Wheat Kings welcome prospects back to camp

The 2022 edition of the Brandon Wheat Kings prospects camp will certainly be unique.

The Western Hockey League club is hosting the event, which opens today and ends on Sunday, for the first time since 2019 after the 2020 and 2021 events were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous to that, the last time the prospects camp was cancelled was in 2016 when the Wheat Kings were still playing in late May when the event is traditionally held.

Director of player personnel Chris Moulton joined the team last July and inherited the team’s existing roster and older prospects. He headed up the last two drafts, and is excited for the 29 attendees to have the same memories as other draft classes.

“There is almost a little bit of a brotherhood,” Moulton said. “They remember everybody from previous camps, and these kids haven’t had that ability. That’s the best part about this. When they come in the fall camp, they’re going to be on the same team as some of the guys they were in the prospects camp with and it helps in that transition to being a Wheat King.”

The fact that COVID-19 restrictions have loosened will also have significance in another way, Moulton suggested.

“To have all those guys under one roof and actually see their faces … at the last fall camp we were all still wearing masks and there were no fans in the building,” he said. “We had a camp but it was definitely at a distance. Now we get to see smiles on faces and get to know people at a much closer level.”

With no ice currently in Westoba Place, the skating portions of the event will be held at J&G Homes Arena, while the educational portions of the camp will be back at the Keystone Centre.

A pair of scrimmages are open to the public, on Saturday at 3:30 p.m., and Sunday at 9 a.m.

Prospects camp ends with exit meetings after the Sunday game.

“I just want them to play,” Moulton said. “It’s going to be a relaxed atmosphere but yet competitive. They’re not coming here to make our hockey team this weekend, that’s what the fall camp is for, but I want them to come here and be their best and compete, and show myself, our scouts, management and our coaches what kind of players they are and what they’re going to bring come August.”

The prospects camp in the spring certainly has a hockey component to it, but it’s not about just hockey. There is also a significant focus put on players and families getting to know people in the organization.

As a result, a barbecue for players, parents and team staff is a central part of the camp.

“I always explain it as a dual evaluation,” Moulton said. “We’re going to evaluate the players on the ice and off the ice, and then they and their families are going to come in and do an evaluation of us, our program, our city, our billets, our education, our coaches, how we do things, and that’s how it should be.

“For me, it’s not just about hockey. I want these families and these players to see what a great hockey community Brandon is and what kind of an organization we are.”

Three age groups will be attending the camp, which doesn’t include Wheat Kings veterans Quinn Mantei and Trae Johnson.

• 2005-born players, who are entering their 17-year-old seasons.

— Defencemen Eastyn Mannix, Oakley McIlwain and Thomas Stewart, plus forwards Teydon Trembecky, Hayden Chaloner, Evan Groening and Noah Asmundson. Three list players, defencemen Jacob Dennis and Charlie Wilson, and forward Tyden Redlick are also attending.

• 2006-born players, who are entering their 16-year-old seasons and will have an opportunity to make the club in the fall.

— Defencemen Charlie Elick and Evan Lambert, plus forwards Roger McQueen, Caleb Hadland, Carter Klippenstein and Drew Williamson, plus goalie Ethan Eskit.

• 2007-born players, who are entering their 15-year-old seasons and will play under-18 hockey next winter. All 11 players who were drafted last week will be in attendance.

— Defencemen Emerson Clark, Gradey Hope, Tao Flory, and Liam Loughery, plus forwards Joby Baumuller, Easton Odut, Brady Turko, Quinn Parker, Dominic Grieco and Brendyn Van Oene, plus goalie Ryder Green.

The team had just six players who were unable to attend, including both of last year’s U.S. Priority draftees, Colin Frank and Ethan Gonyeau, and Jake Stuart from this year’s American draft, plus draft picks Carter Rimstad, Jeter Korte and Carter Capton, who had other family obligations.

Free agents can’t be invited to prospects camp, which is restricted to players on each team’s 50-man list.

Moulton said Brandon’s reputation certainly helps when it comes to getting the teenagers to come to prospects camp.

“We’ve had some buy-in because we do things the right way,” Moulton said. “Our scouts represent us in the community to an unbelievable level so they get comfortable with them, then they meet (me), then they see the product that we put on the ice and the success the Wheat Kings have had previously. Now they’re making hockey decisions instead of geographical decisions. 

“… If someone wants to play hockey at the highest level, they go to the programs that develop players, and Brandon is one.”

Perhaps a lesser-known element of camp is each player is provided with individual feedback on his game and also given training tips he can put into practice over the summer. Moulton said that’s actually another important part of the prospects camp.

“It shows that we care and they’re part of our program,” Moulton said. “It shows that developmentally that we want to be part of their growth so we are sending them home with workout programs and we do have constant contact with them. With phone calls and text messages now, we’re in contact with them all the time.”

While it might seem odd that a major junior club essentially has to market itself, that’s the reality because American colleges have done a good job of drawing away players. Between 2014 and 2018, Brandon lost six players they drafted in the top three rounds to American schools.

“Players have options now,” Moulton said. “I think the parents and players are more informed now than they’ve ever been. There was a time when if you lived in southern Alberta and the Flin Flon Bombers wanted you, you just went. Now parents want to know what our education goals are, what our billets families are like, how do our coaches coach, what kind of program do we run. It’s hugely important that we’re very transparent about what we offer.

“It can be a bit of a sales pitch but that makes us better. If they’re aware of us, then we have to be at our best and do things the right way. We take a lot of pride in that.”

While the off-ice elements may take centre stage, it certainly doesn’t hurt that the teenagers will be on the ice.

For Moulton and the team’s scouting staff, it will be nice to finally have the team’s most recent draft classes together on the ice.

“It sounds funny but the December draft feels like it was three weeks ago,” Moulton said. “The fact we can get them all under one roof and compare the age groups is going to be great.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

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