-seven series victory. The win was followed by a joyous plane fight home and huge upbeat rally at the UTC Pavilion in Brandon on Saturday with the Ed Chynoweth Cup. Between league title wins, the Wheat Kings continued to hold the lofty status as being one of the WHL’s elite franchises.

    In the 20 years since the 1996 WHL title win, the Wheat Kings only missed the playoffs twice. During that time, the Wheat Kings finished first in the East Division on eight occasions, which included this season. The run to stay good included having to rebound from loading up to host the Memorial Cup in 2010.

Nolan Patrick became a game breaker for the Wheat Kings.

    That fact Brandon went 20 years between league title wins is more a testament to how tough it is to win it all in the WHL.

    This season, the Wheat Kings topped the WHL’s Eastern Conference standings and placed second overall in the WHL with a 48-18-4-2 mark. The 102 points they collected in the standings ranks seventh best in team history. Last year, Brandon finish first overall in the WHL with a 53-11-4-4 record, advanced to the WHL final and got swept by the Kelowna Rockets.

    When to comes to wins and losses, the Wheat Kings have had a small number of seasons that were better than the record posted in 2015-16, but the current playoff run seemed to resonate with the local fans on a bit of a higher scale than past campaigns.

    Over 11 playoff home games, the Wheat Kings averaged 5,070 spectators at Westman Place, which seats 5,102. The WHL Guide for 2015-16 states the Wheat Kings’s rink can accommodate 600 people for standing room, but we all know that number depends on how the fire marshal is feeling.

    Brandon’s crowds swelled into the standing room spots on six occasions in the post-season. The Wheat Kings highest attendance figure came when they drew 5,621 spectators to their final home game, which was a 3-2 overtime victory over the Thunderbirds in Game 2 of the WHL title series on May 7.

Jordan Papirny came up with critical saves for the Wheat Kings.

    During the regular season, the Wheat Kings averaged 4,212 spectators per game. In last year’s playoffs, they drew an average of 4,778 spectators for 10 home dates.

    It is hard to pin a reason why the Wheat Kings run this year seemed to do a better job of capturing the attention of the citizens of Brandon. There might have been a new appreciation for the positive characteristics the Wheat Kings bring to the rink night in and night out.

    The Wheat Kings success begins with head coach, general manager and owner Kelly McCrimmon, who is a strong community minded individual. He is good at building chemistry, when you note that seven of the 24 players on Brandon’s current roster arrived via trade including steady captain Macoy Erkamps, who came in a deal with the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Sept 30, 2014. Those additions mixed in with 13 Bantam Draft selections, three list players and one Import Draft pick.

    McCrimmon is like a second dad to his players, and behind the bench, he does a stellar job of remaining composed and focused no matter what happens on the ice. The players mirror that demeanor, which has to help them stay even when things go bad.

Fans packed Westman Place in Brandon for Wheat Kings games.

    The Wheat Kings players have had a history of being know has the favourite road team in the WHL among the hotel and restaurant staffs in other cities. They always carry themselves in a classy and personable manner, and those positive traits also help the team on the ice.

    The club’s assistant coaches in Darren Ritchie and David Anning and goaltending coach Matt Cockell have to be credited for helping build the team to what it is. Brandon also benefited from strong work performed by a scouting staff headed up by Wade Klippenstein, who is the team’s director of scouting.

    During post-game interviews after winning the WHL title, all the Wheat Kings players and staffers said that everyone on the team was a good character individual. When you look up and down their roster, you can see that is an accurate assessment, especially when you look at overage defenceman Mitch Wheaton and 19-year-old rearguard Jordan Thomson.

    Wheat Kings’s fans were able to see a lot of brilliant performances form a number of individuals. Three of the key ones had to come from Nolan Patrick, Jayce Hawryluk and Jordan Papirny.

Wheat Kings captain Macoy Erkamps (#20) battles for the puck.

