(Courtesy of Lanny Stewart) — Only three letters differentiate the two. Brandon product “Wheaton King” – playing for his hometown “Wheat Kings”. It sounds like the two were a match made in heaven.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to play in the WHL,” said King, who’s club takes on the Lethbridge Hurricanes tonight. “Ever since I could skate, I wanted to be a Western Hockey League player.”

Anyone who’s reading this is probably well aware of the cliches that were used in headlines when King first donned a Wheat Kings’ jersey last season. There’s ‘A jersey fit for a King’, or how about, well, you get the idea. Whether you believe in fate or not, King had to endure the trials and tribulations of making the team roster just like any other WHL hopeful.

King, who is listed at 6-foot-3 and 182 pounds, grew up on a wheat farm just outside of town – and that, he says, is where his name came from. He worked hard through the Brandon minor hockey ranks and wound up getting selected in the sixth round (123rd overall) in the 2007 WHL Bantam Draft.

He was able to crack the team’s lineup last season, playing in 10 games but would later get sent down. He persevered however, scoring 11 goals and 20 assists for 31 points in 22 games for the Brandon AAA Midget Wheat Kings after being demoted. He continued that strong play into Wheat Kings’training camp in September and so far, has enjoyed moderate success this season.

Entering Friday night’s game against Lethbridge, King had two goals and 9 points in 19 games.

The Wheat Kings are a younger squad than that of the Memorial Cup hosting team from a year ago, and have had its troubles early this season. At one point, the team endured a nine-game losing streak after beginning the year at 4-0. Despite its early season struggles, King enjoys playing on a team filled with an exuberance of youth and believes the squad will be in the hunt for a playoff spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference this year.

“We’re going to go through some growing pains, but there have been times where our team is definitely a playoff-caliber team,” said King. “I think if we play the way we think we can play, well do fine.”

He says the WHL is a much faster game than that of midget hockey and says he knows exactly what to improve on if he’s to make the jump to professional hockey at some point in the future.“The pace and tempo of games and practices are quicker. I need to improve my speed, you can always improve in everything, but getting used to the speed of the game takes time.”

If hockey doesn’t pan out for King, he says sports journalism is something he may consider as a career path down the road. King took journalism-specific courses in high school and even wrote blogs for the Brandon Sun during the team’s recent west-coast road trip.

Puck drop Friday is 7:30 and there are still plenty of tickets remaining. To purchase call 726-3555 or go online at ticketmaster.ca