Fewer fans, higher stakes
Tigers-Wheat Kings series shifts to 1,763-seat arena in Dauphin, Man.
It’s playoff hockey with a pre-season feel.
The WHL is known for featuring exhibition games in small towns across western Canada, but tonight’s tilt between the Medicine Hat Tigers and Brandon Wheat Kings at Dauphin’s 1,763-seat Credit Union Place is about as meaningful as they come.
“It’s definitely very unique. It’s something you wouldn’t expect out of a playoff game. The rink has the same feeling as the Wainwright one we played in at pre-season,” said Tigers forward Mark Rassell, who scored a hat trick in Game 1’s 7-2 victory over Brandon. “It’s going to be interesting, but at the end of the day it’s just another hockey game in another hockey rink.”
The Tigers have the chance to push Brandon to the brink of elimination tonight (6:30 p.m., CHAT 94.5 FM) in Game 3 of the WHL’s Eastern Conference quarter-finals after taking a pair of decisive victories on home ice to stake a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. While it’ll take place 160 kilometres away from Brandon, Tigers head coach and general manager Shaun Clouston says it’s definitely still enemy territory.
“I imagine it’s going to be fairly raucous,” said Clouston. “It’s a smaller building as far as the capacity but it’s a newer building that’s been taken care of. It’ll be exciting. I’ve heard they expect it to be sold out so we expect it to be a fairly intense environment for sure.”
The Wheat Kings were forced out of their seasonlong home at Westman Place and into Dauphin to make way for the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair. The fair has always taken precedence over the building and often runs through the first round of the WHL post-season. It hasn’t been an issue for Brandon recently, as they maintained control of scheduling with the top seed in each of the last two seasons and timing conflicts didn’t affect the team in 2014.
When the schedules have conflicted in the past, the Wheat Kings used Winnipeg’s MTS Centre for their opening round games — like when they fell to Medicine Hat in six games during the 2011 playoffs — but the AHL’s Manitoba Moose and NHL’s Winnipeg Jets and a Lumineers concert entirely occupy the building’s schedule for the week. As a result, Games 3 and 4 were pushed to Dauphin’s 1,763-seat Manitoba Junior Hockey League arena. Though it does have standing room for 752 more.
It may not be the home of the Wheat Kings, but Credit Union Place does have some Brandon ties. Head coach David Anning spent some of his formative years behind the visitors’ bench with the MJHL’s Winnipeg Saints and overage forward Tyler Coulter competed in the building as a midget player.
“I’ve played there many times,” Coulter said. “It’s a great rink. It’s gorgeous. Hopefully we’ll have some good fans packed in there and it will be as loud as possible.”
Credit Union Place has also been home ice for Tigers third-string goaltender Duncan McGovern this season. McGovern joined up with the MJHL’s Dauphin Kings after the Tabbies traded for Michael Bullion on Jan. 1, and the young netminder says it can be a loud place to play.
While the Tiger have never played at Credit Union Place, Steven Owre insists he’s no stranger to the setting. The Rocklin, Calif. product regularly took the ice in the loudest barn in the WHL before the Tigers made the switch from the 4,006-seat Medicine Hat Arena to the Canalta Centre — which has yet to reach 4,000 fans in the post-season.
“It definitely reminds me a little bit of The Arena,” said Owre. “I think it’s going to be pretty jam-packed. It should be a pretty cool atmosphere.”
Bullion will start Game 3 for Medicine Hat, while Brandon’s Logan Thompson will be a game-time decision after suffering a leg injury in Game 2. The 20-year-old goaltender left in the third period after Tigers forward Max Gerlach fell on him in the crease, but skated Monday in Dauphin. If Thompson cannot compete, Travis Child will be the likely starter for the Wheat Kings.
Tigers defenceman Brad Forrest, who did not skate Monday, will also be a gametime decision due to an undisclosed ailment.
— With files from Perry Bergson, Brandon Sun