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No one expected to see a 9-3 final in game 1 of the WHL’s Eastern Conference Final, I know that for sure, yet that’s what we saw on Friday night at the Dome. The Hitmen came away with a game 1 victory and remain perfect on the postseason, improving their record to 9-0. For Brandon, they suffer their first loss of the postseason and have a ton of motivation to come back with a much better effort on Sunday afternoon.
Couple things to take away from this game. From a Calgary perspective, 3 more goals on the powerplay…they’ve now scored 11 powerplay goals in their last 5 games. Overall they are 11 for their last 32 chances. But Calgary only slightly won the special teams battle, as 2 of Brandon’s goals came on the PP…it was Calgary’s play 5-on-5 that decided this game. The turning point came in the second period after Brandon failed to convert on a scoring chance to cut the lead to 2-1, Bostjan Golicic went the length of the ice and gave the Hitmen a 3-0 lead 10 seconds later. 15 players registered at least 1 point, while 9 players had multiple point nights. Not really surprising when you really think about it, that’s what the Hitmen have done all year.
Brandon wasn’t happy after the loss, clearly, but this very well could have been a 9-6 or 9-7 game had the Wheat Kings converted on some chances. Captain Keith Aulie said it afterwards…the message between the 2nd and 3rd period was “game 2 starts now” and I think Brandon can take some positives from the final 20 minutes. Brayden Schenn left the game early and without violating WHL rules, it seems like he may have an injury that is going to need to be evaluated. That’s only the rumours floating around.
Got a chance to talk to Leafs VP of Hockey Operations Dave Nonis in the 2nd intermission, he really likes the type of hard nose hockey Schenn plays, and he’s watched him play in Brandon and now in Calgary. The Schenn brothers in Toronto would be scary.
I’ll revamp what I said before about Brandon NOT being overwhelmed by Calgary…something went wrong for them last night( OK a lot of things). But if this series falls into line with the previous ones the Hitmen played then game #2 should be a lot closer. Despite the fact the Hitmen did not play a “perfect” game I came away impressed with how this team has been able to make adjustments throughout games. Not just once but sometimes they change up their style(gameplan) 2 or 3 times during the course of a game, depending on how their opponent is playing. Last night about 3 minutes into the 3rd with Brandon letting it all hang out and putting Calgary on their heels, Dave Lowry calls time out, calms eveyone down and a new strategy is formed…and it worked. That is something you don’t see out of the Flames, is it??? I think the big team (Players AND Coaches) could learn a thing or two from the “minor” team.
- Bob in the Abbey