In light of the evolving health concerns surrounding the COVID-19 Omicron variant in Canada, and the Manitoba Provincial government imposing a 250-person capacity limit on indoor events, the 2021 Stars on Ice “Holiday” show scheduled for Wednesday, December 29th at the Westoba Place at the Keystone Centre will be postponed to a date later this winter. After consulting with local officials, a decision was made that assures the best scenario to guarantee the safety of tour staff, skaters and attendees, as well as ensuring a performance date that will not significantly decrease the number of fans permitted to attend the show. The new date and time will be announced as soon as possible. All Stars on Ice tickets purchased from www.starsonice.ca or www.tickets.keystonecentre.com for the 2021 Stars on Ice “Holiday” show will be honored and automatically transferred, with the same seat locations, to the new show date. Additional ticket information is available by contacting the original ticket vendor. Stars on Ice continues to be a pioneer in figure skating by offering fans throughout North America the rare opportunity to witness some of the world’s most accomplished and artistically gifted champions performing together in both individual and ensemble routines.

A rise in positive tests for COVID-19 among athletes who were scheduled to attend, along with the risks associated with travelling, have forced Curling Canada to cancel the 2022 Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials. The event was scheduled to begin on Tuesday at Stride Place in Portage la Prairie, Man., and was to decide Canada’s mixed doubles team for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. But the increasing numbers of Trials-bound athletes testing positive for COVID-19, along with the rise in cases across Canada, made it impossible to stage the event in a safe, responsible manner for athletes, staff and volunteers. Unlike the Calgary bubble, which had months of preparation time and allowed athletes to self-isolate at home, and get tests done prior to their departure for the events, the dramatic rise in positive cases related to the sudden emergence of the Omicron variant across Canada in the past week made those safety precautions impossible to carry out. Curling Canada’s High Performance staff will consult with the Canadian Olympic Committee and Own the Podium to decide the best process to nominate a Canadian mixed doubles team that will compete in China. An announcement of the nominated team will be made when the process is complete. Curling Canada is continuing to consult with local, regional and national health authorities for the remaining events in the 2021-22 season, and remains optimistic that its championship events can be staged safely and responsibly. At this time no further comment is available. Arrangements are being made for ticket-holders to be refunded.

The Brandon Wheat Kings announced today that the recent Province of Manitoba update to large venue capacities will have no impact on current Brandon Wheat Kings ticket holders. The change does, however, limit future ticket sales for all games played between Tuesday, December 21, 2021 and January 11, 2022. All season ticket holders, suite level attendees, holiday hat-trick and santa pack buyers, and fans with pre-purchased single game tickets will be admitted to the game.  Please use your tickets as you would any other game. Fans not currently holding tickets for the following games are strongly encouraged to choose their seats online and buy tickets in advance. These games include the popular holiday break games on December 27th and December 30th and the New Year’s Day game. Sellouts are likely, please do not wait until game day to buy your tickets. Monday, December 27th vs Winnipeg – 7pm – Westoba Place – Buy Tickets Thursday, December 30th vs Edmonton – 7pm – Westoba Place – Buy Tickets New Year’s Day, Saturday January 1st vs Red Deer – 7pm – Westoba Place – Buy Tickets January 7th vs Calgary– 7pm – Westoba Place – 7pm – Westoba Place – Buy Tickets All fans in attendance will continue to provide proof of vaccination screenings and wear masks when attending Wheat Kings games. No other changes to attendance requirements, concessions, or other fan services have been implemented by the Province of Manitoba at this time.

City of Brandon Parks & Recreation Services is pleased to advise the public that Brandon’s outdoor skating oval, located immediately west of the Parks Complex on 2020 McGregor Avenue, will open for the 2021-2022 winter season as of 4 p.m. today, Friday, December 17th, 2021.   As there are still some fringe areas of the oval under development, all users are asked to respect the signage and barricades which remain in place in those outer areas at this time. Hours of operation at the oval will be 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. through the course of the winter season, weather-permitting.  The oval is developed each year by Parks & Recreation Services staff and provides warming shacks, portable washroom facilities, flood lighting, ambient music, and fire pits to cook on or warm up around. In addition, the Manitoba Hydro Waterfall of Lights is also lit until 11 p.m. each evening so the public can skate around the oval and take in the brilliant, festive displays. Due to provincial public health orders, limited space is available in the warming shacks. Please follow posted signage.  The public should note that while use of the skating oval is FREE, it is unsupervised, with no sticks, pucks or pets allowed on the ice surface. The public is encouraged to park in designated areas on McGregor Avenue or Hilton Avenue, as NO public vehicles are allowed in the direct area of the Manitoba Hydro Waterfall of Lights display or the skating oval. The public is also asked to enjoy all lighting displays at a safe distance and not to walk in areas where power cords are present.   For more information on the many other public winter activities overseen by the City of Brandon’s Parks & Recreation Services, including its various sledding/toboggan hills and outdoor trails, please call 204-729-2148 or visit brandon.ca/winter-recreation/toboggan-hills.  (CITY OF BRANDON PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT )

