Three members of the Brandon Wheat Kings were named on NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary players to watch list Tuesday. Goaltender Carson Bjarnason, forward Nate Danielson received an A-Rating. Forward Rylen Roersma received a C-Rating. Bjarnason (6-3, 186) is 6-2-1 with a 1.99 goals-against average, .945 save percentage and one shutout in nine games. He leads WHL goalies with 310 saves. Central scouting had positive things to say about the Wheat Kings goaltender. “He’s very focused and determined with very good quickness, especially in reactions, recovery and lateral play,” said Al Jensen of Central Scouting. “He’s got good overall net coverage and has good pro potential.” Danielson (6’1, 185) after starting the season with only 2 points in his first 4 games at home, is back on track after scoring 3 goals and 10 assists during the 8 game road trip. Roersma (5’11, 185) was previously invited to Colorado Avalanche’s development camp last Summer. The Lethbridge, Alberta native came in as a C Rated prospect and has potential to be a over age draft pick next Spring. NHL Central Scouting identifies players with a rating system that includes four categories. The ‘A’ rating indicates players projected to be first-round candidates. The ‘B’ rating indicates players projected to be second- or third-round candidates, and the ‘C’ rating indicates players projected to be fourth-, fifth-, or sixth-round candidates. The ‘LV’ rating represents a player who has not had sufficient viewings, due to injury. Seven WHL players earned ‘A’ ratings: Regina Pats forward Connor Bedard, Winnipeg ICE forward Zach Benson, Brandon Wheat Kings teammates Carson Bjarnason and Noah Danielson, Prince George Cougars forward Riley Heidt, Vancouver Giants forward Samuel Honzek and Moose Jaw Warriors forward Brayden Yager. A further 12 WHL players were given ‘B’ ratings, including Kelowna Rockets teammates Andrew Cristall and Caden Price, Red Deer Rebels forward Kalan Lind and Seattle Thunderbirds pair Scott Ratzlaff and Gracyn Sawchyn. 23 WHL players earned ‘C’ ratings, while one WHL player received an ‘LV’ rating. Overall, 21 of the 22 WHL Clubs are represented in the ‘Players to Watch’ List. The Vancouver Giants boast five players on the list to lead all WHL Clubs. The Brandon Wheat Kings, Kamloops Blazers, Moose Jaw Warriors, Portland Winterhawks and Saskatoon Blades have three players listed. Seven WHL Clubs are represented with two players on the list, while eight further WHL Clubs have a single player on NHL Central Scouting’s list. A total of 25 WHL forwards find themselves on the list, joined by 12 WHL defencemen and six WHL goaltenders. To see the full list of rankings. CLICK HERE (Wheat Kings Release)

Earlier today Brandon's Clarke Caswell was named as one of the 66-players who will represent Canada at the upcoming 2022 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, Nov. 3-12 in Langley and Delta, B.C. Caswell, a forward, is in his first campaign with the WHL's Swift Current Broncos, where he has amassed 5 points in 8 games. Canada will ice three teams in the tournament which also include teams from Czechia, Finland, Sweden and the United States. Caswell will suit up for Team Canada Black as will Boissevain's Josh Fluker. The duo are also teammates in Swift Current. Three current member's of the Brandon Wheat Kings were also named: forward Caleb Hadland (Team Canada Red),forward  Roger McQueen (Team Canada White) and defensemen Charlie Elick (Team Canada White).

Ross Sheard captured the 18th Annual Ridge Bowl title last weekend in a tournament held at the Deer Ridge Golf Course. Sheard, a first time winner of the event, shot a 72 in the qualifying round to advance to the championship flight. He then defeated Deer Ridge veteran Don Mitchell in the first round, before defeating wiley veteran Mark Shanks, 1up in the semi’s. In the finals Ross defeated 4 time Ridge Bowl Champion and this years medalist (67), David Glenn, on the sixth extra playoff hole. Speaking of Glenn, he has qualified for the Championship Flight 17 times in the 18 year history of the tournament. Additional flight winners included: Tan Pierone (4th), Justin Packo (3rd), Jordan Hagmeister (2nd) and Scott Davidson (1st). Ridge Bowl is an annual 9-hole match tournament held at Deer Ridge each fall. Included in your entry this year was the golf, prizes, a Saturday supper, and Sunday morning breakfast.

As announced earlier, the THHL will be expanding by two teams (Miniota-Elkhorn & Rivers) this season. Miniota-Elkhorn moves over from the NCHL while Rivers will have a  senior team for the first time since the 2018/2019 season when they participated in the North Central Hockey League. "We had quite a few local guys playing with other senior teams in the THHL, so we sat down and started to map out the potential roster and the expenses, and after looking at all of that it was pretty clear that we had a real shot at bringing a senior team back to Rivers" Ryan Lamb told bdnmb.ca.  According to Lamb, Rivers will ice a young, competitive team this year. Included in the group is a number of hardworking forwards and a strong defensive group lead by former MJHL'ers Troy Heywood, Riley Shamray, & Ryder Richmond. Riley Lamb, a veteran of 88 WHL games, and Layne Anderson will provide the club with a great goaltending tandem. The entire roster can be viewed here. To date they have had four practices and they have an exhibition game scheduled against Wawanesa on Saturday October 15. Game time is 8:00 PM in Rivers.

The Elite Hockey League (EHL) recently completed their 32 annual NHL hockey fantasy draft. The draft started with only 6 teams taking part, in a draft held in Al Sellars basement on 8th Street. Shawn Bolack, Craig Richardson, Keith Richardson, and Al Sellars are the longest serving team owners, having participated in the inaugural draft in 1991/92. Through expansion over the years, the league has grown to include twelve teams. Ten of the team's twelve owners have been part of the league for 28-years or more. Throughout the years, the draft has been held at numerous locations throughout the city including the old Brandon Club, Keystone Centre Board Room, WCG Boardroom, Royal Oak Inn, BDO Dunwoody and most recently the Victoria Inn. While the league's ownership group has gotten older over the years, the competitiveness still remains. Numerous disagreements are a common occurrence come draft day including one year where an unnamed owner dared another owner “to go ahead, take a poke” during a heated discussion. In the early days, the stats were entered manually. Today the league uses Fantrax as their official stats program. “Moving to an online stats program was a game changer” said Pylon's owner Shawn Bolack. “In the old days I would have to run to Sellars house every Tuesday to pickup the weekly stats package just to see how my team was doing. Now the stats are updated in real-time” added Bolack. A rather complex draft sees each owner draft a team of 20-players (2g, 6d, 12f) via a live auction draft of each player until their roster is full. Each team receives a $30 salary cap. Teams also draft a reserve list of 10 players and a rookie draft proceeds the auction where teams can protect up to 5 rookies. Once the season starts, a number of categories (goals, assists, hits, +/-, STP, SOG, wins, and GAA) are used to determine a winner. Each year the winner receives their team name on the league's trophy and a small amount of cash.