Regina Pats (24-25-3-4) at Brandon Wheat Kings (37-16-1-3)
Tuesday, February 9, 2010 7:00 p.m. (CST) Westman Communications Group Place
Brandon Game Notes: The Brandon Wheat Kings play a rare Tuesday night home contest when they host the Regina Pats (6:30 p.m., CKLQ). It’s the first time this season Brandon has played a Tuesday night home game. The Wheat Kings are coming off a 4-3 overtime loss in Saskatoon on Saturday night that ended a seven-game winning streak. Toni Rajala, Shayne Wiebe and Matt Calvert did the goal-scoring on Saturday while Jacob De Serres made 36 saves in the Brandon net. The results leaves the Wheat Kings tied with Saskatoon and the Tri-City Americans for top spot in the overall WHL standings. All three teams have 78 points.
Vs. Regina: Tuesday’s game is the fifth of eight meetings between the Pats and Wheat Kings in the regular season. Brandon is 3-1-0-0 versus Regina so far this season but lost the last meeting between the teams, 4-2 on January 13 in Regina. Matt Calvert and Brayden Schenn lead the Wheat Kings with three goals and seven points each against the Pats while Andrew Hayes is 2-1 with a 2.69 GAA and .917 SPCT in three starts vs. Regina.
Previous Meetings:
(3-1-0-0 19 GF, 15 GA Brd PP: 6-19 (31.6%) Brd PK: 9-13 (69.2%)
Jan.13 – Brandon 2 at Regina 4 – Schenn, Wiebe – goals for Brd.
Dec. 5 – Brandon 6 at Regina 4 – Stone, Urbom 1-1-2 each.
Nov.15 – Regina 7 at Brandon 8 (OT) – Calvert 2-4-6; Robak had OT winner
Sept.19 –Brandon 3 at Regina 0 – Hayes – 25 Saves. Schneider 1-1-2
Next Meeting:
Feb. 19 – Regina at Brandon, 7:30 p.m. (CST)
Last Five Games:
(4-0-1-0 22 GF, 11 GA Brd PP: 3-21 (14.3%) Brd PK: 22-24 (91.7%)
Feb. 6 – Brandon 3 at Saskatoon 4 (OT) – Calvert had 9th SHG of season.
Feb. 5 – Kootenay 0 at Brandon 4 – De Serres – 16 Saves.
Feb. 3 – Red Deer 3 at Brandon 5 – Schenn 2-1-3
Jan.29 – Brandon 6 at Calgary 3 – Glennie 2-1-3. Brd scored five straight goals in 3rd period.
Jan.27 – Brandon 4 at Lethbridge 1 – Glennie, Melnychuk 1-1-2 each.
Next Five Games:
Feb.12 – Swift Current at Brandon, 7:30 p.m. (CST)
Feb.14 – Brandon at Medicine Hat, 7:00 p.m. (CST)
Feb.15 – Brandon at Calgary, 3:00 p.m. (CST)
Feb.19 – Regina at Brandon, 7:30 p.m. (CST)
Feb.20 – Brandon at Saskatoon, 7:05 p.m. (CST)
Special Teams: Brandon’s power play is 12-for-44 (27.3%) over their last 11 games. Overall this season, Brandon ranks ninth in the WHL with a 21.1 percent success rate. On the penalty-kill, Brandon is 27-for-31 (87.1%) in their last eight games. Overall, Brandon ranks 19th in the WHL with a 75.3 percent kill rate and lead the WHL with 15 shorthanded goals.
Roster: Brandon’s roster includes 23 players (2 goaltenders, 7 defensemen and 14 forwards) on their roster. The club’s roster including 13 players from Manitoba, five from Alberta, three from Saskatchewan and two imports.
