Wheat Kings on Royal Roll

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The Brandon Wheat Kings have gone through quite a few changes on and off the ice in the last year. They dealt franchise forward Brayden Schenn at last year's deadline, and this off season watched Kelly McCrimmon step down as Head Coach and hire Cory Clouston to coach the club. But the Wheaties haven't missed a beat early in the season as heading into Thursday nights action they sat a point out of first place in the East Division.

TPS Predictions: Calder Trophy

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Tuesday night on TPS we pulled out the Crystal Square and gazed deep into it for some predictions. We welcomed in Rogers Sportsnets Jamie Thomas (jamie_thomas71 on Twitter) to find out who will come out on top in the race to be the rookie of the year.

Last year I don't remember anyone having Jeff Skinner, Logan Couture and Michael Grabner in their final three, and this year things could be even more wide open. There are so many surprises in NHL training camps, (Guy has a rundown here) that someone might pick a player to win the Calder that others don't think will even play a full season. That actually is the case with Guy's pick.

Rookie Watch: Philadelphia Flyers

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For the past 15 days TPS has taken a look at one team from the Eastern conference and one club from the West, spotlighting a rookie or two to watch for this season. This afternoon we wrap up the series as we explore the freshmen candidates of the Philadelphia Flyers.

WHL Playoffs: Chiefs Move On, Blades Make Statement

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Spokane booked it's ticket to round 2 and a date with Tri City after a 6-4 win over Chilliwack, winning the series 4-1. Blake Gal lit it up with a hatty including the game winner, Mitch Holmberg scored twice and Levko Koper had 3 points and was +4. A scout I spoke to Friday night told me he thinks the Chiefs are the best junior team - meaning they have the best junior players, not just the best NHL prospects - and we asked Chiefs voice Mike Boyle Saturday morning about that. He told us this year's version reminds him of the '08 Memorial Cup championship team.

Tuesday Night On TPS

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Tuesday night we welcomed the top rated goalie (by NHL central scouting) for the NHL draft, a GM fresh off firing his head coach, a Commissioner turned head coach and our CHL insider with news of the Chilliwack Bruins potential sale and relocation.

Coaching Changes, top ranked goalie, and CHL playoffs tonight on TPS

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Tonight we'll find out from Seattle G.M. Russ Farwell why he made his coaching change today, and what the TBirds need to do in order to get back into the WHL post season.

We'll also speak with new Michigan State University head coach Tom Anastos about leaving his post as Commish of the CCHA to become a head coach, and what the new Big Ten Hockey Conference will do for College hockey.

The top ranked goaltender according to NHL Central Scouting is John Gibson of the U.S. National Development team. He'll try and lead the States to another gold medal at the U18 World Championship next month.

Guy and I will debate on who the best player in the WHL is right now...Ryan Johanssen of Portland or Brayden Schenn of Saskatoon, as well as what we think is the best story line in the WHL post season right now.

And our CHL insider Sam Cosentino will fill us in on what the big stories are in the OHL and QMJHL.

7-9 pm mst on the TEAM 1260 in Edmonton or online here.

Tuesday Night On TPS

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Tuesday night we were joined by the most talked about prospect leading up to the NHL trade deadline, a Michigan Wolverine/"love expert"/Ottawa Senator, a Top (Sea) Dog for the NHL draft and our CHL insider from Rogers Sportsnet.

The Value Of Hemsky and Smid

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Ales Hemsky's name has been coming up quite a bit lately in trade rumours. Tonight on Edmonton Sports Night Live with Corey Graham on the TEAM 1260 in Edmonton, my TPS co-host Guy Flaming stopped by and they talked about the possibility of an Ales Hemsky for Brayden Schenn straight trade. They put the question out on the TEAM's facebook page and asked for feed back.

Blades Get Their Man

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It's no longer rumor; the Saskatoon Blades have acquired the 2011 World Junior Championship MVP from the Brandon Wheat Kings for the hefty cost of four 1st and two 2nd round picks.

Hoping Schenn Starts a Domino Effect

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The LA Kings made the coaching and scouting staff of Hockey Canada breathe a little easier on Thursday. By sending Brayden Schenn back to the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL, the Kings also gave Hockey Canada it's #1 centre and all around best player. Schenn also makes the Wheat Kings an interesting team to watch, as getting back last year's co-captain could easily vault them a few spots up the standings.

The Wheat Kings sit tied for a playoff spot right now but are only a few wins out of 6th, and if they keep Schenn they could make a run for a home playoff game, which would be a pretty amazing accomplishment considering the players they lost after hosting the Memorial Cup.

Schenn decision soon?

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On Monday, Hockey Canada released the invite list for it's training camp starting December 10th. 39 players made the list with hopes that a couple of NHL guys will be made available. The two guys being talked about the most are Tyler Seguin in Boston and Brayden Schenn with LA. The decision on Seguin will likely be a last minute one and will be based on their salary cap situation when Marc Savard returns.

As for Schenn word is the Kings will be letting Hockey Canada know this week If he'll be made available for training camp. The 5th overall pick from 2009 just came back from a 2 week conditioning stint in Manchester and has two more games in the NHL before a year of his entry level deal kicks in.

LA could loan Schenn to the World Juniors and call him back up or send him back to Brandon. Returning him to Brandon would likely only happen if they knew he would be traded to a contender. The 2 most likely destinations are Portland and Schenn's home town of Saskatoon.

Iginla a King, Schenn a Flame?

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I was told tonight that the LA Kings are hard after Jarome Iginla, and that LA has assigned Brayden Schenn to Manchester on a conditioning stint as he is to be part of the package to land the Flames captain.

