After the year he had in 2025-26, and based on the decisions many of his peers had made, you could understand if the NCAA ranks would’ve had a powerful pull on a player like Joby Baumuller.
The Wilcox native grew by a leap and a bound last season, jumping from 18 goals to 40. He proved to be one of the deadliest shooters in junior hockey, certainly having more of an offensive impact than many of his fellow WHLers who elected to head to college. And the landing spot is ready and waiting for him at a well-respected Colorado College program that has recruited plenty of WHLers the past two seasons.
Yet Baumuller said right from the moment his commitment was announced that he planned to return to Brandon for the 2026-27 season. And he never wavered in that commitment. Because on and off the ice, he had more than enough reason to return to the Wheat Kings.
“It’s another year of improvement,” Baumuller said after the second skate of the day at Wheat Kings’ training camp. “I don’t want to rush. I think I can take my time with the way hockey is going nowadays. Another year in the dub was the best fit for me.”
That nicely sums up the on ice side of Baumuller’s return. Off the ice, he returns to the team he’s always known and to a city he’s come to love. He not only trains in Brandon during the offseason but spends many of his “off days” in the Wheat City as well.
“Brandon has become my home pretty much all the time now,” said Baumuller. “It’s been awesome and fun here, doing a lot of community stuff and events, showing everyone that the Wheat Kings want their support and we’ll show up every night for them.”
During the offseason, Baumuller had another chance to be selected in the NHL draft and after his 40-goal season certainly had reason to believe he would be. He was passed over, unfortunately, but last season he used the draft snub to propel himself into the ranks of elite goal scorers in the WHL. In other words, him being snubbed a second time might be a scary prospect for the Wheat Kings’ opponents.
“It’s going to be the same thing as last year, really,” he said. “I want to prove to myself and others that I do deserve a look. I want to play physically and just enjoy the way I’ve always liked to play.”
But when asked about goals or expectations for the season ahead, Baumuller didn’t spend any time talking about his own personal accolades. He went straight to the ultimate team goal.
“I’d say it’s just to win a championship,” said Baumuller. “That would be something nice to bring home to Brandon, to this community.”
Baumuller scored a goal for Team Boschman in their second and final game of the day on the opening day of training camp scrimmages. They’ll open Saturday’s games with a 9:00 AM matchup with Team Pulock.
