Just like that, it was all over for the Brandon Wheat Kings far too soon.
The first round matchup between the Wheat Kings and Lethbridge Hurricanes was far closer than the final score in games indicated, as both sides professed to me throughout the series. But it was still a first-round loss for the Black and Gold, no matter how close, and given the expectations they had at the start of the year that loss has to carry a note of disappointment.
It’s still difficult to dive into that last game of the season without my comments being tinged with bitterness (not least because of the power play disparity; eight power plays and a penalty shot for the Hurricanes, one power play for the Wheat Kings), and it’s still difficult to believe the season is over. Tonight, the Prince Albert Raiders and Edmonton Oil Kings will play the seventh game of their first round series. It still feels like the Wheat Kings and Hurricanes should be having theirs at the same time.
Now, however, begins a period of difficult questions and even more difficult goodbyes. At least three members of this season’s Wheat Kings squad won’t be back next year. And everyone in the WHL knows there will almost certainly be a fourth.
The offseason has begun. And begun all too soon.
- It’s very difficult to broach the subject of embellishment or “diving” at the best of times, because you’re casting aspersions on someone’s integrity when you do. It’s even harder to bring it up when you’re fresh off a five-game series loss as any lengthy sermon on the subject is bound to carry a note of sour grapes. So I’ll content myself with the bare statistical facts: the Lethbridge Hurricanes were assessed three minor penalties for embellishment in five games (the last of which was listed as an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty as referees sometimes go this route). If that sounds like a lot in a short span, the Wheat Kings were assessed just one minor penalty for embellishment all season. That’s about all I’m prepared to say about that. Like I said, bare facts.
- If there was a big positive out of the final two games of the series, it was the play of Ethan Eskit. He was asked to do far too much, especially in the final game with eight penalty kills (including a long five-on-three) and a penalty shot, but he did all that could’ve been asked of him and then some. Eskit’s final playoff totals were 89 saves on 97 shots, and while the Wheat Kings are no doubt unhappy that this was just two games and part of a period of work, they have to be happy with his response. Coming up with a .917 save percentage against a good team, a team loaded with NHL drafted players, after barely playing at all the first three games of a series is an encouraging feat. Especially encouraging because…
- In a bittersweet note, we have almost certainly seen the final game of Carson Bjarnason’s Wheat Kings career. The Carberry native and stalwart netminder is already on his way to Philadelphia (the Flyers will decide where he’ll spend the rest of his season from there) and he leaves behind an impressive legacy not only as a player but as a person. His importance on the ice was apparent to anyone who watched the Wheat Kings this season, as is his on-ice legacy. A second-round NHL pick who represented his country three times, Bjarnason seems destined to turn pro next year and may even challenge for an NHL job. But off the ice? One of the nicest human begins I’ve ever crossed paths with and there’s an army of young fans who got to meet him who would hold an extremely high opinion of him as well. There is not a single person who worked with him or met him off the ice who’s not going to miss Carson Bjarnason in Brandon, but we wish him nothing but the best of luck as he pursues his professional career.
- Speaking of bittersweet, three of the hardest-working, most valuable Wheat Kings won’t be back next season as Luke Shipley, Marcus Nguyen, and Nolan Flamand age out. I’ll have individual features on each guy, but what can you say about what they meant to the team this season? Each guy was a source of stability in a year full of injury-related turmoil, and they finished first, second, and tied for third in team scoring. Shipley scored more goals from the blue line than (among others) perennial blue line sniper Hunter Mayo, NHL draft picks Carter Yakemchuk, Tarin Smith, and Lukas Dragicevic, and World Junior stars Tanner Molendyk, Caden Price, and Sawyer Mynio. Marcus Nguyen turned in a career season with 36 goals and 65 points, while also playing every game for a team that sorely needed lineup stability. And Nolan Flamand… I mean, what a story. A guy who came to training camp clearly of a mind to win his spot and not only won that spot but led the team in both regular season and playoff scoring. You need your 20-year-olds to be impact players. The Wheat Kings got that and more out of three excellent young men, and whatever direction their hockey career takes from here, they’ll always have a fan in this corner.
