Two games in a row now I’ve had an opposing broadcaster come up to me before the game and express a different variation of the same sentiment: it looks like you guys are getting back on track.
The Brandon Wheat Kings aren’t quite out of the hole they dug themselves in the opening nine games of the season just yet, but daylight surely does look a lot closer than it did two weeks ago. Three straight wins will do that. And with 18 goals for in those three games and only six against, the team looks much more like the kind of team they knew they could be when the season began.
Is the work done? Oh, goodness no! Even if the team was clicking along like clockwork and had been all season the work wouldn’t be done. There are still 56 games to be played, and the overwhelming majority of the season to play. But this past week represents progress. And when you start out 2-6-1, a three-game winning streak represents enough progress for the breathing to come a little easier.
The first proper road trip of the season is, at last, on the horizon so the Wheat Kings getting their first road win of the season last game is a good sign. And they’ve got three more home games between now and then to stockpile some wins.
It feels like what had been a very light and breezy schedule (by WHL standards anyway) is finally kicking into gear. If that’s true, the Wheat Kings picked a good time to kick things into gear themselves.
- The first road win of the season looked very different from the offensive romps that preceded it, but it’s important that the team learn how to win those types of games as well, and important that they get steady, reliable goaltending on the nights where the offense doesn’t flow as readily as it did last weekend (which, let’s face it, even for a good team will be a lot of nights). To that end, the clear star of the show in Regina was Filip Ruzicka. The 6-foot-7 netminder stopped 28 of 30 in regulation and overtime (his best statistical outing yet) and then turned aside all three players in the shootout. He was a rock for the Wheat Kings from the start of the game where they seemed to be in control until the end, by which time Regina was definitely pressing back. His shootout saves in particular were eye-popping because he made such excellent use of his poke-check, something of a lost art among goaltenders. Now I’ve taken a few shootout attempts in my time (a weirdly high number, given the ummm… elite levels of hockey I’ve played) and I found myself wondering after that game: how in the world would I, as a shooter, deal with a goaltender with the size and mobility of Ruzicka? He moves so well that deking feels like a lost cause, especially with his poke-check ability but if you try to shoot, he takes up an incredible amount of the net. It reminded me of an AHL Skills Competition years ago in which a young Ben Bishop (then the property of the St. Louis Blues) took shot after shot after shot from the AHL’s best, and no one could figure out how to beat him. Ruzicka is off to an excellent start to his WHL career.
- While I’m sure he would like to be putting the puck in the net himself more often, Jaxon Jacobson has been singularly responsible for a lot of Wheat Kings’ goals this season. His set-up mastery has him leading the Eastern Conference in assists and second overall in the league (first overall on a per-game basis) and, more impressively, he leads the league in primary assists. You probably heard this stat if you tuned in to the broadcast in Regina, but in case you missed it: if you took away all of Jacobson’s secondary assists, leaving him with just his primaries, he would still be leading the Eastern Conference in assists, three assists clear of his next closest competitor. Considering the Wheat Kings still have fewer games played than the majority of their opponents, that’s not too shabby. Considering Jaxon isn’t even draft eligible until next season and won’t turn 17 until December, that’s even less shabby. Oh, and he leads the Eastern Conference in points overall as well, and for good measure he’s operating at 58 percent in the faceoff dot. No one got more responsibility placed on their shoulders by the early departure of Roger McQueen than Jaxon did, and he’s taken to it like a fish to water.
- Last season, right before a three-game goal scoring streak, Carter Klippenstein had a nine-shot outing against the Kelowna Rockets where he owned the puck, was all around the net, and did everything except actually put the puck in. It was not long after that when his goal production leapt up. I find myself reminded of that game by the one Brady Turko just had. No, he didn’t get nine shots on goal but it wasn’t for want of trying. He was all over the ice and very frequently in scoring position, always seeming to be just one good bounce away from tapping one in, and was robbed by a great save on his breakaway backhand attempt. It feels like he’s awfully close to bursting the dam, and with Chase Surkan gone to the U17s and Brady sliding into his spot on the power play, he’ll certainly get his chance to burst it.
- Speaking of bursting dams, what a relief these last three games have been for Dylan Ronald, who has four points and his first goal of the season. In so many ways, the start to the season was not what the Wheat Kings wanted, and Ronald was one of the players who took a tough start on the chin, but he not only looked better with the puck these last three games, he’s looked better defensively as well. He looks far more comfortable standing up and denying zone entries, and he does seem to be playing with a bit of a weight off his shoulders.
- I wish Merrek Arpin nothing but a speedy recovery from his injury, and wish he were able to play right now to lend the team some experience and size on the back end. His absence has meant a necessary acceleration in the development of Cam Allard, who has responded with five assists in 11 games and a W rating from NHL Central Scouting. Compared to last season, the Wheat Kings have had few if any injury troubles (touch wood) which has meant we haven’t seen last season’s sudden leap forward in development for as many of the younger players. Allard is the exception, having played in every game since opening night and looked more comfortable each and every game.
- On the subject of defensemen, I had some questions from Wheat Kings fans about the blockbuster move Kelowna pulled off to acquire Peyton Kettles. Some people wondered if the Wheat Kings had it in them to match the bid Kelowna had put forth. If the Broncos insisted on an 2007-born defenseman, the answer is unfortunately no, but the bevy of draft picks would’ve been hard to match as well. Gillespie in particular was a first-round pick in the U.S. priority selection, and had played two full seasons as a Rocket already. This was something I had warned about before the season: Kelowna can out bid just about everyone in the early going, and they are more motivated than any team in the CHL, I’d venture to say, to get some big moves made. Now, of their stockpiled first round picks, they’ve already moved three (acquiring Kettles, Mazden Leslie, and Carson Wetsch) and they’ve moved three second round picks as well, but the Rockets do still have a full compliment, including two of the picks they acquired from Lethbridge and Spokane last season which they have not yet moved and one pick belonging to Regina. In other words, if a bidding war breaks out they’re likely winning. On that note, as I’ve also mentioned previously, it’s going to be a tough year to add high-end blueliners. Most of the best defensemen in the league are on teams who, right now at least, probably aren’t looking to move them. Look for action on that front to pick up more towards the trade deadline, especially if more players return to the WHL from the NCAA as Rylan Gould did earlier this week.
Statistically, this week of hockey brings the Wheat Kings two of their toughest challenges yet. They’ve got the (as of this writing) 8-3-1 Calgary Hitmen on Sunday afternoon, and they’re in Medicine Hat to face the (again, as of this writing) third place Tigers next Saturday. They face a Regina Pats opponent that will be looking for revenge tomorrow as well, so nothing is going to get any easier.
The team picked a good time to figure a lot of things out. Now the trick is to keep rolling.
