Brandon Wheat Kings U18 AAA teammates Jaxon Jacobson and Nolan Saunderson will represent Manitoba at the 2023 WHL Cup taking place from October 17 – 22 in Red Deer, Alberta. The final roster was released earlier today. The 2023 WHL Cup showcases the top 2008-born players from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Jacobson, pictured above, was the 5th overall selection in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft by the Brandon Wheat Kings while The Spokane Chiefs used the 90th overall selection (5th round) to select blueliner Saunderson.

Three hockey players from the U18 AAA Westman Wildcats team have been selected to represent Manitoba at the upcoming 2023 National Women’s U-18 Championship. Along with their teammates, Kelsey Huibers, Karlyn Gudz, and Hallie Franklin will head to Dawson Creek, British Columbia to compete against 7 other provincial and regional teams. Also named to the team was Brandon's Callie Rice (RHA Kelowna). Team Manitoba opens the tournament on November the 5th against Team Ontario Red.

The Brandon Wheat Kings, who have dropped two games in a row, received some great news Sunday when the Detroit Red Wings assigned forward Nate Danielson to the WHL club. Danielson was selected in the 1st round, 9th overall by Detroit in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. He led the Wheat Kings in scoring last season picking up 78 points in 68 games played. Danielson joins the Wheat Kings already potent offense which currently has registered the most goals (32) to date in the WHL's Eastern Conference.

The Keystone Centre has installed brand-new, state-of-the-art, playtracking cameras in all three hockey rinks, enabling fans to watch the action from home, or any of their smart devices. The Keystone Centre is pleased to announce the partnership with on-line, sports streaming provider, HomeTeam Live. As part of this collaboration, HomeTeam Live will provide exclusive live-streaming service to all three ice surfaces, located at the Keystone Centre – excluding Brandon Wheat Kings home games, and practices. “It’s an exciting opportunity to engage fans that may not always be able to access the arena to watch their kids, grandkids, or friends,” says Eric Rutherford, Keystone Centre’s assistant director of sales & recreation. “The ability to provide this service, and digitally bring more people in to the facility than ever before, to take part in the fan experience, continues to solidify the Keystone Centre as a unique venue for it’s size in the area of fan service.” The subscription service will allow fans to create an account at app.hometeamlive.com and watch the action live or on-demand. Fans can use promo code KEYSTONE23-24 for an exclusive discount on the brand-new service. HomeTeam Live provides a high-definition live stream courtesy of play-tracking cameras designed to catch all of the action for a diverse array of sports without the need for onsite personnel. Installation of the brand-new system is complete, and fans can sign up now with promo code: KEYSTONE23-24 to begin viewing all of the action going on at the Keystone Centre.

The City of Brandon is pleased to provide an update on the future of Brandon’s Community Sportsplex Arena, as well as provide a pool update! Earlier this year, we asked our community to weigh in on the future of our community sportsplex. The Sportsplex means so much to our community — it gives us a chance to have fun while staying healthy — whether that’s on the ice, on the court or in the water. By meaningfully consulting and listening to you and your neighbours, and carefully studying the information and recommendations of the Recreation Needs Assessment & Conceptual Design for Brandon’s Community Sportsplex Arena, we’ve heard from our community that they are very supportive of renovating the Ice Rink to retain the indoor ice surface.  At the last Council meeting on September 18, Brandon City Council approved a request to release the proposal for the detailed design of a new Sportsplex ice plant and arena upgrades. This allows for the next step in the process to take place, which includes the engineering services for the new ice plant to be secured, and the design of the new ice plant and associated upgrades to begin this fall.  We expect construction of the ice arena to take place in 2024, with the rejuvenated arena up and running by late 2024. In Other News...the Pool Is Open Again!  The pool gets closed once every two years for a three-week period to ensure proper maintenance. We closed the pool for this regularly scheduled maintenance on September 3, and we’re pleased to announce that maintenance was successfully completed, and the pool reopened as scheduled on September 23! For all programming with the City of Brandon Parks & Recreation Services, please visit City of Brandon - Recreation Programs.