Should fans of the Brandon Wheat Kings be concerned? Brandon is coming off a tough week that saw them lose four out of five, three of which were at home.
The most surprising aspect of the Wheat Kings’ week is that they lost three home games. The Keystone Centre is a tough venue for visiting clubs and Brandon only suffered three regulation losses there all of last season. Its worthy of an eyebrow raise but not much more.
Brandon still can make a claim for icing the most talented roster in the WHL. The What Kings are far and away the best possession team in the WHL in terms of their estimated Fenwick Close, which according to CHLStats.com is a whopping 62.25%. In fact, in three of the four losses they had positive possession numbers.
Sometimes the shots don’t connect and you run into some good goaltending. Brandon out-shot its opponents in all four of the games it lost—topping the 30-shot mark in each contest. Most nights, those kinds of numbers are going to get you wins, so there really is not a reason for panic at this point.
The good news is the Wheat Kings still have a talented roster and are one of the top scoring clubs in the league. When Tim McGauley gets back in the lineup—currently listed as week-to-week with a lower body injury—they will be even tougher. Brandon continues to be strong on the back end as well and has allowed the fewest goals in the Eastern Conference. Jordan Papirny has been solid in net and defensively the Wheat Kings do a good job of suppressing shots—allowing the second-fewest in the league.
It’s a long season and teams go through some tough stretches. The Wheat Kings have the horses to pull out of their week-long funk and get back to playing winning hockey.
Here’s the rest of this week’s WHL musings:
Spokane on a roll
The Spokane Chiefs are built for the future but that hasn’t stopped them from winning six out of their past 10 and pushing for the U.S. Division lead. Some of that future is playing well now.
They are led by 2017 NHL Draft-eligible Kailer Yamamoto who has used his lightning speed and quick hands to lead the Chiefs in scoring, and sit eighth overall with 29 points. Getting 20-year-old Adam Helewka back from San Jose of the AHL has been a big boost to Spokane as well. Helewka has made an immediate impact with six goals and 13 points in his nine games back in the WHL.
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The Chiefs have had some rotation in net. They said goodbye to overager Garret Hughson and picked up Laase Peterson from Calgary to go along with fellow rookie Matt Berlin.
Spokane is sitting just two points behind Seattle for first in the U.S. Division, which is somewhat of a surprise. The Chiefs have only played Portland once, Everett twice and have yet to face Seattle so they truly haven’t gone through the U.S. Division gauntlet. How they do against the three division heavyweights will give us a better picture of how good they can be now, instead of in the future.
Kamloops is blazing hot
Coach Don Hay’s Blazers had a rough start to the campaign, losing their first six games. People started to write them off immediately after, but they’ve turned things around and are one of the hottest teams in the league.
After a 9-1 rout of Prince George on Sunday, Kamloops has won six out of their past seven—with the one loss coming in overtime at Vancouver. They have clawed their way out of the Western Conference cellar and are holding onto the last playoff spot. The Blazers have games in hand on every team ahead of them and their 19 points are only four away from being in fourth place in the Conference.
That’s quite a turn around.
Forward Colin Shirley made a splash for Team WHL in Game 1 of the Canada Russia Series with a goal and three assists. He’s been the Blazers’ best player. With 20-year-old Gage Quinney—acquired from Kelowna early in the season—gives Kamloops strong-Kamloops is getting top-end scoring.
Before the season, the Blazers were considered a team that would compete in the B.C. Division and be a playoff contender. The start dampened those predictions but Hay has his charges going now and it looks like they are back to being the team the pundits thought they were.
Player of the Week
Collin Shirley, LW, Kamloops Blazers
The aforementioned Shirley had a big week on two fronts: He picked up five points for Team WHL in a sweep of the Russian squad in the Canada Russia Series; then he added a couple more goals and three assists with the Blazers as they blasted division rival Prince George. That’s three goals and seven assists for the Saskatoon native for the week.
2016 NHL Draft Eligible Spotlight
Max Lajoie, D, Swift Current Broncos
Lajoie got off to a slow start for the Broncos, but the Calgary-born defenceman has picked it up of late. Coming off a 41-point rookie season, he went scoreless in Swift Current’s first six contests of the campaign. Since, he has picked up 10 points in 14 games and appears to be on track. He was listed as an ‘A’ prospect by NHL Central Scouting on its September watch list.