The Brandon Wheat Kings have drawn first blood in their best of seven Western Hockey League Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series with the Medicine Hat Tigers. Making his WHL Playoff debut, 16-year old defenceman Ryan Pulock scored twice and added two assists as the visiting Wheat Kings defeated the Tigers 7-2 before over 4,000 fans in Medicine Hat. Pulock was one of nine first year players getting their first taste of post season action for the Wheat Kings, who will play game two of the series Saturday night. "I think they're just nieve enough that it's just another game where they were real good," Brandon coach and general manager Kelly McCrimmon told Bruce Luebke on CKLQ's post-game show. "I thought maybe a little bit tight in the first but barely noticeable and then as the game went on, they continue to do the things that they do." The line of Hampus Gustafsson and Winnipeggers Paul Ciarelli and David Toews teamed up for three goals and 6 points, with each scoring once and setting up another. "I thought that line was tremendous, and not only did they score three goals, they did a lot of real good things," McCrimmon went on to say. "With the way Medicine Hat worked their matchups, they ended up with a lot of shifts against Hamilton's line, a lot of shifts against Vey's line and in terms of what you want to see from people stepping up at playoff time, I thought it was a great first game for all three of those players." In addition to Pulock, Gustafsson, Ciarelli and Toews, Brenden Walker and Shayne Wiebe rounded out the scoring for the Wheat Kings, who finished 27 points behind the Tigers during the regular season. Among the other nine rookies making their playoff debut Friday night was 17-year old Saskatoon product Corbin Boes, who turned aside 33 Medicine Hat shots. Joining them were Gustafsson, Toews, Rene Hunter, Eric Roy, Tyrel Seaman, Jason Swyripa and Jens Meilleur. Game two of the series goes Saturday night in Medicine Hat, before the series shifts to Winnipeg's MTS Centre for games three and four on Monday and Thursday nights. The Wheat Kings have been forced to play their first round playoff home games in Winnipeg due to the annual Royal Manitoba Winter Fair. Tickets to the games in Winnipeg can be purchased at the MTS and Keystone Centre box offices, online at ticketmaster.ca or by calling Toll Free 1-855-985-5000. Western Manitoba hockey fans interested in boarding the bus to Winnipeg are encouraged to call Brandon Bus Lines at 571-0231.