    Patrick, who was born four days after the cut off day for this year’s NHL Entry Draft, was a star, but the skilled centre became a game breaker, who made key plays at critical times. He topped the Wheat Kings in post-season scoring with 13 goals and 17 assists in 21 games.

    Hawryluk, who was an NHL Entry Draft selection of the Florida Panthers in 2014, further cemented his reputation as being one of the hardest players to play against in the WHL. Standing 5-foot-10 and weighing 194 pounds, Hawryluk actually can play the physical bang and crash game, and he has the ability to be one of those pest/agitator types that knocks opponents off their game.

    The Roblin, Man., product delivers offensively too as he collected seven goals and 22 assists in 21 playoff games. In the victory that clinched the WHL title, Hawryluk had one of those special nights firing home a hat trick and collecting a pair of assists in an 8-4 win.

    In goal, Papirny delivered the big saves when the Wheat Kings needed them the most, and performed like a money goalie in the playoffs on most nights. His 2.93 goals against average and .897 save percentage doesn’t do justice to show how good the Edmonton product was. When Papirny had a bad game, he rebounded the next night in spectacular style.

Defenceman Mitch Wheaton is a character player for the Wheat Kings.

    On Monday, the Wheat Kings return to practice to gear up for their next big challenge, which is the Memorial Cup tournament in Red Deer. Brandon enters that four-team event as an underdog squad. The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champion Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and Ontario Hockey League champion London Knights will be pegged as the favourites.

    The Huskies topped the final Canadian Hockey League Top Ten rankings posting a 54-9-3-2 regular season record. They recorded a 16-4 playoff record in their run to a QMJHL title.

    The Knights were third in the final CHL rankings after posting a 51-14-2-1 regular season record. They were 16-2 in their run to winning the OHL championship.

    London opens the Memorial Cup this coming Friday against the host Red Deer Rebels. The Rebels finished sixth overall in the WHL with a 45-24-1-2 regular season mark, and they made it to the WHL’s Eastern Conference championship series before falling to Brandon.

The Wheat Kings next focus is capturing the Memorial Cup.

    The Wheat Kings open play at the Memorial Cup this coming Saturday against the Huskies. The tournament’s championship game is slated for May 29.

    Brandon has never won a Memorial Cup. The Wheat Kings come a long way to gain a rare opportunity to capture major junior hockey’s biggest prize.

    Everyone associated with the team will note there is no point stopping now, and they might as well finish things off by going all the way. The Wheat Kings are battle hardened and will prove to be a tough out on the national stage.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

Wheat Kings put Thunderbirds on ropes

Seattle’s mental toughness faces huge test in WHL finals

The Wheat Kings mob Jayce Hawryluk (#8) after his OT winner.

    BRANDON, Man. – Jayce Hawryluk potted one of those ugly overtime winners that drove a dagger through the hearts of the Seattle Thunderbirds.

    With the host Brandon Wheat Kings locked in a 2-2 tie in overtime with the Thunderbirds in Game 2 of the WHL championship series on Saturday night, Hawryluk had the puck in the right corner of the Seattle zone. The Roblin, Man., product tried to hit linemate Nolan Patrick with a backdoor pass for a scoring chance. 

    Hawryluk’s pass banked off the inside of one of the pads of Thunderbirds goaltender Landon Bow and bounced into the Seattle goal 6:56 into extra time. The marker gave the Wheat Kings a 3-2 victory before 5,621 delirious onlookers at Westman Place, which seats 5,102.

Ethan Bear gave Seattle a short-lived lead.

    Brandon takes a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, which moves to Seattle for Game 3 on Tuesday. The Thunderbirds aren’t dead as they also host Game 4 on Wednesday and a potential Game 5 on Friday, but they are on the ropes. Saturday’s loss has to be a tough pill to swallow, as even the winning goal scorer himself admitted he wasn’t trying to put the puck in the net with his pass attempt.

    “I was trying to hit Patrick backdoor,” said Hawryluk. “I saw him going in. It caught a fortunate bounce.”

