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| Tim McGauley pauses during the Wheat Kings' practice on Tuesday |
The 17-year old is rides a five-game point scoring streak in Wednesday's home game against the Medicine Hat Tigers, recording eight points, all assists, in those five games.
Five of those helpers have come on a suddenly effective Wheat Kings' power-play, with McGauley playing the half-wall on Brandon's recently implemented three-high, two-low formation with the man advantage.
"The spot does have a lot of open ice, you can see a whole play and it's a great spot," said McGauley after Tuesday's practice, "When it goes to Pulock, back to Roy and back to me, there's a lot of room. I can see Jayce (Hawryluk) back door, he's usually open there and he usually buries the puck from there. If he buries the puck, I'll give it to him all day."
Brandon is 7-for-21 (33.3%) with the man advantage in their last five games, a dramatic improvement when you consider they had scored a grand total of six power-play goals in their previous 19 games.
McGauley has been a big part of the reason for that success, and the Wilcox, Saskatchewan product says he enjoys playing the half-wall because it allows him to use his vision.
"With (Pulock) on the other side, teams are going to key on him because of his shot and his skill so it gives me a lot more room, I can hit (Roy) up top," said McGauley, "There's a lot more opportunity to see the ice and see what players are open there."
The Wheat Kings enter Wednesday's game against the Tigers have lost two in a row and seven of their last ten games with Brandon finding themselves 15 points out of a playoff spot with 15 games remaining in the regular season.
The post-season might be becoming a longshot for the Wheat Kings but McGauley says they still have to try and win as much as possible.
"We want to get as many wins as possible, whether that means making the playoffs or not," said McGauley, "I think with our group, we can do it, we just need to put our minds to it."
No changes are expected in the Wheat Kings' lineup for Wednesday's game.
Defenceman Tyler Yaworski will sit out the fourth game of his six-game suspension, Richard Nejezchleb is at least a couple of weeks away from returning from his hand injury and goaltender Corbin Boes hasn't stepped on the ice since injuring his knee three weeks ago.
And, of course, Tyrel Seaman will miss the rest of the season with a concussion.
Chaff...the Wheat Kings are 2-2-0-0 on their current home stand which will conclude with back-to-back games against the Kootenay Ice this Friday and Saturday...Brandon F Jayce Hawryluk has 11 points (5 G, 6 A) during his six-game point-scoring streak. He's tied with Moose Jaw's Brayden Point as the highest-scoring 1996-born (16-year old) player with 39 points and is also tied for being the highest scoring Canadian-born rookie...Wheat Kings' captain Ryan Pulock has points in four of the last five games (2 G, 6 A)...Brandon D Eric Roy has six goals in the last nine games.
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