Brandon Wheat Kings
The Brandon Wheat Kings are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Brandon, Manitoba. They are members of the Western Hockey League (WHL) since joining the league in the 1967–68 season. Previously, they played in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL), with the exception of two seasons in the mid-1960s when they played in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL). The team was a successor to the Brandon Wheat City senior team that participated in the 1904 Stanley Cup Challenge, losing to the Ottawa Senators.
| Brandon Wheat Kings | |
|---|---|
| City | Brandon, Manitoba, Canada |
| League | Western Hockey League |
| Conference | Eastern |
| Division | East |
| Founded | 1936 |
| Home arena | Westoba Place |
| Colours | Gold, black, white |
| General manager | Marty Murray |
| Head coach | Marty Murray |
| Website | www.wheatkings.com |
| Franchise history | |
| 1936–1938 | Brandon Wheat Kings (MJHL) |
| 1938–1940 | Brandon Elks (MJHL) |
| 1940–1966 | Brandon Wheat Kings (MJHL) |
| 1966–present | Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) |
| Championships | |
| Regular season titles | 5 (1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1995–96, 2014–15) |
| Playoff championships | Ed Chynoweth Cup 3 (1979, 1996, 2016) Conference Championships 5 (1995–96, 1997–98, 2004–05, 2014–15, 2015—16) |
The team was known as the Brandon Elks for a short time in the late 1930s. They won eight Turnbull Cup Championships as Manitoba Junior Champions in 1939, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1960, 1962, 1963, and 1964. They appeared in the Memorial Cup six times: 1949 (as an MJHL team), 1979, 1995, 1996, 2010, and 2016, losing each time. The team plays its home games at the Keystone Centre. They also played at Wheat City Arena until 1969, and the Manex Arena from 1969 to 1972. Between 1973 and 1980, the Wheat Kings owned and operated a farm team in the MJHL, called the Travellers.
The 1949 Brandon Wheat Kings won the Abbott Cup defeating the Calgary Buffaloes. They went on to lose the Memorial Cup to the Montreal Royals. The 1949 Brandon Wheat Kings were inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame in the team category.
The Wheat Kings hold the CHL record for most points (125) in a single season, setting the mark in 1978–79.
The Western Hockey League announced on October 16, 2008, that the Wheat Kings had been chosen to host the 2010 Memorial Cup championship at the Keystone Centre. They reached the final game, losing to the Windsor Spitfires.
The Brandon Wheat Kings mascot is Willie, a coyote/wild dog hybrid.