    That positive bounce marked the second straight overtime victory for the Wheat Kings, who took Game 1 a night earlier by a similar 3-2 outcome. Brandon centre Tanner Kaspick netted the winner in the series opener, when he showed great hand-eye coordination in knocking a puck out of the air into the Seattle net.

    Seattle’s mental psyche is being tested like it never has before in the 2016 post-season. Over the first three rounds of the WHL playoffs, the Thunderbirds won 12 out of 13 games. Now, they have lost two straight overtime games in a battle for the Ed Chynoweth Cup, and they drop two contests they could have won, if they had just a couple of breaks go their way.

Jayce Hawryluk finds a way to come through for Brandon.

    On Saturday, the Thunderbirds never trailed until Hawryluk’s winner went in. Seattle led 1-0 and went up 2-1, when a point shot from defenceman Ethan Bear found the back of the Brandon goal. Donovan Neuls scored Seattle’s first marker just a minute into the second period.

    The Wheat Kings, who were swept out of last year’s WHL title series by the Kelowna Rockets, found a way to get it done, and that has ultimately made the difference so far in this year’s league title series.

    Just 81 seconds after Neuls’s goal, Patrick wired home his 12^th of the post-season on a two-on-one break to tie things up at 1-1. Patrick’s goal came when the Thunderbirds were on the power play.

    After Seattle went up 2-1, Wheat Kings left-winger Tyler Coulter netted the equalizer with 5:20 to play in the third to force a 2-2 score.

    Wheat Kings goaltender Jordan Papirny proved to be a Thunderbirds nemesis making 37 stops to earn the win in goal for Brandon. Bow, who had a stellar night outside of Hawryluk’s winner, turned away 36 shots to take the loss in goal for Seattle.

The Thunderbirds couldn't crash in a potential winner late in the third.

    Right now, the Wheat Kings, who have won 14 of their 18 post-season games, have to be feeling they can overcome every obstacle that comes their way. Some doubt has to be creeping in the minds of the Thunderbirds, who don’t have a whole lot of history of recent long playoff runs.

    Game 3 is a must win for the Thunderbirds. If the Thunderbirds fall, a sweep will likely be in the cards for the Wheat Kings.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

The magic of "right now" revisited in Brandon

Wheat Kings gave home faithful a night to remember

The Wheat Kings celebrate a goal from Nolan Patrick.

    If you were inside Westman Place in Brandon on Friday night, you couldn’t help but be swept up in “the now.”

    In an age where one is bombarded with social media like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, it seems like people forget to interact with or even enjoy the actual real world around them. It feels like people keep seeking instant gratification of getting a tidbit of information in 140 characters or getting a post out there about something they have on their mind.

    For those that saw the Brandon Wheat King play at Westman Place on Friday night, you were reminded that the real world can still be a cool place to be.

    A total of 5,605 spectators packed into the Wheaties home rink that seats 5,102, and they had to admit they saw something special when the home side claimed the WHL Eastern Conference title with a 5-2 victory over the Red Deer Rebels. A couple of days later, you get a better appreciation for how cool it was to be focused on the current moment over a period of three hours.

    The Wheat Kings entered Game 5 leading the best-of-seven series 3-1. There was an excitement in the air throughout Brandon and the atmosphere in Westman Place moments before game time was giddy. People decked out in Brandon jerseys and #Goldrush T-shirts were anticipating the Wheat Kings would win the conference title that night and advance to the WHL championship series for a second straight year.

The "Gold Men" celebrate the Wheat Kings conference title win.

    During the singing of O Canada, the crowd gave an emphatic yell of the words “true north” and from that moment on you could feel the passion of the Manitoba-based hockey fan.

    The Wheat Kings fed off the energy of the home crowd, and for the first seven minutes of the game, the Rebels rarely got out of their own zone.

    The visitors were able to withstand that opening surge scoring the first goal of the contest and exiting the first period with a 2-1 edge. The Rebels were only delaying the inevitable.

