Brandon Wheat Kings Release Red Deer, AB. – The 2018 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft is underway in Red Deer and the Brandon Wheat Kings used their first pick and fifteenth overall selection to take power forward Jake Chiasson of Abbotsford, British Columbia. Described as having excellent hockey IQ, the 6’1” 162 lb Chiasson scored 20 goals and 68 points in thirty games with the Yale Hockey Academy Bantam Prep team this past season. “He’s a great leader who does everything,” says Wheat Kings’ director of scouting Darren Ritchie. A big forward with an excellent shot, Jake is known as a solid 2-way player. “It’s truly an honour to be chosen in the first round by such a class organization,” says Chiasson, who served as captain for Yale in 2017-18. “I would describe myself as a power forward to likes to score. I always try to play a 200 foot game and take pride in my defensive game.” “You work hard to get to this point and I have to thank my family, my coaches and teammates for helping me to get here,” he went on to say. This marked only the second time since the WHL bantam draft was introduced in 1990 that the Wheat Kings, who finished as the first wild card team in the Eastern Conference this past season, has had the fifteenth overall pick. Brandon chose defenceman Brett Dickie 15th overall in 1998 and the Pennant, Saskatchewan product went on to play four years in Brandon before closing out his major junior career with the Prince George Cougars in 2003-04. The Wheat Kings, who selected Ridly Greig of Lethbridge with their first round pick (8th overall) in 2017 had three second round picks and used them to select Edmonton left-winger Brett Hyland(24th overall), Calgary forward Dylan James (37th overall) and Saskatoon blueliner Jacob Hoffrogge (41st). In 30 games with the NAXtreme, the 5’11” 173 lb. Hyland scored 22 goals and 44 points, the 5’10” 150 lb James had 26 goals and 56 points in 25 games for the Calgary AAA Bantam Bisons while Hoffrogge, a 5’10” 142 lb defenceman had 42 points, including ten goals in thirty games. In round three, Brandon returned home to Manitoba and selected Lorette’s Cabrel Labossiere (59th overall). The 6’4″ 188 lb forward scored 26 goals and 56 points in 32 games for the Eastman Bantam Selects this past year. The Wheat Kings had three fifth round selections and opted for 5’9″ 167 lb forward Owen Weihs(95th) from Winnipeg, 6′ 160 lb Regina defenceman Logen Hammett (101st) and Jaxon Dube(108th), a 6′ 167 lb forward from St. Albert. During the 2017-18 campaign, Weihs had 21 goals and 39 points for Rink Academy, Hammett had 48 points, including thirteen goals with the Regina Monarchs while Dube had 20 goals and 32 points for his hometown Sabres. With their only sixth round selection, Brandon took defenceman Tyler Teasdale (125th overall). A 6′ 156 poiunder, Teasdale scored six goals and 19 points in 33 games for the Winnipeg Bantam Monarchs this past season. With their final selection, the Wheat Kings turned their attention to North Dakota, taking 6’2″ 175 lb. defenceman Charles Larsen with the 169th overall pick. As a member of the Minot U14 Wolves, he scored seven goals and 23 points in 24 regular season games. Rather than drafting in the tenth and final round, the Wheat Kings dealt their final two picks to Portland in exchange for a ninth round selection in 2019. Brandon wound up taking ten players Thursday – four defenceman and six forwards. The Edmonton Oil Kings won last month’s draft lottery and used it to take forward Dylan Guenther of the NAXtreme. With the second overall selection the Kootenay Ice chose Winnipeg defenceman Carson Lambos and Prince Albert – with the third pick – grabbed defenceman Nolan Allan of the Humboldt Bantam Broncos. Players eligible for the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft will be 2003 born players who reside in Alberta, B.C., Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, Yukon, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. The WHL bantam draft is the first opportunity for WHL clubs to replenish their systems with graduating bantam aged players. To follow the remainder of the WHL Bantam Draft click HERE

The City of Brandon’s Community Services Department is pleased to announce that the Wheat City Golf Course, located at 3500 McDonald Avenue, will open and be available for full 18-hole play beginning Tuesday, May 1st. The Deer Ridge Golf Course opened on Saturday, May 28. $25.00 Opening Special for 9 holes and 1/2 power cart if you're playing in a twosome or more. The driving range is also open.  Sunnyside Golf Club and The Minnedosa Golf & Country Club opened on Saturday the 28th as well. The Glen Lea Golf Course opened the 2018 season on the 25th of April.  The Glen Lea Golf Course RESTAURANT will be open for the 2018 season on: Sunday, May 6th from 8am to 3pm. The Shilo Golf and Country Club teed off for the first time a week ago on Sunday the 22nd.  Mulligans Driving Range opened on the 22nd as well. The Neepawa Golf & Country Club is not open yet, however according to their Facebook page they are only days away from opening. The Boissevain Golf Club opens Monday, April the 30th.  The Souris Glenwood Community Golf Course in Souris is open.

