A really fun and interesting video recently surfaced online of a youth hockey player weaving his way through a series of trees before rifling a shot on net, in what looked like in a residential front yard. We reached out to the family to acquire additional information to share with our followers. The boy in the video is Reid Luhowy, 11 year old son of Troy and Michele Luhowy of Rossburn, MB.  He plays hockey with the Tri Valley Titans peewee team. (Rossburn, Foxwarren and St. Lazare). The video was shot at his grandfather's (Nelson Luhowy) yard in Rossburn on April 16/20.  Reid and his 10 year old sister, Addison, spent 2 hours a day from April 13 to April 16 on the frozen yard until the weather became too warm and melted their make shift arena!! Reid's favorite NHL team is the Montreal Canadiens and his favorite player is Carey Price. Cody McLeod is the favorite player that he personally knows as they spend the summer at the same lake.  Reid and Addison also have a favorite future future NHL'er. This is their cousin, Tristen Robin's, they are excited and hopeful he gets drafted by the Canadiens!! They both look up to Tristen and wished he could of come out and joined them to see how fast he could go through the "pylons"!!! The four days they were able to play during this pandemic were able to give them some closure to a hockey season that ended abruptly on March 6th one day before Reid and the Titans were to compete in provincials.  They both can hardly wait until next year when they are back in the rinks!! The entire video can be watched here.

Due to the ongoing concerns regarding COVID-19, our committee has made the difficult decision of cancelling the 2020 Matt Calvert Charity Shootout. We did not take this decision lightly, however the safety of our sponsors, vendors, and golfers is of the utmost importance. We also face the unknown of the NHL season and whether or not Matt and his family will be in Brandon this summer. For those who have submitted payment for the 2020 tournament, we have provided the following options. We will hold funds toward the 2021 tournament or provide a full refund on payment. Please contact Shauna Turnbull @ shauna_tbull@hotmail.com with your decision. We will be returning in 2021, and are in the process of securing dates and venues for that now. The committee wants to take this time to thank all of you for your continued support.

The ECHL's Rapid City Rush recently named former Brandon Wheat King Tyler Coulter their 2020 recipient of the Blaine Jarvis “Heart and Soul Award”. The honor "is awarded annually “to the Rush player that best exemplifies the qualities of Blaine Jarvis both on and off the ice: professionalism, perseverance, determination, commitment to the game, work ethic, and excellence in both the locker room and community.” Jarvis, a one-time player for the Rush, passed away in an accident on January 31, 2016. Coulter received the honor, the organization’s highest individual honor, for his efforts on the ice and in the community, He finished he season with 39 points in 47 games and participated in many community events throughout the season. Another Brandonite, Josh Elmes won the award back in 2018.

The end-of-season North American rankings in the NHL’s Central Scouting report was released earlier this week. Tristen Robins, who played the majority of his minor hockey in Brandon, ended up being listed as the 86th overall prospect among North American skaters. It should be noted that in the mid-term rankings Robins had been listed 134th among North American skaters. A strong 2nd half to his WHL season helped him move up in the rankings. Prior to the season coming to an abrupt end, the speedy 18 year old centreman registered 73 points in 62 games with the Saskatoon Blades. Robins credits a number of factors for his increased point production in 2019/20 including additional ice time and the work he put in over the summer months. "Losing our top player Kirby Dach gave me more of a key role on the team and I thrived in that position having nearly two points per game in the second half. My biggest improvements would be my board play, one on one play, one on one battles, and my skating. And this improved because of my intense training programs that I had done in the summer. I really worked hard on my metal side of the game to bring the right mindset and intensity for consistent game play day in and day out. Not letting my highs get to high and my lows too low. Robins, who lists the Pittsburgh Penguins as his favorite team and Sidney Crosby as his favorite player, obviously would love to hear his name called at this year's draft. "It has been a lifelong dream of mine to not only have my name called at the draft, but for whoever believes in my ability to eventually help lead the team to a Stanley cup" said Robins. "Looking back to the western league draft and how much it meant to me having my name called back then only gave me a slight glimpse of what it would be like to be called in the NHL draft" "Even if my name isn’t called, I will be going to a camp with a mindset to prove everyone wrong and outshine anyone who has been taken higher than me. The draft is amazing, but it is only to me seen as the next steps to my professional career, as I know it is a mountain of work Ahead of me to get to my goal of playing in the NHL, to which I truly look forward to." For many players their draft year can add a significant amount of stress and pressure throughout the course of a season. "I didn’t put any more pressure on myself, I was super excited for the challenge and new it was going to be a big year personally as well as a big year for the team.  I have really great family support and have been raised to not worry about the future and to stay In the present time and to live and play in the moment. The future will take care of itself as long as I take care of business during the present. I only worry about things that are in my control, that is my attitude and work ethic." said Robins. When asked what he feels he needs to work on to take his game to the next level Robins told bdnmb.ca "I feel that I need to work on rounding out my defensive zone play by also improving my stick position. Knowing that I can be a game changer I want to be more consistent at being the driver on my line." The draft was originally slated to take place in Montreal (June 26-27) and has since been postponed with the location, timing and format for the Draft to be confirmed. While Robins waits to hear whether or not his name will be called, he will be keeping himself busy this off-season preparing for his future. "I do one on one on ice skill training at the Rink facility in Winnipeg with Seth Jarvis working on everything from shooting, stick handling, skating, and edge work. As well as being trained personally by the trainers of testify performance upstairs. As soon as I am allowed, I will be on the ice 4-5 times a week and training 5-6 days a week. I am currently training everyday until I am allowed to go into Winnipeg."

As voted upon by WHL General Managers., two members of the Brandon Wheat Kings were named to the Eastern Conference First All-Star team for the for the 2019-20 WHL season. WHL Eastern Conference First All-Star Team Goaltender – Jiri Patera (Praha, Czech Republic) – Brandon Wheat Kings Defenceman – Calen Addison (Brandon, Man.) – Lethbridge Hurricanes Defenceman – Braden Schneider (Prince Albert, Sask.) – Brandon Wheat Kings Forward – Dylan Cozens (Whitehorse, Yukon) – Lethbridge Hurricanes Forward – James Hamblin (Edmonton, Alta.) – Medicine Hat Tigers Forward – Aliaksei Protas (Vitebsk, Belarus) – Prince Albert Raiders The National Hockey League Central Scouting Service announced their Final Rankings for the 2020 NHL Entry Draft and three Brandon Wheat Kings were listed. The final list included: Braden Schneider (9th), Ridly Greig (14th) and Ben McCartney (153rd) among North American Skaters. The draft was originally slated to take place in Montreal (June 26-27) and has since been postponed with the location, timing and format for the Draft to be confirmed.