Wheat Kings announce guest speakers for Sportsman’s Dinner

Credit:  Brandon Wheat Kings Release

Brandon, MB. – The Chief Executive Officer of Hockey Canada will headline plans for the 2019 Brandon Wheat Kings’ Q Country Sportsman’s Dinner, presented by TELUS, scheduled for Thursday, February 7^th in the Keystone Centre.

Tom Renney will be joined by comedian Steve Patterson as headliners for the event, which is held annually to raise money for the hockey club’s Scholarship Fund.

As Hockey Canada’s CEO, Renney oversees hockey development programs both nationally and internationally, as well as high performance programs. He manages and oversees all operations for competitions that Canada participates in internationally and is a member of the Board of Directors.

A native of Cranbrook, British Columbia, Renney joined Hockey Canada after enjoying a wealth of hockey experience at both the international and professional levels. He served as vice-president of hockey operations with Hockey Canada from 1997-99 and helped coach Team Canada to a silver medal at the 1999 IIHF World Junior Championship. He’s also served as head coach with Canada’s National Men’s Team from 1992-94, capturing a silver medal at the 1994 Olympic Winter Games in Norway.

An associate coach with the National Hockey League’s Detroit Red Wings in 2013-14, he also served as a head coach with the Edmonton Oilers from 2010-12, New York Rangers from 2004-08 and Vancouver Canucks in 1996-97.

During his NHL coaching career, Renney continued to maintain ties to the national program, serving as an assistant coach at both the 2004 and 2005 IIHF World Championships, winning a gold and silver medal in 2005 and 2005 respectively.

Prior to coaching at the national and professional levels, Renney served as head coach of the Western Hockey League’s Kamloops Blazers from 1990-92, leading the team to an impressive 101-37-6 record. His .714 winning percentage ranks as the all time best in Canadian Hockey League history. Under his guidance, the Blazers captured two league championship titles as well as the 1992 Memorial Cup in Seattle.

Patterson meanwhile is best known as the host of the hit show The Debaters on CBC Radio One. He3’s been a professional headliner since 1997 and has taped numerous national television specials in the past decade including four Just for Laughs galas. His performance in 2010 earned him a Gemini nomination and caused host Steve Martin to exclaim “if I’d have known he was going to be THAT good, I would have cancelled him.”

Following that performance, Patterson was named Best Male Stand-up comedian at the 2011 and 2013 Canadian Comedy awards and was nominated at the 2015 Canadian Screen Awards as Host on HGTV’s I Wrecked my House.

His latest project adds budding producer to his list of accomplishments with his show The Smartass-ociates, making smart people funnier and funny people smarter, being developed for release this winter.

Tickets to this year’s event are $125 each and can be ordered by calling the Wheat Kings at (204) 726-3535. For more information on the event, its history as well as the WHL Scholarship Foundation, be sure to check out the club’s official website located at www.wheatkings.com

Speaking of the club’s Scholarship Fund, 23 former members of the Wheat Kings’ organization, including seven members of the 2016 WHL Championship club have been awarded WHL scholarships for the 2018-19 academic year.

The seven members from the Wheat Kings championship club include Duncan Campbell, James Shearer, Mitch Wheaton, Jordan Thompson, Jordan Papirny, Logan Thompson and Garrett Armour.

Other Wheat Kings awarded scholarships this year include Taylor Cooper, Josh Dechaine, Ayrton Nikkel, Ryan Pilon, Luke Harrison, Jack Palmer, Jordan Wharrie, Colton Waltz, Chad Robinson, Taylor Green, Ryley Lindgren, Kord Pankewicz, Dominic Thom, Aiden Mucenski, Reid Gow and Mark Taraschuk.

This season, WHL clubs will contribute in excess of $2.6 million to WHL graduates utilizing the WHL Scholarship. Over the past ten years, WHL clubs have awarded 3,458 scholarships, representing a contribution in excess of $20 million by WHL ownership to graduate players.