Brandon Wheat Kings

History

Early years

The Wheat Kings were named in honor of the Brandon Wheat City senior team that participated in the 1904 Stanley Cup Challenge, losing to the Ottawa Senators. The Wheat Kings team was founded in 1936 as a member of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL), although the team was known as the Elks for a short time in the late 1930s. Playing out of Wheat City Arena, the team won eight Turnbull Cup Championships as Manitoba Junior Champions and appeared in the Memorial Cup finals in 1949 after winning the Abbott Cup as the Western Canadian junior champion. The 1949 Brandon Wheat Kings were inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame. During the 1950s, the Wheat Kings left the MJHL for a time to play in the Big Six Intermediate Hockey League. Later, in 1964, Brandon left the MJHL again and spent two seasons playing in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League instead. The team then returned to the MJHL for one season before joining the major junior Western Canada Junior Hockey League in 1967.

Western Hockey League

The Wheat Kings had a challenging start in the new league—over their first nine seasons, the team posted only two winning records and won only a single playoff series. In 1970, the team moved briefly to Manex Arena, before moving to the new Keystone Centre in 1973. The same year, the team began operating a farm team in the MJHL, called the Brandon Travellers, an arrangement that would last until 1980. The Wheat Kings began a short period of success in 1976. Led by the likes of Brian Propp, Brad McCrimmon, and Ray Allison, the team won three straight regular season titles from 1976–77 to 1978–79, advancing to two league finals and capturing their first championship in 1979, defeating the Portland Winter Hawks in 6 games in the final. The Wheat Kings advanced to the Memorial Cup for the first time since 1949, again to lose in the final, this time in a 2–1 overtime defeat against the Peterborough Petes in what has been cited as one of the best finals in the tournament's history. Infamously, with the team down three defencemen, McCrimmon played all but two minutes of the Memorial Cup final—he left the ice only to serve a minor penalty. The Wheat Kings 1978–79 campaign set a WHL record for points with 125. At the 1979 National Hockey League draft, ten members of the 1978–79 Wheat Kings were selected, including four in the first round. This proved to be a peak for the club, as over the following fourteen seasons the Wheat Kings would miss the playoffs altogether eight times, and win only two playoff series. One highlight came in the 1983–84 season, when Ray Ferraro set a league record with a 108-goal season.

In the late 1980s, Brad McCrimmon's brother, Kelly McCrimmon, took over as team manager. Under his guidance, the Wheat Kings again rose to prominence, making three finals appearances in a four-season span between 1994–95 and 1997–98. Despite losing the 1995 final, the team advanced to the Memorial Cup because they lost to the host Kamloops Blazers; at the tournament, Brandon lost the semi-final 2–1 to the Detroit Junior Red Wings. Their best result came in 1995–96, when the team, coached by Bob Lowes and led on the ice by the likes of Wade Redden and Peter Schaefer, posted its first 50-win season since 1979, winning the regular season title. The team then lost only three games in the playoffs en route to its second playoff championship. The Wheat Kings thus advanced to a second consecutive Memorial Cup tournament; they again bowed out in the semi-final, losing 4–3 to Peterborough. Throughout this period the Wheat Kings became a perennial playoff contender, missing the postseason only twice between 1993 and 2018.

The Wheat Kings were selected to host the 2010 Memorial Cup tournament, ensuring their fifth appearance. Led by Matt Calvert, Brayden Schenn, and Toni Rajala, Brandon put together a 50-win season, reached the Eastern Conference final and the Memorial Cup final. There, the Wheat Kings lost to the Windsor Spitfires, who claimed their second straight national title. Brandon would return to the Memorial Cup for a sixth time in 2016 after winning its third Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions. However, the 2016 tournament would mark the first time the team failed to advance to at least the semi-final as they dropped three straight games. After the season, Kelly McCrimmon was hired by the National Hockey League's Vegas Golden Knights—his departure from Brandon marked the end of an era.

In a shortened 2020–21 WHL campaign played exclusively in-division and without playoffs—the season was modified due to the COVID-19 pandemic—Brandon finished atop the East Division with an 18–4–2 record. In 2022, the team hired former player Marty Murray to be its new coach and manager.

