While the Wheat Kings were still on the road, I wrote that they’d vented some offensive frustration on the Kelowna Rockets. Last night, they vented some more on the Red Deer Rebels.
The Wheat Kings have scored six or more goals in three of their last four games. Quinn Mantei was just named the WHL’s player of the week. Luke Shipley just picked up his first career five-point game. A hundred different statistical storylines came out of the Wheat Kings win over Red Deer, almost all of them positive.
And yet I’m not sure the Wheat Kings are done working that frustration out of their system. The road trip they just finished was a strange mixture of frustration and vindication. They can skate with the best teams in the WHL, even those that have loaded up at the trade deadline, and yet the bounces simply refused to go their way.
That mixture of frustration and confidence is bad news for everyone the Wheat Kings are up against going forward. They’ve got only one game left against a non-conference opponent, and only a handful of out-of-division games remaining. In that sense, they control their own destiny. But, in another source of frustration, the Prince Albert Raiders have opened up a gap between themselves and the Wheat Kings atop the division.
There remains work to be done.
- The end of the game against Prince George seemed like it might be quite the controversy in the moment. The Cougars go-ahead-goal (ultimately the game winner) was offside. It’s the second time a critical and controversial third-period goal has gone against the Wheat Kings (the first time being in Red Deer at the end of November). But it’s also the second time the Wheat Kings have lost a game they led entering the third to one of those. And as Marty Murray was quick to point out, the Wheat Kings had plenty of time to recover from both the goal in Prince George and the goal in Red Deer. The goal was a tough pill to swallow, but it also shouldn’t have been the end of the Wheat Kings’ chances to win. Sometimes the bounces don’t go your way, other times the calls don’t. The team needs to find a way to persevere. Better to learn this lesson now than in the playoffs.
- So, a frustrated Wheat Kings squad comes back home after that loss and lays something of an egg in the first period against Red Deer. They were outshot 13-9, gave up a goal on the penalty kill, and were actually fortunate not to have surrendered more than the two goals they gave up. Yet despite that, they came out of the first period tied at two thanks to two perfect shots, one each from Jaxon Jacobson and Luke Shipley. The Wheat Kings don’t want to have to be a team that “outscores their problems” but where in the past that game might’ve required an awful lot for them to fight back, and might never have gotten tied up at all, this time the team had the score square with two snipes. How many times over the last two seasons have the Wheat Kings lacked for that quick strike offense that would allow them to stay in a game long enough to perhaps take it over? And take it over they most certainly did. That first period scare turned into a second period explosion and a third period spent in complete control.
- There were a lot of players who deserved stick taps after the win over the Rebels (six Wheat Kings had multi-point nights) but no one deserves it more than Luke Shipley, who put up five points in the win. We’ve been talking a lot about Shipley on this blog and it’s been impossible not to. He’s got 15 points in his last ten games, and his offensive production has been skyrocketing since well before that, going all the way back to mid-December when (due to injury and World Junior absences) the Wheat Kings were impossibly undermanned. In his postgame interview, Shipley told me he thought the move to pair him with Quinn Mantei was a major turning point for both players as they’ve been able to work off one other so confidently and so well. Mantei, the reigning player of the week, has 12 points in his last six games. Shipley certainly seems to have a point there.
- And quite literally as I write this, Shipley has announced his commitment to U Mass Lowell! He becomes the second Wheat King to commit to an NCAA Division 1 school, and it should hardly come as a surprise. With 43 points now in 44 games, Shipley has been unstoppable for the Wheat Kings. And now he’s got four more years to develop before needing to try his hand at the professional game. Congratulations, Luke!
- Another note from the post-game interviews last night, this one from Wheat Kings forward Jordan Gavin. When asked about his budding chemistry with Jacobson and Caleb Hadland, Gavin said he thought the trio had it in them to be one of the best lines in the league. It sounds like a grandiose statement at first, and they’ll have to build up a lot before they get there but think about it: why shouldn’t they be? If I told you a second overall pick, a fifth overall pick, and a 22nd overall pick were on a line together you’d expect that line to do big things. Jacobson showed off both his set-up and sniping skills last night, Hadland is within striking distance of a 30-goal season and has a responsible, heavy game, and Gavin has a complete offensive toolkit, one of the best sets of puck skills of any Wheat King. If they build chemistry together, there’s no reason they can’t reach some lofty goals.
- Jacobson’s shot last night was all-world, and it got me thinking about something I’d noticed on the B.C. trip not just for the Wheat Kings but league-wide. The 2008-born players in the WHL are shaping up to be world beaters. When the 2023 draft took place, I was working in Prince Albert with the Raiders and I remember some scouts outside the Raiders’ organization seeming not to be as hyped about that draft because there was no consensus number-one pick. There was no Gavin McKenna, no Berkly Catton, and certainly no Connor Bedard. Fast forward two years however… the talent level from the 2008 year is insane. Jacobson and Spokane Chiefs forward Mathis Preston headline the class up front, but what’s incredible is how good the defensemen have been. Keaton Verhoeff and Ryan Lin have more points than any 2008-born forward, and in Prince Albert, Daxon Rudolph has been on a tear to rival Shipley’s. Throw in Gio Pantelas here in Brandon and the quietly impressive Carson Carels in Prince George, and you’ve got a class of rookie defensemen better than any I’ve seen in my time covering the league. And this is without mentioning 2009-born phenom Landon DuPont, who leads all rookies in scoring! Statistically it’s not likely, but I’d not be surprised (or upset) if the entire defense group for team Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup this summer came from the WHL. I’d be willing to bet that team would win gold. And again, this is statistically tough, but no one should be surprised if all five of those 2008-born players end up as first round picks in the NHL draft next season.
Once the Wheat Kings are done on their latest Saskatchewan swing (a strange one that sees them go overnight to Moose Jaw and Regina) they can finally settle into more of a home routine. It won’t be until March that they go on another multi-day road trip. Hopefully the team can use that time to pile up some points!
