The Brandon AAA U18 Wheat Kings made the announcement yesterday that Micheal Ferland would be joining the coaching staff for the 2023-24 season. Ferland spent two years as a player in the organization before joining the WHL's Brandon Wheat Kings. Upon the conclusion of his WHL career, Ferland played in 335 NHL regular season games with three different NHL teams (Calgary, Vancouver, Carolina). He retired from the NHL in 2021  and has spent some time behind the bench (assistant coach) before with the 2021-22 AAA U15 Brandon Wheat Kings and most recently as the Head Coach of the gold medal Team Manitoba at the North Aboriginal Hockey Championship. The organization also announced that Paul Mandziuk would be returning for his third season as an assistant coach with the club.

The 13u AAA Marlins punched their ticket to Kelowna to participate in the Western Canadian Championships (August 18-20) by capturing the u13 Tier II crown over the weekend in St. James. The club finished the 6-team round robin sporting a 5-1 record, with the only loss coming on Saturday morning against St. James. The two teams would meet up again in Sunday's final, this time with the Marlins outscoring St. James 18-11.

A pair of Brandon Wheat King teammates, Roger McQueen & Charlie Elick, won gold today at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. Team Canada upended Czechia 3-2 in overtime on a goal by Erie Otters Malcolm Spence in the gold medal contest. Spence's goal came with 7 seconds left in the OT period. McQueen finished the tournament with an impressive 7-points in 5-games, while Elick recorded 2-assists in the same 5-games. The Wheat Kings used back to back picks in the 2021 WHL Bantam Draft to select Elick 3rd overall & McQueen 4th. MALCOLM SPENCE, OVERTIME HERO! ???????? MALCOLM SPENCE, LE HÉROS DE LA PROLONGATION! ????????#HlinkaGretzkyCup | #CoupeHlinkaGretzkypic.twitter.com/IHNNp5YdzR — Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) August 5, 2023  

Brandon's Caitlan Nickel is about to embark on a journey to represent Manitoba at the upcoming 2023 16U Girls Invitational Championships baseball tournament being held in Summerside, Prince Edward Island. The tournament sees teams from across the country competing for the title from August 24-27. Needless to say the talented IN/OF is looking forward to the experience. "I am really looking forward to seeing how well we do, and if we could do better than last year. I think with enough hard work put in, we could definitely get a medal too this year" Caitlan told bdnmb.ca. "I also always enjoy the team bonding that happens when we all get to hang out for a week and share hotel rooms which makes us all become better friends." Unlike most girls her age, Caitlan has never played softball. There were no softball teams near her where she used to live in Ashern MB and the closest team she could play on was a boys baseball team in Lundar.  "I have never actually played softball...I like the pitching better in baseball because no matter how many times I watch softball pitchers, I could never figure out how to do it. Another thing I love about playing baseball is peoples’ reactions when they see a girl playing on a boys team. When I go into a store and ask for baseball gear they will correct me and say, “You mean softball, right?” There is always a mix of positive and negative but I still enjoy hearing each and every one". The family just moved to Brandon last summer and this was her first year playing with Brandon Minor Baseball. This past season she took to the field with a number of teams including the U15 Brandon Padres (house league team) and the U15 AA Brandon Grizzlies (the AA provincial and prospects teams). "I was a little bit scared to come to evaluations and tryouts in Brandon for the first time this year because I barely knew anyone and I did not know what would be said, but I ended up making some really great friends that took me in without complaining that they had a girl on their team." said Nickel. "All of my teammates’ little sisters and cousins were always cheering for me as loud as they could and they were always telling me how they are my biggest fans." In July she was announced to the roster for 16U Girls Provincial Team that will be competing in Summerside. In preparation for the tournament Caitlan and her team MB teammates have been having practices and exhibition games to get ready. They played the 15U Carillon Sultans in a double header a couple weeks ago, and that was their first time playing together as a team this season.  On August 10 they will play the same Carillon team again as an exhibition game, followed by another 2 practices before they make their way out to Summerside! "I could never be where I am now without the support and encouragement from all of my great coaches throughout my last 3 years of playing, and the support I always get from my teammates really helps keep me going! I also could not have done any of this if it wasn’t for my Mom and Dad always being my biggest cheerleaders in the stands and driving me to my games and practices".

Travis Mealy has been announced as the new head coach for the upcoming 2023-2024 hockey season for the Brandon U18 AAA What Kings. Mealy has spent parts of the last five seasons as an assistant coach with the program and is a former player in the QMJHL and at the University of Manitoba. He replaces Curtis Brolund who accepted an assistant coaching role with the MJHL’s Virden Oil Caps.