By: Bruce Luebke, Sports Director, 880 CKLQ The final tally for the NHL Draft this past weekend was two members of the Wheat Kings, two Brandonites and four players on Brandon’s protected list.  Kale Clague (2nd Round, LA Kings) and Tanner Kaspick (4th Round, St. Louis Blues) were the two Wheat Kings selected, extending Brandon’s streak to 12 consecutive years – the second longest among WHL teams behind the Red Deer Rebels.  Kaspick and Jordy Stallard, who went in the 5th round to Winnipeg, were the two Brandonites chosen in the draft while Ryan Lindgren (2nd Round, Boston) Wade Allison (2nd Round, Philadelphia), Joey Anderson (3rd Round, New Jersey) and Rhett Gardner (4th round, Dallas) were the four players on the Wheat Kings protected roster that were chosen. Wheat Kings’ Reid Duke, who was a Minnesota Wild draft pick in 2014 but re-entered the draft after not being signed, was not chosen in the 2016 Draft.  Duke will likely receive multiple invitations to attend Development Camps this summer from NHL teams, but not being chosen greatly increases the chances that he’ll return to Brandon as a 20-year old next season.  For me, Duke, F Tyler Coulter and G Jordan Papirny are now the likely front-runners to fill Brandon’s 20-year old spots for the 2016-2017 season. With the NHL Draft in the rearview mirror, Wheat Kings’ fans can now look forward to the CHL Import Draft, which takes place on Tuesday (June 28).  Brandon has a chance to select two players in the draft, with Ivan Provorov still remaining on their protected list.  The Wheat Kings have the 59th (second-last) pick of the first round and the 59th pick (119th overall) in the second round.  Expect Brandon to select at least one defenceman but, considering the state of their defence core overall, it seems likely both picks would be used on blueliners. Still with hockey, Brandon’s Kevin Saurette is the new Director of Operations for the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.  Saurette played three seasons in the WHL, mainly with the Regina Pats, and five years at the University of Manitoba before spending nine years playing professionally.  His last three pro seasons were with Belfast in the EIHL.  While there, he obtained Masters of Business Administration from the University of Ulster – Belfast.  Saurette will assume his new duties on August 4. Brandon product Nolan Thiessen has a new gig.  The three-time Brier champion and former world men’s championship has joined Curling Canada as a consultant, effective July 1.  Thiessen will be working with Curling Canada’s Event Model Review team, which is assessing all of Curling Canada’s championships and setting a future path for those events.  He’ll also provide an athletes’ perspective to many other Curling Canada initiatives.  Thiessen announced in April that he’s stepping away from competitive curling. Congrats to Brandon product Dayton Black on being the lone player from outside of Winnipeg to be selected to Team Manitoba for next month’s Football Canada Cup.  Black just complete his Grade 10 season at Neelin, and is one of three quarterbacks on the squad.  During the 2015 season, Black completed 83 of 162 passes for 1,297 yards and seven interceptions and nine touchdowns.  He also rushed 93 times for 391 yards and five touchdowns. Shameless plug warning!  Our Westman Softball Umpires’ Association will be hosting the Softball Manitoba U14 A Girls’ Championship on July 8-10 at Simplot Park.  The eight-team championship will include the hometown Westman Magic.  That same weekend, the Brandon Minor Baseball Association is hosting the Baseball Manitoba Mosquito A Championship.  It should be a great weekend, and is a great opportunity for everyone to see some young ball players in action.

It's no secret that Brandon and the Westman area have produced many talented hockey players and one look at the Wendy s Summer Hockey League Rosters is a clear indication of just that.  The league boasts full time NHL players, players with minor pro experience, players who play professionally overseas, as well as may current WHL players. Cody McLeod, Ryan White, Michael Ferland, Joel Edmundson, and Matt Calvert all spent last season on NHL rosters.  McLeod, White, and Ferland all play together on the Houston's Scramblers who last summer captured the Division 1 Championship. Players who spent last season playing professionally in European leagues include Mark Derlago, Andrew Clark, Shayne Wiebe, Brock Trotter and brothers Alex and Tyler Plante. Travis Sanheim, Tanner Kaspick, Jordan Stallard and Jayce Hawerlyuk are recent NHL draft picks who will spend their summer grinding it out in the WSHL.  Former Wheat King and first round draft pick of the Dallas Stars, Scott Glennie returns to the summer league with Brown's Contenders. Current Wheat Kings participating this summer include James Shearer, Connor Gutenberg and Tyler Coulter, who was just recently invited to attend camp of the Vancouver Canucks. WSHL Rosters & Standings WSHL Schedule  

Submitted: Hockey Brandon  https://registration.hockeycanada.ca/registration/?ID=1033 Effective for the 2016-17 season, we are introducing Spring registration.  This has been mandated by Hockey Manitoba for all associations.  Families will once again register from a link on our website.  You register online; however, we are not taking on line payments.  You will need to come into the Hockey Brandon office to make payment or call us with a credit card number.     Early bird registration will run from June 1 to June 30, 2016.  Regular registration rates will go into effect starting July 1, 2016 and will be $100 more.  The initial payment will be a $200 deposit.  Hockey Brandon will set their 2016-17 registration rates once spring registration is complete.  The rates will be posted on the website in early August.    The Hockey Brandon office will be closed July 1 – August 1, 2016.  The $200 deposit payment can be made once the office reopens.    Families registering for the first time will need to complete the Parent Respect in Sport program.  The link and additional information are available through our website.  The fee for this program is $12.60 and can be paid online.    Deadline for Initial Player Registration Minor Hockey Associations are required to complete their initial player registration by September 15th of the current season. All transfer requests received on or after September 15th must be dealt with in accordance to transfer regulations. Player may register after this date in accordance to Hockey Manitoba regulations.  Registrations received after this date may be placed on a waiting list.    

It doesn’t happen very often but Nolan Chastko, an 11 year pitcher for the Brandon Rockies accomplished something pitchers can usually only dream of.  He threw a perfect game in baseball action in Brandon, MB on Saturday June the 26th, striking out all 18 batters that he faced.  Chastko pitched six innings in picking up the win and needed only 70 pitches to complete his masterpiece.  With the win he helped his Rockies team advance to Sunday’s finals against the Reds at Simplot Millennium Park. The Rockies ended up winning the U11 division on Sunday with a 5-0 victory over the Reds and will advance to the Mosquito “AA” Provincial Championships in Boissevain on July 15th through to the 17th.   The Reds will go on to participate in the Zone 2 Mosquito “A” Provincial Championships to be held in Brandon the weekend of July 8th to 10th.

It was a great day for a couple members of the Brandon Wheat Kings as both Kale Clague and Tanner Kaspick were selected in today’s NHL Draft.  Clague, a smooth skating defenseman, was selected by the LA Kings in the 2nd round, 51st overall. Clague, an offensive minded defenseman, had an outstanding 2nd half to his season and finished with 43 points in 71 games.  He was also a plus 25 on the season. The St. Louis Blues selected Tanner Kaspick in the 4th round, 119th overall.  The 6’0”, 203 pound two way forward had a solid second season in the WHL putting up 31 points in 53 games.  Local product Jordan Stallard, who now plays for the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL, was also selected today as the Winnipeg Jets called his name in the 6th round with the 127th overall pick.  Arizona selected Portage Terriers Dean Stewart with the 188th pick overall.  The defenseman is scheduled to attend the University of Nebraska-Omaha starting in the 2016/17 season.