BRANDON – The Brandon Bobcats men's volleyball team is coming off one of the best regular season records in program history but that hasn't stopped the coaching staff from looking ahead. Head coach Grant Wilson is pleased to announce the second recruit of the season in Winnipeg's Nathan Dyck. Dyck is a stand-out outside hitter with Dakota Collegiate where he played under legendary Manitoba coach Phil Hudson. At Dakota, Dyck was named Athlete of the Year and captain in his grade 12 season of volleyball. He's also no stranger to the BU Healthy Living Centre where he has competed as a member of the 204 Volleyball Club. "The new facilities at BU are amazing, and some of the best that I have seen," says Dyck. "The people of Brandon also are really supportive of the Bobcats team here.  Even more so, the team that's here along with the great coaching staff made it a great decision. What I'm looking forward to the most is playing at a higher level of volleyball and the challenges that await me." That familiarity to both Brandon and the Bobcat program was evident to Wilson, whose Brandon Volleyball Club has competed against Dyck's 204 squad and seen him develop to one of the elite prospects in Manitoba. "Nathan is a very dynamic athlete. His spike touch is over 11 feet and he's left handed, so we feel that once he's exposed to this level of play he'll just continue to develop," says Wilson. "He's a great student and solid kid, and the type of personality that we look for in student-athletes so we're looking forward to seeing his progress over the next few years." Dyck becomes the second recruit to commit to the Bobcats men's volleyball team behind Liam Nohr who was announced last November. Dyck brings an impressive resume including the aforementioned accomplishments with Dakota where the team reached the Provincial Final Four twice and Dyck was named a graduating all-star for his efforts. He was also a member of the Manitoba 17U Provincial team, but is now looking ahead to the opportunity that is university volleyball. "For most of my high school career I have had this goal in mind, and to be able to finally reach it is awesome," Dyck adds.

Logan Thompson has agreed with the Washington Capitals to attend both their Development Camp and their Rookie Tournament in Florida.  Thompson recently finished his junior hockey career in Brandon. Former Wheat King Peter Quenneville, and his Aalborg Pirates teammates, won the Metal Ligaen in Denmark.  The Pirates play in the premier league in Danish hockey and the league consists of 11 teams. Over in Germany, Keith Aulie was part of a championshp team as well as the Munich Red Bulls captured their 3rd consecutive title in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.  The leage is the  highest level of play in professional German ice hockey

DAUPHIN, MB — The Dauphin Kings are very pleased to announce that they have hired Doug Hedley as their Head Coach & General Manager for the upcoming 2018-19 hockey season. Hedley spent the last two seasons with the OCN Blizzard. In 2017 he helped the club to the MJHL Final where they fell to the Portage Terriers in six games. In 2018 Hedley and the Blizzard lost in a close six game series to the Winkler Flyers. Hedley is no stranger to Dauphin. He has spent a number of years in town with both the Kings and the Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League's Parkland Rangers. In 358 games behind the bench with the Kings Hedley has an impressive 217-116-17-8 record. Hedley is second behind Marlin Murray (556) in all time regular season games coached and second in wins as a Kings coach. With the Rangers Hedley helped the club to a franchise record 24 wins in a season back in 2014-15. "I'm really excited and looking forward to being back in Dauphin" says Hedley. "One of the first things I'll be looking to do is getting to know everyone within the organization, Mitch Kirkup who is our Head Scout, Scott McCallum the Director of Hockey Operations and Trainer Devin Atkin. Also going through the list, touching base with the veteran players and letting them know what our expectations are going forward." "Doug is a coach that is very passionate about the game and believes in accountability. He has a proven record of moving players on to the next level and also comes with a history of having well-structured teams on the ice every year that compete at a very high level." says Scott McCallum. "The Dauphin Kings are very happy to have Doug behind the bench for the upcoming season."