    Just 86 seconds into the second period, Wheat Kings star centre Nolan Patrick drove hard to the net and converted a nice setup pass from linemate Jayce Hawryluk to tie things up at 2-2. The tally was Patrick’s second of the contest.

    He potted his hat trick goal with 3:41 to play in the second to put the hosts up 3-2. As hats rained down to the ice, it hit you that the 17-year-old Winnipeg product was indeed having one of those spectacular individual performances in a big playoff game that you would always remember. It would be the item that led almost all the media reports about that night’s game.

The Rebels could not stop Nolan Patrick (#19) of the Wheat Kings.

    Standing 6-foot-3 and weighing 195 pounds, Patrick has the physical dimensions for a forward that are an NHL scouts dream to go along with his exceptional skill.

    Due to his late in the year birthday, Patrick isn’t draft eligible until next year, which made his performance on Friday night look that much more amazing. Patrick’s big night also came from playing inside of Brandon’s system, and his stellar chemistry with his linemates produced the offensive outburst.

    With 47.2 seconds to play in the second, Patrick became the setup man. He assisted on John Quenneville’s short-handed goal to put the Wheat Kings up 4-2.

    Brandon’s momentum continued in the third when netminder Jordan Papirny stoned Rebels captain Luke Philp on a breakaway. The Wheat Kings proceeded to go up 5-2 with 7:52 to play, when Patrick hit pinching defenceman Kale Clague with a beautiful back door feed, and Clague roofed home a goal during a period of four-on-four play.

Part of the 5,605 at Westman Place begin to celebrate the Wheat Kings win.

    The celebration started. With 5:30 to play in the third, the fans pulled a classic and started singing the “Goodbye” song to the Rebels. If anyone in the rink was dealing with worries regarding work or their home life, those worries were far from their minds at that moment.

    The party hit a fever pitch when the final seconds expired and the Wheat Kings poured off their bench to mob Papirny.

    Some laughs ensued during the presentation of the WHL Eastern Conference championship trophy. To superstitiously avoid bad luck, Wheat Kings captain Macoy Erkamps ensured he didn’t touch the trophy and snuck his hand underneath it to shake the hand of WHL vice-president of hockey Richard Doerksen.

    Big cheers erupted a couple of times, when the Wheat Kings players raised their sticks to salute the fans.

    The people in Westman Place that night were enjoying a big community moment they would always remember. All that mattered was right now, and it was a pretty good place to be.

Random observations – Valkyries get youth infusion

Valkyries newcomer Emmarae Dale takes down a Storm ballcarrier.

    There are a lot of new young faces among the Saskatoon Valkyries women’s football team this season.

    The Valkyries have 27 new players on their roster this season. A large number of the newcomers appear to be coming from the girls’ flag football league that exists in the Bridge City.

    With the newcomers on the field, the Valkyries opened their 2016 campaign on Saturday downing the Edmonton Storm 30-17 in an exhibition tilt. Like a lot of early season football, the Valkyries had their moments when they looked good and other moments when you could tell some improvement was needed.

    Under head coach Jeff Yausie and his staff, the Valkyries always improve a huge amount as the season goes along, and you can expect this campaign will be no different.

    The Valkyries open their Western Women's Canadian Football League regular season this coming Sunday on road in Winnipeg against the Wolfpack, and their regular season home opener is set for May 15 at 1 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football Field against the Manitoba Fearless.

