Wheat Kings - PR

WHEATIES PREP FOR PRESEASON

The Saskatchewan Wheat Kings arrived today in Saskatoon after a short off-season reprive with only a couple new faces - a surprising change for the once trade-maniac Kings, but who can blaim them for their inactivity? You don't go playing with a team that topped the league.

The final segment of the break was completed Sunday as the Wheaties drafted Niklas Bergfors (12th overall), Tuukka Rask (61st overall), and Erkka Leppanen (65th overall).

"We were in a relaxed position in drafting," GM Tyler Young commented to the media Sunday, "which meant we could take a bit of a chance with our picks. Bergfors is especially interesting: since we are loaded with young, gifted snipers, we decided to take a chance on finding a premium set-up man, someone to feed our snipers for a long time to come."

While the Wheat Kings did not undergo much change from last season, the President Trophy Champs did gain a year of maturity and their outstanding year lead to much development in the squad:

"Even with the same players as last year, we are still a much more talented club than last year thank to the our overall development," Mr. Young said. "However, there are a lot of teams that have seen much more improvement through trades and player development and are now ready threats to any chance of us repeating at the top; so we'll see what we can do, but our boys know this year that the key is the playoffs."

The only significant editions to the Kings roster are young sniper Alex Kositsyn, acquired from the Aces, and back-up Manny Legace, aquired through free agency. Departing are Mike York and Aaron Rome to the Aces, and Kari Lehtonen via Free Agency.

In other news, the Wheat Kings were big winners at the TFHL awards. Winger Dimtri Kazionov tied with the Canucks' Jonas Johansson for the Calder Trophy, coach Mike Keenan won the Jack Adams, and defenceman Slava Suchy took home the Alka-Seltzer Trophy.