- So, how do you evaluate a season like this as a whole? That’s a challenging job for the Wheat Kings, who had plenty of high points in the season, overcame an incredible rash of injuries, saw a vast improvement over the year prior, were given numerous promising glimpses into their future, yet still bowed out in the first round of the playoffs. You can’t call the season a failure, there were too many massive steps forward by the players and too much overcoming of adversity for that, yet you can’t call it an unqualified success when the team that has aspirations to a far longer playoff run didn’t meet them. The maddening thing about this season is we really can’t judge how useful it was until next season. If the team builds on this year and learns from it, if they take that next step that so many (myself included) believe them capable of taking, then this season will be viewed as a sometimes painful but fully necessary stepping stone. If they merely tread water, this season takes on a very different light. Time will tell. Overall, however, a first-round exit was not on this team’s list of goals when the season began.
- So what should Wheat Kings fans expect from the offseason? Well, just a little bit of chaos to be honest. There’s an expansion draft to consider, for one thing, and the possibility of an additional European import being allowed for another. Third of all, for the first time in the history of the U.S. Priority Selection, teams will be able to sell themselves as stepping stones to the NCAA to any players they pick south of the border. How much is that draft going to change in this new reality? Then there’s what’s always one of the busiest days of the season, and promises to be all the more so this year, the WHL Prospects Draft. The Wheat Kings, as of this writing, hold two first and two second-round picks. Do they use all four, or move some of them for help in the immediate future? We’re about a month away from finding out. Then, throw into that mix of madness the fact that the Kelowna Rockets are hosting the Memorial Cup next season, need to make a number of moves to bolster their roster, and are equipped with a bevy of draft picks with which to do it. Expect a busy, and at times wild offseason in the WHL once it kicks into high gear.
- The season may be over, but several Wheat Kings won’t be able to shift their focus too far from hockey. The NHL Entry Draft is scheduled for June 27 and 28, and five Wheat Kings are first-time eligibles who’ve been on scouting radars at various times this season. Roger McQueen is the big fish of the bunch, remaining a first-round and even top-ten talent on many lists, but at various times this season Brady Turko, Joby Baumuller, Carter Klippenstein, and Jordan Gavin have all found themselves on scouting lists. I can tell you I’ve had conversations with NHL scouts from multiple teams about each of these players, all of them positive, and it wouldn’t stun me to see all five get drafted. Then again, the draft can be a tough day to predict and that’s part of what makes it so fun. In the meantime, McQueen, Klippenstein, and Gavin are all late 2006-born players, but Baumuller and Turko are both 2007-born. One wonders if Hockey Canada might come calling with the World Under-18s starting in Texas in just over two weeks.
- Speaking of Hockey Canada, expect it to be a busy offseason for the Wheat Kings in that regard. Aside from the U18s, The Hlinka Gretzky Cup is always an anticipated event in early August, and with both Jaxon Jacobson and Gio Pantelas having excellent rookie seasons in which they represented Canada at the U17s, it’s no stretch to say they’ll both get a look at camp. Speaking of camp looks, if his health holds I’d expect Roger McQueen to get his first crack at the World Junior stage at their summer evaluation camp. He’s a top prospect and has won gold medals with Hockey Canada twice before, so again, this is no stretch. Finally, I’d guess both Chase Surkan and Prabh Bhathal will get a chance to skate at Canada’s U17 summer evaluation camp. Surkan, as we speak, is still going as his Regina Pat Canadians are off to the TELUS Cup, marking the second straight season multiple Wheat Kings’ prospects will be part of the event (Ethan Young, also with the Pat Cs, is also a Wheat Kings’ prospect).
From this point on I think this blog will become far less frequent, as befits an offseason. It won’t be the final blog until 2025-26, however, as there will no doubt be topics of discussion over the offseason. This is the first year Q Country and I have done anything like this blog, and I must say the support for it has been a huge source of encouragement to keep going. Thank you to everyone who reached out throughout the season with their kind words. I’ll do my best to keep you up to date in the offseason as well.