• I wonder how many people are anxious to get their next Saskatchewan Rush hit. The local National Lacrosse League team won’t play again at the SaskTel Centre until May 21^st at 7:30 p.m., when they host Game 2 of the Western Final. The Rush topped the Western Division standings with a 13-5 record. They have played in front of crowds of over 10,000 in each of their last six home games, which included drawing 15,027 to their final regular season home game on April 16, when they downed the Colorado Mammoth 11-8. I suspect a few people will avoid a lake trip during the May 21^st weekend.
• I have a feeling that the magical 2015 Major League Baseball season for the Toronto Blue Jays will be a one off. The 2015 campaign came out of nowhere, and it was the Jays first post-season appearance since they won their last World Series in 1993. From 1985 to 1993, the Jays made the playoffs on a frequent basis. They currently don’t have that type of history and it might be showing in their 12-14 start. Expect them to miss the playoffs entirely this year.
• Expect the best-of-seven WHL championship series between the Wheat Kings and Seattle Thunderbirds to be must watch TV. Both clubs have exciting and talented rosters. Game 1 from Brandon is set for Friday at 7 p.m. Saskatchewan time on Sportsnet. Shaw takes over the rest of the way starting with Game 2 on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time.
• It would be sweet of the Saskatoon Blades are successful in getting an inner city outdoor rink built in Saskatoon. One of those classic Canadian experiences is playing shinny on an outdoor rink during winter. I believe that type of facility would be well used. If you build it, the people will come.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

Patrick seals Eastern Conference title deal for Wheat Kings

Nolan Patrick (#19) had five-points on Friday for the Wheat Kings.

    BRANDON, Man. - Nolan Patrick might have cemented his status as a playoff hero for the Brandon Wheat Kings.

    The 17-year-old centre from Winnipeg had a dream game on Friday night. The sophomore posted a hat trick and a pair of assists to power the Wheat Kings to a 5-2 victory over the Red Deer Rebels before 5,605 spectators at Westman Place. The win allowed Brandon to win the WHL Eastern Conference championship for a second straight year as they eliminated the Rebels in the best-of-seven set 4-1.

    “It is obviously nice to get those numbers, but my linemates were unbelievable,” said Patrick, who isn’t NHL Entry Draft eligible until 2017 due to a late birthday. “Jayce (Hawryluk) made a great play on my second goal there.

    “John (Quenneville) made a great pass on my third goal there, so I had to pretty much put it into an empty net. They were unbelievable all night, and I think everyone contributed tonight.”

    Patrick came through at timely points in the contest. After Rebels right-winger Jake DeBrusk gave the visitors a 1-0 edge with a tipped in goal at the 7:16 mark of the first, Patrick wired home a wrist shot to tie things up at 1-1 just past the midway point of the opening frame.

    The Rebels, who will host the Memorial Cup championship tournament in May, managed to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission off a gritty goal from left-winger Evan Polei. That tally created another opportunity for Patrick to make an impact.

Nolan Patrick celebrates his hat trick goal with his teammates.

    Just 86 seconds into the second period, he drove hard to the Red Deer goal and converted a nice set-up feed from Hawryluk to tie things up at 2-2. With 3:41 to play in the second, Patrick potted the game winner after receiving a beauty pass from Quenneville across the face of the Red Deer net.

    With 47.2 seconds to play in the second and Red Deer on the power play, Patrick proceeded to set up Quenneville for his 13^th tally of the post-season to give Brandon a 4-2 edge.

    In the third, Patrick helped account for the final dagger slipping a beautiful back-door feed to pinching defenceman Kale Clague, who roofed home a marker that put the Wheat Kings up 5-2. The final Brandon goal came during a stretch of four-versus-four play due to offsetting penalties.

    “He (Patrick) was special tonight,” said Wheat Kings head coach, general manager and owner Kelly McCrimmon. “He was really good.

    “I’m not so sure the nicest play of the night might have been the assist on the fifth goal. It was a great play by Kale Clague to read it. It was a great play by Nolan (Patrick) to get it to him.

    “The goals were really timely. We were down after one, so we needed to get that first one. I thought (Jayce) Hawryluk made a really good play to Nolan (Patrick) on the tieing goal there.”

Jayce Hawryluk (#8)  helped Nolan Patrick have a big night.

    Patrick has a bit of family pedigree that could help foreshadow hockey success. His father, Stephen, was a star right-winger for the Wheat Kings from 1978 to 1981, which included helping Brandon capture a WHL championship in 1979. Stephen played 250 regular season games in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres, New York Rangers and Quebec Nordiques in the early to just past the middle part of the 1980s.