Brandon, MB – The Brandon Wheat Kings have added ten new faces to the franchise, in one of the busiest hockey operations weeks in recent memory. Eight players heard their name called in the WHL Prospects Draft today, following a pair of additions to the franchise in Wednesday’s U.S Priority Draft. In a rare occurance, the Wheat Kings held a trio of first round selections in the WHL Prospects Draft, including #3 and #4 overall. Both of those picks were acquired during the 2016/17 season as part of the packages that sent Tanner Kaspick and Kale Clague to Victoria and Moose Jaw respecitvely. “We were in a very fortunate poisition this year,” said General Manager Doug Gasper. “Having that many opportunities for a franchise type player doesnt happen very often. In the past I was lucky to be part of a program with two first round picks, but never three.”  With the 3rd overall pick the Wheat Kings went to Alberta to take 6’2″ defenseman Charlie Elick from the Edge Academy. The son of former New York Rangers draft pick Mickey Elick has appeared in 11 games in the Canadian Sports School Hockey League this season, scoring three times and adding nine assists. Moments later, the Wheat Kings used the 4th overall selection to take Saskatoon native, Roger McQueen. McQueen is a member of the Saskatoon U18 Blazers, and has put up 20 points in just 17 games this season. In his last season of U15 with the Saskatoon Stallions, McQueen recorded 87 points in just 31 games. With the final pick of the first round, the Wheat Kings went back to Alberta, selecting forward Caleb Hadland from the Yale Hockey Academy. In total, Brandon chose players from three provinces and two U.S states, and spread the picks out amongst one goalie, five forwards and four defensemen. “Today we bring in a great blend of size, skill and players with high hockey IQ and compete,” added Gasper.  “Those are the intagables we value as a Wheat King and we want to keep that tradition of having those type of players in our organization going and I think we did that today.” All players selected today are eligible to play a maximum of five games as an affiliated player this season. WHL Draft Selections #3 Overall – Charlie Elick, D – Edge Hockey Academy “A complete player that leads by example.” -Director of Player Personnel Chris Moulton   — #4 Overall – Roger McQueen, F – Saskatoon U18 Blazers “A great combination of size and skill.” -Director of Player Personnel Chris Moulton — #22 Overall – Caleb Hadland, F – Yale Hockey Academy “A real leader that contributes offensively.” -Director of Player Personnel Chris Moulton — #64 Overall – Carter Klippenstein, F – Lethbridge U18 Hurricanes “Competitive player that leads by example.” -Director of Player Personnel Chris Moulton — #86 Overall – Carter Rimstad, D – OHA Edmonton Prep  “A hard nosed defender that makes a great first pass,” -Director of Player Personnel Chris Moulton — #108th Overall – Evan Lambert, F – Winnipeg Bruins “A steady defenseman that makes good puck decisions.” -Director of Player Personnel Chris Moulton — #114 Overall – Ethan Eskit, G – Yale Hockey Academy “A goalie that shows up when his team needs him to make the big saves.” -Director of Player Personnel Chris Moulton — #152 Overall – Drew Williamson, F – Airdrie U18 Bisons “Complete player that playes the game the right way.” -Director of Player Personnel Chris Moulton ________________________________________________________________________________ U.S Priority Draft Selections #13 Overall – Colin Frank, RW – Anaheim Junior Ducks U16 “Colin is a gifted goal scorer that has the ability to put himself in position to create offense every shift.” -Director of Player Personnel Chris Moulton — #32 Overall – Ethan Gonyeau, D – Dallas Stars Elite U16 “Ethan is a creative puck moving defenseman, that transitions the puck up the ice well and creates offense from the back-end.” -Director of Player Personnel Chris Moulton  Season Team League GP G A TP PIM     Playoffs GP G A TP PIM  2020-2021 Dallas Stars Elite 14U AAA T1EHL 14U 8 2 1 3 2 |         Dallas Stars Elite 14U AAA 16U AA 20 1 5 6 4 |          2021-2022 Dallas Stars Elite 16U AAA T1EHL 16U 8 0 2 2 6 |         Dallas Stars Elite 16U AAA 16U AAA 31 2 13 15 - |         Player statistics powered by www.eliteprospects.com (Brandon Wheat Kings Release)