Discussions

[b]Tri-City Americans (5-2-1, Tied-1st in Western Conference)[/b]  
 
[b]Top scorers:[/b] Brendan Shinnimin (suspended, 3 goals, 10 assists, 13 points), Adam Hughesman (5+6=11), Kruise Reddick (2+8=10), Patrick Holland (4+4=8)  
 
[b]Top scoring defenceman:[/b] Tyler Schmidt (3+2=5)  
 
[b]Probable starting goalie:[/b] Tri-City has been giving both Drew Owsley (5 games) and Alexander Pechurskiy (3 games) their share of starts this year. With Pechurskiy playing last night, the smart money's on Owsley (3-2-0, 3.22 goals against average, 0.908 save pct).  
 
[b]Manitobans:[/b] Brooks Macek (Winnipeg), Adam Hughesman (Winnipeg), Mason Wilgosh (Winnipeg), Brendan Shinnimin (Winnipeg), David Conrad (Winnipeg), Tyler Schmidt (Winnipeg), Brock Sutherland (Brandon), Chris Driedger (Winnipeg)  
 
   
 
[b]Brandon Wheat Kings (4-3-0, 3rd in Eastern Conference)[/b]  
 
[b]Top scorers:[/b] Mark Stone (4 goals, 7 assists, 11 points), David Toews (injured, 3+3=6), Brenden Walker (3+3=6), Wheaton King (2+4=6)  
 
[b]Top scoring defenceman:[/b] Darren Bestland (2+3=6)  
 
[b]Probable starting goalie:[/b] You never completely know as long as the Wheat Kings have three 'tenders on the roster. Liam Liston played a strong game last night and may get a second straight start, but I'll guess that Corbin Boews (0-1-0, 2.01 goals against average, 0.957 save pct) gets a chance to show his stuff against a tougher opponent after playing to rave reviews in Prince Albert in his only other start of the year.  
 
   
 
Although I haven't gone through every team's roster, it's a pretty reasonable bet that tonight's game will feature more Manitobans than any other game in the WHL this season. The Wheat Kings of course have plenty of local talent with Mark Stone, Scott Glennie, Shayne Wiebe among their ten roster players born in this province. Per the list above, Tri-City has eight themselves.  
The Americans will be without leading scorer Shinnimin tonight as he will be serving the second game of a controversial 2-game suspension.  
 
I'm assuming that tonight will mark the debut of forward Hampus Gustafsson, whom the Wheat Kings aquired via trade last night from Regina.  
 
I'll have scratches and lineups approx 45 mins before game time. It would be great to hear others' thoughts on the matchup, pre and post-game.