The Brandon Wheat Kings Hockey Club announced today that General Manager, Doug Gasper has resigned from the hockey club for personal reasons. Gasper will transition out of his current position over the coming weeks and will assist in hiring his replacement. “This was a difficult decision for me and my family,” said Gasper. “The Wheat Kings are a storied organization with a great history and a great fan base. I’m proud of the work we’ve done during my time here, and I believe my successor is in very good hands with a strong returning roster, and a deep prospect pool going forward.” The 58-year-old native of Rosetown, Saskatchewan joined the Wheat Kings on August 15th, 2019 as Assistant General Manager before being promoted as the teams General Manager on April 16th, 2021. Gasper recently completed his first full season at the helm with a regular season record of 35-28-3-2 before falling to the Red Deer Rebels in the first round in six games. “Doug has set this team up for success for years to come,” said Wheat Kings owner Jared Jacobson. “We wish Doug all the best in the future and thank him for all that he has done for the Brandon Wheat Kings organization.” The process to hire the 18th General Manager in team history will begin immediately. (Wheat Kings Release)

City of Brandon Parks & Recreation Services is excited to announce that Fresh Air Fitness will be back by popular demand! This initiative was launched in 2021 and encourages all residents of Brandon to get outside and enjoy the fresh air, while reaching some of their fitness goals! During the months of May and June, Fresh Air Fitness sessions will be provided at various City of Brandon parks.  Sessions are offered Tuesday evenings from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. Additional sessions will be offered in the fall starting in September. Participants are encouraged to wear athletic clothing, proper footwear, and bring their own water bottle. All equipment and instruction will be provided. Outdoor activities include: Basketball Volleyball Pickleball Yoga Quidditch Disc Golf Aquafit Each session has limited spots available. No registration required. First come, first served. All ages are invited. Participants 11 years of age and under require adult supervision. The schedule of activities can be found at brandon.ca/fresh-air-fitness. City of Brandon PSA

The  Andrew Agencies Ltd Senior AA Baseball League will expand by one team, as the Dakotas will take to the field for the 2022 season. The Dakotas will become the 6th team participating in the league, joining the Young Guns, Cardinals, Cubs, Giants, & U18 Marlins. Randell Wasicuna and Tommy Rosmus organized Sioux Valley's return to the league. Currently the roster sits at around 17 committed players, with only 4-5 of those players having previous hardball experience at that level. Wasicuna said that he and Rosmus decided to start a team after moving around from team to team the past several seasons and they also wanted to create an opportunity for the younger up and coming ball players to have a place to play. With the addition of the Dakotas, the member teams will play a 13 game schedule. Each team will play everyone three times as well as a single game against the AAA Midget Marlins that counts in the standings. Best regular season winner goes to AA provincials The league also recently created new Facebook and Twitter pages that you can follow along all summer for scores, news, and updates.

The 2022 Source for Sports AAA Summer Hockey Challenge wrapped up Monday, a day later then originally scheduled. Tournament officials had to work quickly to re-adjust the game schedule, after having to cancel a slate of games on Thursday due to last week's storm. The annual tournament hosted 40 teams competing in five different age groups. Week two of the tournament takes place May 6-8, 2022 with teams in the 2009 & 2008 age groups hitting the ice. 2014 In the 2014 championship game played at the J and G Homes Arena, Synergy upended WCHA 6-5 to claim the title. Drew Derlago, who scored the eventual game winner late in the third, held the hot hand for Synergy registering three goals and an assist. Carter Mangin, Kennedy Filiwich & Kase Leslie also scored for Synergy. Bentley Crowe and Trey Warburton replied with two goals each for WCHA. 2011 Sask-Can received goals from 6 different skaters en route to an 8-5 victory over the Parkland Thunder in the 2011 championship game. Caleb Philp & Parker Bleich scored twice while Ty Doran, Jesse Scriven, Grayden Little, & Bryer Loose each chipped in with a goal a piece. Cole Kemp had a monster game recording 5 assists in the win. Drew Luhowy lead the way offensively for the Thunder notching 4 goals while teammate Rhett Legaarden added 1. 2012 The Yellowhead Chiefs received three goals from Emmit Bell in Sunday's 2012 final, knocking off MB Force 6-5. For Yellowhead, single markers came off the sticks of Ryden Derlago, Tripp Warburton & Remmie Watson. Ryler Perrin (1g,2a), Holden Andrews (2g,1a) & Blake Gavigan (1g,2a) each picked up three points for the Force in the loss. 2013 The Southeast Bruins won all 6 of their games to claim the 2013 title. Monday morning's final saw the Bruins dispose of the PV Heat 6-2. Finn Cruise (3), Dryden Kuhl (2), & Tanner Preteau (1) scored for the Bruins while Xander Jowett picked up the win in net. Cade Driedger and Beckett Bileski each dented the twine once for the Heat. 2010 Jake Hawthorne and Graham Gard each recorded hat trucks as the Chill cruised to a decisive 11-3 victory over the Wheatland Wild Gold in the 2010 title game. Landon Prichodko also sniped twice for the Chill who went undefeated throughout the tournament. Kolbie McColl paced the Wild offensively with two apples.