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Championship history

• Abbott Cup: 1949
• Turnbull Cup (8): 1939, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964
• Ed Chynoweth Cup (3): 1978–79, 1995–96, 2015–16
• Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy (5): 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1995–96, 2014–15
• Conference Championship (5): 1995–96, 1997–98, 2004–05, 2014–15, 2015–16
• Regular season Division Championship (14): 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2009–10, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2020–21

WHL Championship

• 1976–77: Loss, 1–4 vs New Westminster Bruins
• 1978–79: Win, 4–2 vs Portland Winter Hawks
• 1994–95: Loss, 2–4 vs Kamloops Blazers
• 1995–96: Win, 4–1 vs Spokane Chiefs
• 1997–98: Loss, 0–4 vs Portland Winter Hawks
• 2004–05: Loss, 1–4 vs Kelowna Rockets
• 2014–15: Loss, 0–4 vs Kelowna Rockets
• 2015–16: Win, 4–1 vs Seattle Thunderbirds

Memorial Cup Championship

• 1949: Loss, 3–4–1 vs Montreal Royals
• 1979: Loss, 1–2 (OT) vs Peterborough Petes
• 2010: Loss, 1–9 vs Windsor Spitfires

Players

NHL alumni

• Jim Agnew
• Johnathan Aitken
• Ray Allison
• Keith Aulie
• Milan Bartovic
• Rick Blight
• Dan Bonar
• Jack Borotsik
• Laurie Boschman
• Aris Brimanis
• Cam Brown
• Sven Butenschon
• Dustin Byfuglien
• Matt Calvert
• Tony Camazzola
• Dave Chartier
• Jason Chimera
• Ron Chipperfield
• Erik Christensen
• Ryan Craig
• Butch Deadmarsh
• Bill Derlago
• Don Dietrich
• Chris Dingman
• Bill Fairbairn
• Eric Fehr
• Micheal Ferland
• Ray Ferraro
• Bob Fitchner
• Don Gillen
• Ridly Greig
• Travis Hamonic
• Glen Hanlon
• Josh Harding
• Burke Henry
• Wally Hergesheimer
• Ron Hextall
• Bruce Holloway
• Dean Kennedy
• Trevor Kidd
• Darin Kimble
• Rick Knickle
• Ladislav Kohn
• Mark Kolesar
• Justin Kurtz
• Gord Lane
• Kirby Law
• Derek Laxdal
• Peter Leboutillier
• Mike Leclerc
• Chuck Lefley
• Ron Loustel
• George Maneluk
• Mike Maneluk
• Bryan McCabe
• Brad McCrimmon
• Brett McLean
• Tom McMurchy
• Bill Mikkelson
• Carl Mokosak
• Jay More
• Marty Murray
• Jeff Odgers
• Chris Osgood
• John Paddock
• Jiri Patera
• Nolan Patrick
• Steve Patrick
• Cam Plante
• Walt Poddubny
• Brian Propp
• Ivan Provorov
• Ryan Pulock
• Wayne Ramsey
• Ryan Reaves
• Wade Redden
• Pokey Reddick
• Curt Ridley
• Terran Sandwith
• Peter Schaefer
• Braden Schneider
• Mark Stone
• Brayden Schenn
• Dave Semenko
• Brent Severyn
• Glen Sonmor
• Ryan Stewart
• Dave Thomlinson
• Logan Thompson
• Ole-Kristian Tollefsen
• Jordin Tootoo
• Oleg Tverdovsky
• Alexander Urbom
• Juha Widing
• Terry Yake
• Nolan Yonkman

Retired numbers

The Wheat Kings raised Brad McCrimmon's number to the rafters after he was killed in the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash in 2011.

