NHL defenseman Joel Edmundson was in the holiday spirit really early this year as he has donated a large quantity of new helmets to the Brandon AAA Midget Wheat Kings program. Edmundson spent two seasons with the AAA Midget Wheat Kings prior to making the transition to the WHL's Moose Jaw Warriors in 2010/11. He was drafted 46th overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by St. Louis and has spent the last two seasons patrolling the blue line with the Blues. The NHL player, a fan favourite in St. Louis and a huge supporter of the AAA midget program in Brandon, will donate 26 helmets in total.

Brandon's Calen Addison, and his Canadian National Men's Under-18 teammates, captured gold today at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup.  They defeated the Czech Republic 4-1 in the championship final. Addison, currently a member of the WHL's Lethbridge Hurricanes, was held off the score sheet in the final contest. The 179 lb defensemen, a one time member of the AAA Brandon Midget Wheat Kings, had a terrific tournament registering 6 points (2g, 4a) in 5 games. He is draft eligible in 2018. The only other Manitoban on the teams was Winnipeg's Jett Woo, a defensemen who now plays with the Moose Jaw Warriors. The win was Canada's 21st gold medal in 27 years of summer under 18 hockey championships.

The Boyd Stadium project continues to roll along as it nears completion, and they are now ready to start laying sod. Volunteers are required to assist with the project which gets underway Wednesday, August the 16th and runs to Friday, August the 18th. A minimum of 20 people a day are required to assist and organizers are hoping to double that number each day. They will be laying sod daily from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm and any assistance your can provide during that time would be greatly appreciated. Completing this project over these three days will ensure the fields don't weed over are ready for use next year. The committee would also like to thank Alternative Landscaping for helping out with the project and to to D&B Sprinklers for providing the field with the water it will require to get the sod laid.

Division 2 Pizza Hotline captured their second straight Division 2 Championship on Thursday night, in Wendys Summer Hockey League action. They defeated the Vionell Holdings Property Barons 5-2 in a game played at the Sportsplex. Braeden Boschman and Kris Benson each scored twice to lead Pizza Hotline. Brandon Switzer, who will playing NCAA Division 1 hockey this season at the University of Alaska Anchorage, scored both goals for Vionell Holdings. It was the first year in the league for the “Property Barons”. Division 4 The leagues other final played on Thursday night was one for the ages. Double Decker at one point held a 4-0 lead before Pik-A-Dilly stormed back scoring 5 goals of their own, in capturing the Division 4 final. Pik-A-Dilly tied the game with only 18 seconds left on the clock to send the game to overtime.  They eventually picked up the win in dramatic fashion in OT and handed Double Decker their only loss of the summer. Jake Thomson picked up 4 pts (2g, 2a) in the win, while Nathan Flett also dented the twine twice for Pik-A-Dilly. Brett McKinnon registered a hat trick in the loss.

Some Wheat King news for you today. Logan Thompson, last seasons starting goalie for the Wheat Kings, will attend the rookie camp of the NHL's Las Vegas Golden Knights. Tyler Coulter will attend the Arizona Coyotes rookie camp. Coulter, who completed his junior eligibility last season with the Wheat Kings, has also signed a deal with the ECHL's Allen Americans for 17/18. Rugged blueliner, Dmitry Osipov has been invited to the camp of the AHL's Chicago Wolves. Like Coulter, Osipov finished his junior career in Brandon last season after being acquired by the the team at the WHL's trade deadline. Travis Young, who played several seasons with the Wheat Kings, has been named the new head coach of the Valley Wildcats of the Maritime Junior Hockey League. Young, from Souris, played 5 seasons in the WHL with both Brandon and Prince Albert. He then played for several seasons with the Acadia U Axemen before his career was cut short by concussion related issues.