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Brandon Wheatkings 23/24

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I don’t recall seeing a 20 shot first period by our WK’s in the 8 yrs I’ve been living in Bdn. Elliot keep Sask in the game all night. Barney played very well when they finally started shooting in the second. Peter has a very slow release and needs to quicken that and he will be that much better.
 
Not a bid effort in Regina tonight losing 6-1 late in the game. Got out hustled out hit and outplayed all night. Eskit in goal has not had a very good night as well. Lost Elick to injury. Not good going forward. WK best players did not have a good night as well. Too bad as the team had been playing quite well. WK have outshot Pats but their goalie has been very good.
 
Looks like it’s time for the WK to start winning some games as they are falling behind in the East Standings. I would like to see them trade for a top. d man preferably one that is 18 to help their defence which still is questionable. Also improved play by Danielson would help. He is certainly not as dominant as I thought he would be. Wilson for Michels looks like a wash although Michels may have more offensive upside.
 
wksfan said:
Looks like it’s time for the WK to start winning some games as they are falling behind in the East Standings. I would like to see them trade for a top. d man preferably one that is 18 to help their defence which still is questionable. Also improved play by Danielson would help. He is certainly not as dominant as I thought he would be. Wilson for Michels looks like a wash although Michels may have more offensive upside.
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I don't know about you guys but I think they need a proper Defensive coach. Not saying Derlago is a bad coach but what does he know about playing the position. This D core does not look like they are improving.
 
Yikes! Giving up a goal in RD with 19 seconds to lose an 0-0 game. Unforgivable. I reiterate we need help on defence. Continually lose puck battles in their own end. This team is going nowhere unless their defensive play improves. The PK is very poor as well because of poor face offs and puck battles. More offence is needed from the bottom 6.
3 PP goals by MH half way through the game. Very sketchy reffing again tonight. Really need to figure out how to win a draw and kill a penalty. Really hurting the team by losing most draws.
 
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Yahoo! WK win 3-1 in PA. Best game they have played this year considering the circumstances with 4 games in 5 days and playing a team that is very tough to beat in their own rink. WK outplayed PA the whole game and young Eskit played a very solid game in goal. Looks like the lineup they put out tonight minus Groening and Whidden and Foquette is probably their best lineup.
 
Trading Sadhra-Kang for nothing would have been addition by subtraction. Nice surprise getting back a serviceable player in return.
 
WK beat RD 5-2 tonight for their 3rd win in a row. Team seems to be playing better. New d-man blocked shot in first period and never returned. Hope he’s OK. Much improved play from defenceman tonight.
 
WK win 4th game in a row in a SO over MJ who are a very dangerous team. They have 3 top notch forwards a good goalie and a high end d man . Jaxon Jacobson who is still 14 yr old scored 2 goals in his WHL debut. This guy looks like a special player going forward.
 
Looking at the WK bantam( prospects) draft the past few years it is obvious that the poor drafting that the team did in 2018, 2019,and 2020 has lead to the struggles that this team has endured the past two years. One good player each year is a very poor record. I think this happened under Ritchie’s watch when he was the GM. Not sure what he and the scouts saw in players like Johnson,Zimmer,Trembecky etc.
 
wksfan said:
Looking at the WK bantam( prospects) draft the past few years it is obvious that the poor drafting that the team did in 2018, 2019,and 2020 has lead to the struggles that this team has endured the past two years. One good player each year is a very poor record. I think this happened under Ritchie’s watch when he was the GM. Not sure what he and the scouts saw in players like Johnson,Zimmer,Trembecky etc.
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To be fair Zimmer was a consensus top 10 pick at the time.

You're right in that they had some misses in those drafts but that's very much the nature of the bantam draft, tough to fully gauge projections. They certainly could have had a few more hits on picks that would have garnered a more impactful player or two - which would have resulted in a very different story here the past number of years. Overall, they've done pretty decent at the draft even in the years you've mentioned.

Wild to look back at what could have been for sure though, seeing guys drafted late blooming into top-level players, we could certainly use a few of those.

jetsmooseice said:
Has this Jaxon Jacobson kid played any more games since his debut?
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Was called up last game prior to the break.
 
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Picking Zimmer over Mateychuck in the 2019:draft when they had 3 picks including 5,6 and 18 I believe really irks me every time I see Mateychuck play. Why the team would pass him over for Zimmer when had already drafted Danielson is head-scratching it be sure. Why would you pick 3 forwards with their 3 first round picks? Top end Defencemen are much harder to find. They did much better in the 2021 draft when they had 3 first round picks. Elick-McQueen-Hadland. Diffrerent regime running the team now.
 