The Red Deer Rebels and Brandon Wheat Kings will tangle in the first round of the 2022 WHL Playoffs. The first-round matchup was confirmed on Friday evening after the Brandon Wheat Kings suffered a 2-1 regulation defeat at the hands of the Saskatoon Blades. With the Rebels already locked into the third seed, Brandon’s regulation loss ensures they will finish no higher than sixth place in the Eastern Conference while remaining ahead of the seventh-place Lethbridge Hurricanes. The 2022 WHL Playoffs marks the return to the Conference-based playoff format for the first time since the 2014 WHL Playoffs. The Rebels and Wheat Kings last met in the 2016 WHL Eastern Conference Championship, with the Wheat Kings securing the series in five games en route to winning the 2016 WHL Championship. The 2021-22 season series between the two Eastern Conference opponents was split right down the middle. The Wheat Kings are winners of two straight in the season series – a 3-1 home win on February 8 and a 4-1 road victory on January 14. The Rebels opened the season series with back-to-back wins prior to the Christmas break – a 5-3 road triumph on November 5 and a resounding 7-1 home ice win way back on October 23. Ottawa Senators prospect Ridly Greig led all skaters with seven points (3G-4A) during the season series, while Rebels forward Jhett Larson collected five points (2G-3A) on behalf of his Club. Veteran Wheat Kings puck stopper Ethan Kruger sports the best numbers of any goaltender to appear in the season series, going 1-1-0-0 with a 0.73 goals-against average and .978 save percentage. His Brandon crease mate Carson Bjarnason also went 1-1-0-0 in the season series. In the Red Deer net, both Connor Ungar and Chase Coward went 1-1-0-0, with Coward boasting a 2.01 goals-against average and .920 save percentage. Before dropping the puck on the 2022 WHL Playoffs, the Rebels will close out the regular campaign on Saturday when they host the Edmonton Oil Kings at 7 p.m. MT (Peavey Mart Centrium). As for the Wheat Kings, they close the schedule on Saturday evening in Prince Albert with a road game against the Raiders (7 p.m. MT, Art Hauser Centre). Game 1 of the first-round series between the Red Deer Rebels and Brandon Wheat Kings will take place on Friday, April 22 at 7 p.m. MT (Peavey Mart Centrium). The best-of-seven series will move east to Brandon for Game 3 on Tuesday, April 26 at 7 p.m. CT (Westoba Place). Game Visitor   Home Date Time 1 Brandon @ Red Deer Friday, April 22 7:00 2 Brandon @ Red Deer Saturday, April 23 7:00 3 Red Deer @ Brandon Tuesday, April 26 7:00 4 Red Deer @ Brandon Wednesday, April 27 7:00 5 * Brandon @ Red Deer Friday, April 29 7:00 6 * Red Deer @ Brandon Sunday, May 1 5:00 7 * Brandon @ Red Deer Tuesday, May 3 7:00