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The Calgary Hitmen open their Eastern Conference Final with the Brandon Wheat Kings tonight on The FAN 960 (7 pm puckdrop, 6 pm pregame). It’s a battle of 2 unbeaten teams in the WHL postseason, as both Brandon and Calgary have swept their way through the opening 2 rounds.
For Calgary, their powerplay has come leaps and bounds from the end of round 1 to the of round 2. After the series with Edmonton, Calgary had clicked at just 11% on the man advantage and were 11th in the WHL (remember, this was the number 1 PP during the regular season at over 30%). After 4 games with Lethbridge, Calgary’s PP has climbed to 6th in the WHL and 23.3% efficiency. That’s because it went 8 for 25 against Lethbridge. Kris Foucault and Ian Schultz each have 2 goals on the man advantage.
Congrats to Brett Sonne, the WHL’s Eastern Conference Player of the Year. He is very deserving, with 100 points in 62 games. What’s amazing? In game 4 in Lethbridge, he came back from injury…and was slotted in on the 4th line for the first period in a half. That shows just how deep this team is.
For Brandon, this team is rolling at an incredible clip. They were the 3rd highest scoring team during the regular season at 4.1 goals per game. So far in 8 playoff games, they’re rolling at a clip of 5.6 goals per game…1.5 more than the season. They have the WHL’s best playoff powerplay and are getting contributions from everywhere.
Both Brayden Schenn and Scott Glennie have 15 points in 8 games…their 1.875 points per game is second in the league right now. Schenn has scored at least 1 point in every playoff game thus far. And Colby Robak is on fire from the back end, with 11 points in 8 games; that puts him 3rd among defencemen. At the same time, his +19 is best in the playoffs period; Flames prospect blueliner Keith Aulie is second at +17.
Not to mention this Brandon team will not be overwhelmed by the Hitmen. The winner of this series will be the team willing to work hard, grind it out and not make mistakes. I think this could go 6 or 7, but I think Calgary has the better depth and if all 4 lines can contribute like they have all season/play-offs then the Hitmen will come out on top. But it won’t be easy!
PS: Well, I don’t think anyone saw THAT coming…9-3 in game 1, that certainly wasn’t what we were expecting. Calgary didn’t play well, so they’re focused on improving for game 2…which is scary, cause they scored 9 goals.
- Bob in the AbbeySorry, forgot one other thing. Congrats to Kris Foucault for getting a ranking in the prospects list. It’s a good story for him and lots of younger people can draw inspiration and hope from it.
PS: Bob, Foucault is a ton of fun to watch, he has unbelievable hands and some very good hockey vision. If he continues to work on his 2 way game, I can see him going somehwere.
- Bob in the Abbey