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wksfan said:
Picking Zimmer over Mateychuck in the 2019:draft when they had 3 picks including 5,6 and 18 I believe really irks me every time I see Mateychuck play. Why the team would pass him over for Zimmer when had already drafted Danielson is head-scratching it be sure. Why would you pick 3 forwards with their 3 first round picks? Top end Defencemen are much harder to find. They did much better in the 2021 draft when they had 3 first round picks. Elick-McQueen-Hadland. Diffrerent regime running the team now.
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Haha, for sure. There's so many examples across every bantam draft where you wish you had hindsight. Pretty sure they took Hofrogge 1 pick before Zellweger went the year prior.
 
wksfan said:
Hindsight or better scouting.? Your choice.
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Dont think it's as clear-cut as you make it out to be. I agree with you that they could've made better selections but have a look at EVERY bantam draft and you'll be able to point that out for every team.

I get what you are saying that they should have taken a flyer on Korchinski, Mateychuck, or even Lindgren with their 2nd 1st round pick but that's pretty easy to say now, isn't it? At the time Brandon had a 16-year-old Iorio and 17-year-old Schneider on the roster. They looked at Zimmer who had size and skill and was projected to be an impact C as a very solid pick - This wasn't an off-the-board take, for the majority of the year Zimmer was projected to go anywhere from the top 3 to 10 in the bantam draft.

But ok man, your choice.
 
You have some valid points although I question the logic of that 2019 draft in not picking at least 1 d man when you have 3 picks in the first round. That is the main point I am making here even though I really question how Zimmer was ranked so high when his stats were underwhelming at his school in Kelowna.. Not sure this happens under KM.
 
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wksfan said:
You have some valid points although I question the logic of that 2019 draft in not picking at least 1 d man when you have 3 picks in the first round. That is the main point I am making here even though I really question how Zimmer was ranked so high when his stats were underwhelming at his school in Kelowna.. Not sure this happens under KM.
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I agree, looking back they would’ve been smart to take a dman with one of the picks. Zimmer was pretty hyped at the time like I stated, wondering if his proximity to Brandon growing up (Russell) would have played a part as well. You would have to think they had some long looks at Mateychuk who was playing with Eastman at the time.

Maybe the biggest miss of that draft was not taking a chance on Owen Pickering (from Wpg area) Who went 9th round 177th overall. Pretty wild to look back and see where some guys who are stand out players now were taken.
 
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Drafting 14 yr olds is a bit of a crap shoot at best, but 1st rounders should be easier to identify. If the 4 guys the WK have drafted or listed from the U18 WK pan out at all the future looks good as these 4 have excellent stats on a very good team. Excellent article in Fridays paper on the WK prospects. We WK supporters are sure fortunate to have Perry Bergson Writing about the WK.
 
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Watching WK game Wed against Regina and the Pats lead 2-1 in the 2nd period. A ton on penalties by both teams as the play is sloppy. Not really surprising after a 10 day break. WK special teams poor tonight as both Regina goals are on the PP. WK pp 0 for 5 so far.
3-1 Regina after 2 periods. WK not sharp at all so far. Trying to be too fancy instead of just shooting the puck. Bjarnson doesn’t seem to be able to steal games like last year.
nice comeback win 5-4 in OT. …team got legs going in 3rd.
 
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wksfan said:
Picking Zimmer over Mateychuck in the 2019:draft when they had 3 picks including 5,6 and 18 I believe really irks me every time I see Mateychuck play. Why the team would pass him over for Zimmer when had already drafted Danielson is head-scratching it be sure. Why would you pick 3 forwards with their 3 first round picks? Top end Defencemen are much harder to find. They did much better in the 2021 draft when they had 3 first round picks. Elick-McQueen-Hadland. Diffrerent regime running the team now.
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I seem to recall on another site/board folks were saying they didn't need a dman at the time because their back end was stacked. While completely forgetting that they were all 18 and 19. Don't forget the time they didn't get Mattheos on time and missed another first round pick.
 
That Mattheos fiasco was Armstrong’s the GM at the time screw up and led to his demise. I wonder if the WK will be active before the Jan 10 trade deadline. They could possibly get a king’s ransom if they decided to trade Danielson to a contender. Don’t think they can beat MJ and Saskatoon in a playoff series with the existing lineup.
 
If I were the WK I would be signing Brenden Van Oene as soon as possible. He is 16 and just had a great Circle 8 U18 tournament in Calgary. Had 10 points in 5 games. Besides his father Darren was a former captain of the WK.
 
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So if the rumour of Brandon unloading Danielson is true. Then where do they go from here? Better question when will it quit being building for the future and making a splash. This team is good enough to push any of these East Division Teams. Yet we're still building for the future. Moose Jaw made a splash the year they got Clague. Yet here we are still selling and there loading up again. Now I realize the scouting staff did a brutal job for 4 years in the draft hence why there still weak in areas. I think Moulton is doing a far better job of that end, I just don't get how they waste assets year in and year out. Scared to make a splash.
 
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