By James Shewaga / 

The Brandon Wheat Kings wrapped up their most successful regular season in 13 years, and they did it without their captain in the lineup.

The Wheat Kings finished third overall in the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Conference and second in the East Division with a 48-19-3-2 record for 101 points, cracking the 100-point plateau for the first time since their 1995/96 WHL championship season.

But they did it without captain Keith Aulie as the 19-year-old defenceman from Rouleau, Sask., missed the final five games of the season after suffering a broken right hand while blocking a shot during a 2-1 shootout loss on March 4 in Prince Albert, Sask.

“I’ve never really broken [a bone] when it’s coming close to playoff time,” said Aulie, a member of Canada’s gold-medal winning World Junior hockey team who finished with six goals and 33 points for Brandon this season.

“My job now is to just be in the room cheering the guys on and hoping we can do our best here until I get back.”

As the Wheat Kings prepared to open the WHL playoffs against the Kootenay Ice, Aulie’s status was still up in the air, although the anchor of the Brandon blueline was back on the ice for practice on Monday, March 16.

Aulie’s ailment was the latest in a line of long-term injuries the Wheat Kings battled through this season as Aulie swapped places on the team’s injured list with Scott Glennie, a speedy 17-year-old right-winger from Winnipeg. Glennie returned to the lineup for the final three games of the season after missing 16 games with a broken left elbow he suffered while crashing into a goalpost during a 7-6 overtime victory in Calgary, Jan.31.

In addition to Aulie and Glennie, 18-year-old defenceman Mark Schneider was out of the lineup for a month after breaking an ankle in December and then missed the final three weeks of the regular season with a separated right shoulder he suffered in a 4-2 victory over Lethbridge, Feb. 25.

But the most serious setback was a season-ending injury to 18-year-old forward Sanfred King, who broke his right leg in a 7-4 victory in Prince Albert on Jan. 17 when he crashed into the boards.

King required surgery to help stabilize his fractured femur.

While King was done for the year and Aulie’s status is unclear, Glennie was looking to make up for lost time in the playoffs during his draft year after leading the Wheat Kings in scoring at the time of his injury with 27 goals and 66 points in 52 games.

“For sure you want to come back and you want to impress, obviously,” said Glennie, who was ranked 12th overall among North American skaters in the Central Scouting Bureau’s mid-season rankings. “You don’t want to come back and play bad because that’s not going to help your cause at all.”