Schenn has played 8 games, he can play one more before a team must make a decision on his NHL future, as 10 games burns a year of his entry level deal. My understanding is that LA has assigned him to Manchester, thus allowing the Flames - if the deal goes through - the choice of keeping him or sending him back to Brandon of the WHL. Schenn has been a healthy scratch 7 times this year, and this allows him to play right now.

As for who else might be in the package I would have to imagine that one of the Kings young blueliners would be involved. Colten Teubert or Thomas Hickey come to mind, as Calgary gave up Keith Aulie in the Dion Phaneuf deal last year.

Here is where you can find the archived audio from the segment where it was discussed on The Pipeline Show on Tuesday.

Top 5 Tuesday: Calder Dark Horses

This past Saturday our NHL insider Daren Millard from Rogers Sportsnet joined us (as he will every Saturday) to talk rookies and freshman in the big show. The week before that HNIC radio Jeff Marek gave us his Calder trophy candidates. From Eberle, Hall, Paajarvi to Seguin, Ennis and Carlson we talked about a lot of candidates.

There are a number of well known young kids who could take home the hardware, or it might be another surprise winner a la Tyler Myers of last year. Here are 5 guys who might be able to mimic what the now Sabre sophomore did in his rookie season.

Schenn Having Knee Problems?

According to Rich Hammond Brayden Schenn has suffered a knee injury and the Wheat King captain will get undergo an MRI Thursday in Los Angeles.

Brandon Wheat King Voice Bruce Luebeke the LA first round pick from 2009 left Brandon's training camp Tuesday.

Wheat Kings and Windsor: Winner takes all.

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The city of Brandon is buzzing with nervous excitement as their team will play in a Memorial Cup final for the first time since 1979. Brandon will be looking for it's first title in franchise history. Windsor on the other hand is looking to go back to back and win their 7th straight Memorial Cup game after rattling off 3 straight last year to take the title.

Top 5 Tuesday: Key Players at the Memorial Cup

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The 2010 Memorial Cup begins this weekend in Brandon and will feature the three CHL league champions and the host club. On those teams there are a total of 33 drafted/signed players and a few big names who will be scooped up by NHL teams this June.

Here's a quick look at who I think are the top 5 key contributors (amongst many) at this year's Memorial Cup.

Wheat Kings cruising despite ugly ending to game

The Brandon Wheat Kings took the Regina Pats to the woodshed Friday night, in a 10-2 pounding that was filled with fights. 3 broke out in the final minute and a half. Oilers prospect Toni Rajala notched a hattrick and chipped in with 2 assists giving him 55 points in 50 games, and 16 multi point games this season. The win gives Brandon a 2 point cushion on Calgary and Saskatoon and improves the Memorial Cup hosts to 12-0-1 in their past 13.

The game might prove costly though as Wheat King Mark Stone needed help off the ice after a scrap with Regina's Colton Teubert. This from Luber's Lounge on the incident.

It was an ugly end to the game as Stone was goaded into fighting by Teubert, who followed the winger around the ice despite his team being on a 5-on-3 penalty-kill and was going to be assessed slashing and elbowing penalties before the fight happened.

"Very disappointed and just totally unnecessary and certainly wish that it hadn't have happened...it's just a fight we didn't need," said Brandon GM/Coach Kelly McCrimmon, "We were, I thought, doing the right thing. We had a 5-on-3 power-play late in a 10-2 game and we could have put our big boys out and jammed it down their throat and tried to make it 11-2 or 12-2 but we did what we thought was the right thing and the right way to play the game by putting out the guys that don't get that opportunity as much. I think what happened was very, very disappointing...I can't sugar-coat it, I can't say it any simpler than that, I thought it was really unnecessary."

Somehow, Teubert managed to escape an instigator penalty on the play and what would have been an automatic game misconduct.

The incident so irked the Wheat Kings that Brandon co-captain Brayden Schenn, a teammate of Teubert's on the Canadian Junior Team and a prospect with the same NHL organization (Los Angeles) came across the ice while Teubert was being escorted to the Regina dressing room to give the defenceman his opinion of what transpired.

Earlier this week Guy and I spoke with the voice of the Wheat Kings Bruce Luebke to find out what's going right for Brandon and you can hear that conversation here.

(photo courtesy Brandon Wheat Kings)

Kings Prospect Snap Shot

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The Kings have drafted inside the top 5 ten times in their 43 year history, and most of those picks have been pretty good, although not all the players went onto success with the Kings. They did however use one pick, Jimmy Carson (2nd overall in 1986) to bring Wayne Gretzky to LA….along with 15 million bucks. Lately LA has been stockpiling high end prospects, and here’s a look at some of them.

Schenn A King For A Day

Last week the Oilers signed Torrie Jung to an amateur tryout contract because they didn't have a back up goalie when Nikolai Khabibulin went down in the afternoon.

What the LA Kings did today is even more peculiar, and terrific for one of their prospects.

The Kings drafted Brayden Schenn 5th overall last June, and tonight he'll suit up with them in Vancouver after signing a one day contract with LA. The timing is perfect as Schenn was in Victoria last night for the Subway Super Series on Rogers Sportsnet.

Rich Hammond has more on what this could mean down the road for Schenn here, which may ultimately be bad news for his junior team the Brandon Wheat Kings - hosts of The Memorial Cup this year - and Team Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship this December in Saskatoon/Regina.

Cowan A Cougar

The Prince George Cougars have added 20 year old forward Del Cowan. He was previously with Brandon, but with this being the deadline to get down to 3 overage players, the Wheat Kings have chosen to go with Matt Calvert, Jay Fehr and Aaron Lewadniuk, which shouldn't surprise anyone.

Cowan who is a Hartney, Manitoba native had 22 points and 59 penalty minutes last year in 64 games. This season he's chipped in with 2 points in 7 games.