2 weeks Ago By By Perry Bergson
The Brandon Wheat Kings continue their quixotic quest to come back from a 3-0 deficit against the Lethbridge Hurricanes tonight at VisitLethbridge.com Arena. Read this article for free: Already have an account? As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.
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99 a X percent off the regular rate. The Brandon Wheat Kings continue their quixotic quest to come back from a 3-0 deficit against the Lethbridge Hurricanes tonight at VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? The Brandon Wheat Kings continue their quixotic quest to come back from a 3-0 deficit against the Lethbridge Hurricanes tonight at VisitLethbridge.com Arena. Brandon extended the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with a 6-4 victory in Game 4 over Lethbridge at Virden’s Tundra Oil and Gas Place on Wednesday evening after the Hurricanes won the first three games 6-3, 4-3 and 3-1.
“It’s huge,” team captain Quinn Mantei said after Wednesday’s game. “I think it’s big for the confidence of the group. I know we had been playing well and had given ourselves a chance to win but just to get over that hump and actually getting it done is big for the morale.
“We know we can do it, and we know we can play right with them and honestly dictate the game. We’re going to have to do it again (tonight).” Lethbridge Hurricanes forward Brayden Edwards (19) watches the puck head into the net after he knocked a rebound through the legs of Brandon Wheat Kings Ethan Eskit (50) as defencemen Adam Belusko (14) and Nigel Boehm (12) try to defend during Game 4 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series at Virden's Tundra Oil and Gas Place on Wednesday.
(Perry Bergson/The Brandon Sun) Overage defenceman Luke Shipley agreed. “It feels really good,” Shipley said. “The boys have been battling hard for three games before so it feels like it paid off and this series could be tied or we could be up.
We’re still in the fight and still could crawl back into this thing.” The Wheat Kings will have to match some Western Hockey League history to win the series, because just three clubs have ever come back with a reverse sweep after going down 3-0 in the league’s 59-year run. The last time was in 2023 when the Saskatoon Blades beat the Red Deer Rebels, but it also happened in 2013 when the Kelowna Rockets edged the Seattle Thunderbirds and in 1996 when the Spokane Chiefs rebounded to beat the Portland Winterhawks.
Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said the keys to victory are simple tonight. “Coming ready to play and coming out of the gate is going to be important,” Murray said. “They’re not going to want to make another trek back to Virden so we have to expect they’re going to come out hard and match that intensity.
“We just have to play smart and play the way we have in large portion of the series. There have been ups and downs obviously but overall the games have been pretty tight.” On Wednesday, Brandon appeared to be in the catbird seat when they went into the second intermission leading 4-2, but Lethbridge tied the game in the first four minutes of the third period.
The Hurricanes continued to dominate play in the final frame — they led 16-6 in shots — but were stymied by starter Ethan Eskit, and Brandon won the game with just over six minutes remaining when Adam Belusko’s shot bounced in after hitting Nick Johnson in the back. “I feel like the hockey gods were due to give us a bounce after how many posts and crossbars we’ve hit in the last three games,” Shipley said. Although Brandon gave up the two goals in the third period, they did a much better job of preventing Lethbridge from absolutely taking the game over for long stretches, like the Hurricanes did in Game 2 when they outshot the Wheat Kings 9-0 at one point.
Brandon Wheat Kings defenceman Luke Shipley (27) helped extend the series to a fifth game, taking place in Lethbridge tonight. (Perry Bergson/The Brandon Sun) “I think we did a pretty good of job of pushing back,” Mantei said. “When they would get momentum and have a shift in our end, I think we did a better job of getting pucks out of the zone and getting out of trouble.
“There were a couple times we got caught out there on long shifts, especially in the second with the long change, but I thought in the third we did a better job of rolling it over and making smarter decisions with the puck and just getting it out of our end to relieve some of that pressure.” Now the task is repeating that effort in Lethbridge, which usually has an engaged crowd that isn’t scared to make some noise. The team headed out on the bus early Thursday morning.
“It’s going to be difficult,” Shipley said. “They have a good fanbase that is loud. They play pretty hard in that building and don’t give you much space.
The ice is always on the not-so-great side. You have to be aware of that when you’re playing. It’s going to be a battle but we’re not out of the fight.
We’re right in there and I think they’re on their heels a little bit.” Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference, the first-place Medicine Hat Tigers are up 3-1 on the eighth-place Swift Current Broncos, the seventh-place Edmonton Oil Kings are up 3-1 on the Prince Albert Raiders and the third-place Calgary Hitmen eliminated the sixth-place Saskatoon Blades in four games. In the Western Conference, the first-place Everett Silvertips trail the eighth-place Seattle Thunderbirds 2-1, the third-place Spokane Chiefs are ahead 2-1 on the sixth-place Vancouver Giants — Game 4 ended well after deadline last night — the second-place Victoria Royals are up 3-1 on the seventh-place Tri-City Americans and the fifth-place Portland Winterhawks are up 3-1 on the fourth-place Prince George Cougars after a double overtime victory late Wednesday.
Shipley, who missed Game 3 due to a suspension after getting into a fracas with Lethbridge overage forward Jordan Gustafson at the end of Game 2, said the opportunity to play in Virden proved to be a good experience. The Wheat Kings had to head out on the road for their playoff games because the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair fills the Keystone Centre, including Westoba Place. “I actually enjoyed it,” Shipley said.
“The first night I think the crowd was a little dead but we didn’t give them a whole lot to cheer about but tonight they were great. It was loud. It gives us a little bit of an edge.
The boards are different, the glass is different so it’s tough for both teams. it’s nice when you’re getting the crowd going and feeding off them.” Now all he wants to play for them one more time.
Wheat Kings defenceman Adam Belusko (14) unsuccessfully tries to prevent Hurricanes forward Jordan Gustafson from skating around him during Game 4. (Perry Bergson/The Brandon Sun) “That is the plan, that is the goal,” Shipley said. “That’s all we’re thinking about, is dragging them back to Manitoba.
” In other league news, Brandon’s Jordan Gavin of Surrey, B.C., was one of six nominees for the Brad Hornung Memorial Trophy as the league’s most sportsmanlike player.
He had no penalty minutes for the second season in a row and just four minutes in 207 career regular season games. The other nominees in the Eastern Conference are two-time winner Brayden Yager of Saskatoon (Lethbridge) and Oliver Tulk of Gibsons, B.C.
(Calgary Hitmen), while the Western Conference nominees are Berkly Catton of Saskatoon (Spokane Chiefs), Emmitt Finnie of Lethbridge (Kamloops Blazers) and Kenta Isogai of Nagano, Japan (Victoria Royals). » [email protected] » Twitter: @PerryBergson Advertisement Advertisement.