Team records

Awards

Bob Clarke Trophy (WHL top scorer)

• Ron Chipperfield: 1973–74
• Bill Derlago: 1976–77
• Brian Propp: 1977–78
• Brian Propp: 1978–79
• Ray Ferraro: 1983–84
• Eric Fehr: 2004–05 Four Broncos Memorial Trophy (WHL player of the year)
• Ron Chipperfield: 1973–74
• Ray Ferraro: 1983–84
• Marty Murray: 1994–95
• Peter Schaefer: 1996–97
• Eric Fehr: 2004–05 Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy (WHL rookie of the year)
• Rick Blight: 1972–73
• Brian Propp: 1976–77
• Wade Redden: 1993–94
• Tyler Plante: 2004–05
• Brayden Schenn: 2007–08
• Nolan Patrick: 2014–15 Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy (WHL top defenceman)
• Brad McCrimmon: 1977–78
• Ivan Provorov: 2015–16
• Braeden Schneider: 2020–21 Del Wilson Trophy (WHL top goaltender)
• Glen Hanlon: 1976–77
• Rick Knickle: 1978–79
• Trevor Kidd: 1989–90
• Trevor Robins: 1992–93

Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy (WHL coach of the year)

• Dunc McCallum (2): 1976–77, 1978–79
• Bob Lowes: 1995–96 Doc Seaman Trophy (WHL scholastic player of the year)
• Kevin Cheveldayoff: 1987–88
• Byron Penstock: 1993–94
• Stefan Cherneski: 1996–97
• Brett Dickie: 2002–03
• Keith Aulie: 2006–07
• Tanner Kaspick: 2015–16
• Quinn Mantei: 2022–23 WHL Playoff MVP (Awarded since 1992)
• Bobby Brown: 1995–96
• Nolan Patrick: 2015–16 Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy (Memorial Cup MVP)
• Bart Hunter: 1979 Memorial Cup Hap Emms Memorial Trophy (Memorial Cup top goaltender)
• Bart Hunter: 1979 Memorial Cup George Parsons Trophy (Memorial Cup sportsmanship)
• Toni Rajala: 2010 Memorial Cup

References

References

1. (August 29, 2022). "Wheat Kings hire Marty Murray as General Manager".
2. "1949 Brandon Wheat Kings".
3. Bergson, Perry. (2024-03-23). "Glen Lawson did it all for Wheat Kings". [[Brandon Sun]].
4. Jordan, Kevin. (2022-10-12). "Brandon Wheat Kings".
5. Bergson, Perry. (2021-08-09). "1978-79 BWK Series — Day 12 — Kempthorne joined Brandon’s 20-goal club". Brandon Sun.
6. Lapp, Richard M.. (1993). "Local Heroes: A History of the Western Hockey League". Harbour Publishing.
7. Bergson, Perry. (2021-02-19). "Wheat Kings enjoyed boon in late 1970s". Brandon Sun.
8. Lapp, Richard. (1997). "The Memorial Cup: Canada's National Junior Hockey Championship". Harbour Publishing.
9. Maki, Allan. (2010-05-22). "Sweat memories for McCrimmon". [[The Globe and Mail]].
10. Drinnan, Gregg. (2021-08-14). "1978-79 BWK Series — Day 17 — 1970s was a very different era". Brandon Sun.
11. Vanstone, Rob. (2020-12-29). "Ray Ferraro still treasures WHL-record 108-goal season". [[Regina Leader-Post]].
12. Fox, Luke. (2014-11-30). "Hometown Hockey: Brandon’s bond of brothers". [[Maclean's]].
13. Lapp & Macaulay. "The Memorial Cup".
14. Bergson, Perry. (2021-02-18). "Wheat Kings enjoy rich playoff history". Brandon Sun.
15. Iorfida, Chris. (2010-05-23). "Windsor captures 2nd straight Memorial Cup". [[CBC Sports]].
16. Ramirez, W. G.. (2019-05-02). "Golden Knights promote McCrimmon to GM, retain McPhee". [[AP News]].
17. Bergson, Perry. (2021-05-06). "A look back at Brandon’s 2021 season". Brandon Sun.
18. Bergson, Perry. (2022-08-30). "Murray returns to Wheat Kings as general manager". Brandon Sun.
19. (2011-09-08). "McCrimmon leaves lasting legacy". [[Sportsnet]].
20. "Records".