After a one-year hiatus, the Brandon Wheat Kings are back in the playoffs.
The team officially clinched their postseason spot with a 3-2 victory over the Prince Albert Raiders on March 16 and turned that win into a three-game winning streak by beating the Moose Jaw Warriors 5-3 on March 21 and closing out their season with a 3-2 road win over the Regina Pats. With these wins under their belt, and with Moose Jaw being their first round opponent, the Wheat Kings have some confidence ahead of round one.
“You can sense some excitement, for sure,” said head coach and GM Marty Murray. “It’s a long, grueling season and one of the main objectives is to make the playoffs. To accomplish that is something we’re happy about and to give ourselves a chance. The guys are excited about the upcoming week.”
It’s always a little extra exciting when you get a divisional opponent in the first round, and even more so when you’ve had a close season series with that opponent. Series don’t get much closer than the one the Wheat Kings and Warriors had this season either; after eight games (two of which required extra time) each team emerged with a record of 4-3-1.
“We’ve had a good season series against them,” said Murray. “They have some special players and their high-end is elite. We’ve played them pretty hard so I think we have to play to the best of our ability and go into Moose Jaw with a road mentality that we don’t have to bring people out of the seats. We can play a responsible road game and hopefully capitalize on our opportunities.”
None of that is to say it will be an easy series, however. Following their loss to the Wheat Kings on March 21, the Warriors went home on March 23 and wrapped up their season with a resounding 11-1 win over the Regina Pats. It might’ve meant nothing in the standings, but it was a reminder of what Moose Jaw can do.
“It’s game 68 of the year and Regina is a non playoff team, so you can see how things would get out of hand a little bit,” Murray said. “We don’t put too much stock in that. We know what the Moose Jaw group is all about and they do have that ability to break games open. For us, they’re going to have shifts where they grab momentum so the next guys up have to try to get it back.”
In hockey at all times, but especially in the playoffs, goaltenders can steal the show. In that regard, the Wheat Kings have an edge over many WHL teams with Carson Bjarnason as their trusted man between the pipes.
“He’s just got to be the goalie he is,” said Murray. “He’s been really steady. Since he’s come back from injury, I think he’s been excellent, he’s dialed in. Hopefully he’s ready for this big stage. He has the ability to steal some games.”
Game 1 of the series goes in Moose Jaw on Friday, March 29th – Game 2 is on Saturday, March 30th. Catch both games live on Q Country 91.5 with the pre-game shows at 7:30 pm.
(Article courtesy of the Brandon Wheat Kings)