Drafted Players: F Brayden Schenn (Los Angeles, 1st Round, 5th overall in 2009); F Scott Glennie (Dallas, 1st Round, 8th overall in 2009); F Toni Rajala (Edmonton, 4th Round, 101st overall in 2009, SIGNED); D Alexander Urbom (New Jersey, 3rd Round, 73rd overall in 2009, SIGNED); D Colby Robak (Florida, 2nd Round, 46th overall in 2008); F Matt Calvert (Columbus, 5th round, 127th overall in 2008); G Jacob De Serres (Philadelphia, 3rd Round, 84th overall in 2008); Brent Raedeke (Detroit, signed as free agent in September of 2008); Travis Hamonic (NY Islanders, 2nd Round, 58th overall in 2008)
Injury Report: D Travis Hamonic (shoulder, indefinite); F Michael Ferland (hand, indefinite)
Who’s Hot: F Scott Glennie had an eight-game point scoring streak (7 G, 12 A) snapped Saturday in Saskatoon… F Matt Calvert is on an eight-game point streak (5 G, 7 A)…F Aaron Lewadniuk has an eight-game point streak (7 G, 2 A)…F Brayden Schenn has 19 points (9 G, 10 A) in the last 12 games…D Brodie Melnychuk has 13 points (4 G, 9A) and is +30 in the last 31 games…F Shayne Wiebe is on a three-game point streak (2 G, 1 A)...Saturday’s loss in Saskatoon was the first for Jacob De Serres since December 30th (eight appearances).
Stats’n’That: D Colby Robak leads the WHL in plus/minus with a +40 rating and is tied for third in defenceman scoring in the WHL with 50 points (11 G, 39 A)…Matt Calvert ranks highly in several offensive categories in the WHL including points (73, 6th), goals (36, t-4th), shorthanded goals (9, 1st) and game-winning goals (7, t-3rd)…D Alexander Urbom is second in the WHL with a +36 rating while D Brodie Melnychuk are tied third at +35 and F Aaron Lewadniuk is fifth with a +33 rating…Brayden Schenn is tenth in the WHL with 68 points, eighth in the WHL with 45 assists and leads the league with seven shorthanded assists…G Andrew Hayes is tied for second in the WHL with four shutouts.
Milestones: F Brent Raedeke played his 200th career game on Saturday night. Raedke, who has never missed a game due to injury, has 56 goals and 135 points in his WHL career…F Matt Calvert recently reached the 200 point plateau for his Wheat Kings’ career. Calvert has 88 goals and 204 points in 183 career games…D Colby Robak is five assists shy of 100 for his career…G Andrew Hayes has a career goals against average of 2.84, the best of any netminder to have played 100 or more games for the Wheat Kings. Hayes is 27 minutes shy of 6,000 for his career.
Did You Know: The Wheat Kings have won 14 of their last 15 home games, with the only blemish a 3-2 shootout loss to Medicine Hat on January 8…Matt Calvert’s nine shorthanded goals this season are three shy of the team record of 12, set by Ray Ferraro in 1983-84…the last time an individual scored at least nine shorthanded goals in a season in the WHL was 2003-2004, when Moose Jaw’s Kyle Brodziak turned the trick. The last player to hit double digits for shorthanded goals in a season was Calgary’s Pavel Brendl in 1998-99…The last time the Wheat Kings won the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as regular season champions was the 1995-1996 season…The overtime goal Saskatoon scored on Saturday night was the first 4-on-4 goal Brandon had surrendered this season. The Wheat Kings have scored 10 goals in 4-on-4 play this season while not allowing a goal against in that situation…D Colby Robak leads Brandon with 23 power-play points (4 G, 19 A), followed by F Brayden Schenn with 20 points (5 G, 15 A)…F Matt Calvert and F Aaron Lewadniuk are tied for the team lead in power-play goals with 10 each…the Wheat Kings were ranked eighth in last week’s Canadian Hockey League Top Ten rankings, up two spots from the previous week. Two other WHL teams are in the Top Ten in Tri-City (#4), Saskatoon (#5)…D Brodie Melnychuk is the only player to appear in all 57 games with the Wheat Kings this season…Brandon is averaging 4,628 fans per game through the first 26 home games of the season…Canadian music legends Tom Cochrane and Randy Bachman are confirmed performers for Memorial Cup Week in Brandon from May 14-23.