There haven’t been many constants in the Brandon Wheat Kings’ lineup during their injury-ravaged season so far. One of the models of consistency has been Matteo Michels, who has produced wherever he’s been and elevated every forward line he’s been on. And that covers pretty much every forward line.
The 2005-born forward from Colleyville, Texas, had a respectable 20 points in 47 games last season after coming over in trade from the Regina Pats. This season, he’s got 19 points in roughly half of that time.
“I’m a hundred percent way more confident,” Michels said. “Last year, getting traded and then coming here it was completely different. I was given more of a green light to have more creativity with the puck. That’s one thing I worked on a lot last year and came in with confidence this year after working on it over the summer.”
Michels’ increased production is impressive but it’s only part of the story. For one thing, he leads the Wheat Kings in even strength points with 18. For another, he’s been plugged into any line that head coach and GM Marty Murray feels could use a boost.
“He’s playing with a lot of confidence and brings a lot to the table,” Murray said. “We were talking about it this morning, you look at the last two seasons when we’ve been in really difficult situations with injuries, he’s been a guy that’s elevated his game and produced for us at times when we needed it. He’s kind of a Swiss Army Knife out there for us.”
The stats on Michels get more impressive the further down the list you look. He leads the team in shots on goal with 81. He leads the way for the team in plus/minus at +11. He’s one of only five players to play every game for the Wheat Kings so far this season. And he’s also one of the busiest players on the team, seeing plenty of penalty killing and shutdown minutes.
“The night we beat Medicine Hat in town here, he centered the line checking (Gavin) McKenna’s line all night and did a great job” said Murray. “He can do a lot of different things that help the team and we’re lucky to have him.”
It can be hard to single one out when a player is performing this well, but if there’s a defining aspect of Michels’ game it would be his speed. Murray described him as one of the best skaters in the league, and Michels knows which weapon in his arsenal is the sharpest.
“One thing people always tell me is to use my speed,” Michels said. “I think that’s my greatest asset, and it separates me from other people. I think if I keep on working on the deceptiveness of my shot, hiding it with my speed, if I work on that I could score some more goals.”
The incredible thing about Michels’ run offensively, both in terms of shots and goals, is it could be even more impressive. The speedy forward has the team’s unofficial lead in crossbars hit on the season, adding to his lead as he rang the iron in Edmonton again before burying a goal in the third period.
“He probably has eight crossbars this year,” Murray said. “It’s crazy how he’s got that spot down, if he can lower his shot a half an inch, he would probably double his goal total.”
“It’s one thing I’ve never really done before,” Michels said with a chuckle. “If I’m getting the shots and getting those opportunities to hit the crossbar then that’s a good thing. If I can lower it an inch or two, hopefully those ones will start to go in too.”
Michels and the Wheat Kings play two games at home this weekend, beginning tonight against the Red Deer Rebels.