    Nolan’s uncle, James Patrick, had a lengthy NHL career that spanned 1,280 games from 1984 to 2004 patrolling the blue-line for the Rangers, Hartford Whalers, Calgary Flames and Sabres.

    During the 2015-16 campaign, Nolan Patrick, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 195 pounds, had a break out year in Brandon appearing in all 72 of the Wheat Kings regular season games collecting 41 goals and 61 assists.

    Quenneville was pumped to see Patrick take his game up to another level on Friday.

    “It was incredible,” said Quenneville. “There is no secret of what kind of player he is.

    “He took the game over all by himself, and he was the man. Having a guy like that step up for you is what you need at playoff time and what a job he did tonight.”

    It wasn’t just Patrick’s play that allowed Brandon to advance to the WHL’s championship series. With the Wheat Kings holding on to a 4-2 edge early in the third, 19-year-old veteran goalie Jordan Papirny stoned Rebels captain Luke Philp on a breakaway to prevent the visitors from gaining any traction.

Goalie Jordan Papirny had a key third period save for the Wheat Kings.

    Papirny made 24 stops on Friday to allow Brandon to capture the WHL Eastern Conference title. Rylan Toth turned away 26 shots to take the loss in the Red Deer net. The Rebels are off until May 20, when they open up the Memorial Cup tournament with a clash against the club that wins the Ontario Hockey League title.

    The Wheat Kings, who are in search of their first WHL title since 1996, battled the Seattle Thunderbirds in a best-of-seven league title series. The Thunderbirds, who last appeared in the WHL final back in 1997, swept away the defending WHL champion Kelowna Rockets to take the Western Conference title.

    Game 1 of the WHL championship series is set for this coming Friday at 8 p.m. Brandon time.

Patrick believes the Wheat Kings are most battled tested after beating the Rebels this year than after downing the Calgary Hitmen in last year’s Eastern Conference championship series in five games.

The Wheat Kings salute the fans at Westman Place.

    “I think this series was a lot better test than it was last year,” said Patrick. “I know this series was the same 4-1 as last year, but I think the games were a lot tighter this year.

    “That was a better team to play before the finals. They were a great test for us, and hopefully, we can keep carrying this on to the finals.

    “We have a lot of guys that know what it takes to win, and a lot of positive voices in the room who can help us in tight games. We have positive guys to get us through these games.”

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

Why not the Wheat Kings?

Brandon set to challenge for a WHL title

Kelly McCrimmon has built another championship contender in Brandon.

    They are arguably the favourite road team on the WHL circuit among hotel and restaurant staffs.

    When the Brandon Wheat Kings come to down, they dress to impress and carry themselves with a class that matches their look. Hotel and restaurant staffs for years often compliment the players for how well-mannered, nice and personable they are.

    Excitement usually follows when Wheat Kings head coach, general manager and owner Kelly McCrimmon phones to make a reservation. Road businesses want the Wheat Kings to come to town.

    Those intangibles have been some of the key reasons as to why the Manitoba’s only major junior franchise finds itself contenting for a WHL title on a regular basis going back to the start of the 1992-93 season. Since that campaign, the Wheat Kings have won more than 40 games 15 times. The good habits and culture they create off the ice translates to a good culture and habits on the ice.

    Going into the 2015-16 campaign, the Wheat Kings were viewed as a favourite to possibly challenge for another WHL title. While they won’t match their blistering league leading 53-11-4-4 record from last season, the Wheat Kings have been steady.

    In the current campaign, teams like the Lethbridge Hurricanes, Kelowna Rockets and Victoria Royals have all had surges at different times that have allowed them to float to the top of the league standings.

Reid Duke (#27) battles for a draw for the Wheat Kings.

    The Wheat Kings hovered near the top of the WHL’s East Division for about the first two-and-a-half months of the campaign and have remained in the division lead since returning from the Christmas break. After downing the Blades 5-1 in Saskatoon on Friday night, the Wheat Kings have earned points in their last nine games coming off seven wins and two extra time setbacks.

