Discussions

Red Deer Rebels (26-12-1-4, 3rd in Eastern Conference)  
 
Top scorers: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (11 goals, 41 assists, 52 points), Byron Froese (17+26=43), Andrej Kudrna (17+25=42), John Persson (15+18=33)  
 
Top scoring defenceman: Alex Petrovic (5+27=32)  
 
Probable starting goalie: Darcy Kuemper (26-8-1, 1.88 goals against average, 0.930 save percentage)… easily the top statistical goalie in the WHL this year in both GAA and Save Pct.  
 
Manitobans: Chad Robinson (Minnedosa), Byron Froese (Winkler)  
 
 
 
 
Brandon Wheat Kings (14-24-1-6, 11th in Eastern Conference)  
 
Top scorers: Mark Stone (22 goals, 31 assists, 53 points), Scott Glennie (18+35=53), Shayne Wiebe (21+11=32), Matt Mackay (12+19=31)  
 
Top scoring defenceman: Brodie Melnychuk (5+20=25)  
 
Probable starting goalie: With both Liam Liston and Corbin Boes having suffered recent injuries, the Wheat Kings have added goalie Michael Tadjdeh to their roster from the Alberta Junior Hockey League. Liston did practice fully with the team yesterday, however talk is that Tadjdeh has a chance of starting tonight.  
 
 
 
 
The Wheat Kings are getting a little closer to now or never territory as far as needing to put together a string of wins to  
get into the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race. They currently sit five points behind the eighth place Prince Albert Raiders but also have the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Regina Pats between them and the Raiders and will of course at some point have to grain ground on all three teams. A strong showing this weekend would go a long way towards that.  
 
The Rebels have won all three head-to-head matchups so far this season, outscoring the Wheat Kings by a combined score of 13-5. Brandon's offense has been showing some very positive signs of coming alive in January, having scored 24 goals in their first five games of 2011 which of course includes last Friday's 9-2 drubbing of the Calgary Hitmen at Westman Place.  
 
I'll have scratches and lineups 30-45 mins before game time.