    They improved to 44-18-4-2 to sit two points ahead of the Lethbridge Hurricanes (45-21-1-1) for top spot in the Eastern Conference. Brandon also sits two points behind the Victoria Royals (45-16-3-3) for first overall in the league. The Wheat Kings also broke into the Canadian Hockey League’s top ten rankings this week in the 10^th spot.

    During a season where the consensus among scouts is that defence and goaltending across the WHL isn’t as strong as it normally is, the Wheat Kings might be able to finally capture their first league title since 1996.

    While they have piled up outstanding records in the regular season, the league title has eluded the Wheat Kings including last season, where they were swept away in the WHL final by the Rockets.

Jordan Papirny is loaded with playoff experience in goal.

    This season, the Wheat Kings forward group is as solid as ever. Centre Jayce Hawryluk leads the team in scoring with 42 goals and 56 assists, while 17-year-old sophomore centre Nolan Patrick has impressed with 40 goals and 57 assists. Due to where his birthday falls, Patrick, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 195 pounds, isn’t eligible for the NHL Entry Draft until next year.

    Brandon’s back end is anchored by overage captain Macoy Erkamps, who has 13 goals, 55 assists and a plus-43 rating in the plus-minus department. Russian rearguard Ivan Provorov has also provided an offensive spark with 19 goals and 48 assists to go along with a plus-58 rating. Before the WHL trade deadline, the Wheat Kings also acquired overage defenceman Mitchell Wheaton, who stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 223 pounds, from the Blades to beef up their physical presence.

    The Wheat Kings back end has more parts than most other teams in the league to get the job done.

In goal, 19-year-old Jordan Papirny has carried the load as a starter and has been solid. He has posted a 28-17-6 record, a 2.69 goals against average, a .908 save percentage and five shutouts. Other netminders have better numbers, but Papirny has a tonne of post-season experience.

Ivan Provorov has 67 points on defence.

    Before 4,396 spectators at the SaskTel Centre on Friday, the Wheat Kings showed how opportunistic they can be going 3-for-7 on the power play, while adding a short-handed marker. The short-handed goal was a backbreaker for the Blades, as Hawryluk scored with 1.8 seconds to play in the second to give Brandon a 3-1 lead.

    The tally came just over two minutes after Blades captain Nick Zajac potted his 20^th of the season to pull the host side to within one.

    Hawryluk also picked up a power-play goal in his two-goal night. Patrick, John Quenneville and Erkamps all potted singles for Brandon. Papirny made 29 stops to earn the win in goal.

    Brock Hamm turned away 43 shots to take the loss in goal for the Blades. Saskatoon fell to 25-39-4 to officially be eliminated from playoff contention for the third year in a row.

    The Wheaties appear to be ready for a long playoff run. With the good habits they have developed off and on the ice, all they need are some breaks to go their way in the luck department and that elusive third WHL title in team history might finally fall into their grasp.

Gold Wings pull even with Stars

Chantal Burke (#39) made 42 saves to earn a shutout win against the Stars.

    The Saskatoon Stars saw their 13 game winning streak in the Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League playoffs come to an end on Friday night in Weyburn at the hands of the Esso Cup hosting Gold Wings.

    Gold Wings forward and University of Saskatchewan Huskies recruit Bailee Bourassa scored 48 seconds into a second overtime period to give her side a 1-0 victory over the Stars, who are the defending SFMAAAHL champions. Chantal Burke made 42 saves to earn the win in goal for Weyburn, while Emma Johnson turned away 41 shots to take the loss in goal for the Stars.

    With Weyburn’s win, the best-of-five SFMAAAHL semifinal series between the two clubs is tied 1-1. Game 3 of the series is set for Sunday at 4:45 p.m. at the Agriplace Arena in Saskatoon.

    The other best-of-five SFMAAAHL semifinal series between the Swift Current Diamond Energy Wildcats and the Prince Albert A & W Bears is also tied 1-1.

    If you have any comments about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.