As I expected, Brandon came out with a much better performance yesterday than what they gave in their game one loss to the Hitmen, but even the better effort wasn't enough as the Hitmen overcame 2-0, 3-1, and 4-3 deficits to post a 5-4 win and take a 2-0 lead in the series. Through two games in the series now, Brandon has already scored as many goals (7) as Edmonton and Lethbridge combined scored against the Hitmen in eight games. The Wheaties can sure put the puck in the net....the downside for them is they are having trouble keeping it out. Through two games their goaltenders have a combined .774 save percentage. The next two games are in Brandon on Tuesday & Wednesday so maybe some home cooking and home fans are what the Wheat Kings need. Tuesday is pretty much a must-win game for Brandon as they'll be down 3-0 if the Hitmen win that one.
Calgary is now 10-0 in the playoffs and that sets a new franchise record for most consecutive playoff wins. The league record is 12, held by a few different teams, and which the Hitmen could match if they swept the Wheat Kings.
In Vancouver, the Giants pulled off a win late in the first OT last night to avoid also falling into a 2-0 hole. Those two teams now go to Kelowna for games 3 & 4 on Tuesday & Thursday. Is it just me or have these two games - despite the offensive prowess of both teams - not been as entertaining as watching Spokane & Vancouver go at it in their defensive battles? They've definitely been as physical and chippy as the Giants-Chiefs were though.
Speaking of physical, how about the NHL playoffs so far....the Montreal-Boston and Pittsburgh-Philadelphia series in particular have been brutally physical series, to the point of being downright dirty. So I'm loving watching these two series in particular....I'm sure even people who don't like the cheap stuff can't help but watch. It's like driving past a car accident - you don't really want to see the carnage but you find you have to look anyway.
At the World U-18's, USA won the gold medal yesterday with a convincing 5-0 win over the Russians. This is the 2nd year in a row the Russians have made it to the gold medal game only to fall flat on their faces - Canada beat them 8-0 for the gold a year ago. But hey, I guess they get silver which is better than what any other country at the tournament got, except USA of course.
Canada (with its eight WHLers) lost the bronze medal game to Finland in a shootout, 5-4. Say what you want about shootouts being a lousy way to decide a hockey game (especially a medal game!), Canada blew a 4-1 lead in that game and when that happens, it's hard to say "oh, we lost in the shootout". The Canadian kids lost that game well before it went to a shootout.
I also caught part of the final game of the Allan Cup (Canadian senior AAA championship) on Saturday night on TSN....the Bentley Generals beat the Southeast Prairie Thunder for the title, 4-3 in overtime on a goal by former Rocket, Rebel & Raider, Diarmuid Kelly. The goal was set up by Kurt Bensmiller, who's better known around these parts as a professional chuckwagon driver. Apparently he can play a little hockey too, since he tied for the tournament scoring lead with 7 points in four games.
The star attraction at this year's Allan Cup, Theo Fleury, didn't even make the final with his Steinbach Northstars team. Southeast beat them out in the semifinal.
I'll be the first to admit I don't watch a lot of senior hockey (the Allan Cup is about it) but I have to say I was disappointed in the physical conditioning of a number of players. Watching the game, some of these guys are obviously 30, 40, 50 pounds or more over whatever their playing weight was when they were playing junior (or in some cases, in the NHL). At times it looked like we were watching a team of football offensive linemen out there. I understand they're not pro players anymore and they keep playing just because they love to play, but I would have thought that to play at this level they would need to be in a little better shape?
And the 2009 Telus Cup - the Canadian AAA midget championship - gets underway today in Selkirk, Manitoba. As promised earlier this month, here's the WHL prospects who are playing for the three prairie teams in the tournament:
Calgary Buffaloes:
Sam Brittain, G-92 (Medicine Hat - listed player)
Chris Collins, C-92 (Chilliwack - 2007 4th rd)
Austin Frank, D-93 (Prince Albert - 2008 5th rd)
Peter Kosterman, D-93 (Calgary - 2008 1st rd)
Greg Lamoureux, C-92 (Vancouver - 2007 3rd rd)
Joel Lowry, LW-91 (Red Deer - listed player)
Matt Maleschuk, D-92 (Portland - 2007 5th rd)
Ryan Moser, C-92 (Lethbridge - 2007 10th rd)
Phil Tot, C-93 (Lethbridge - 2008 1st rd)
(and yes, Joel Lowry is the son of Hitmen coach Dave Lowry)
Notre Dame Hounds:
Brent Benson, C-93 (Saskatoon - 2008 1st rd)
Trevor Cameron, C-92 (Chilliwack - listed player)
Lucas Froese, C-92 (Regina - 2007 11th rd)
Drew George, RW-91 (Regina - listed player)
Zach Hodder, D-93 (Vancouver - 2008 1st rd)
Daniel Lee, D-93 (Kelowna - 2008 4th rd)
Nils Moser, RW-93 (Tri-City - 2008 2nd rd)
Jesse Pauls, D-92 (Tri-City - listed player)
Winnipeg Thrashers:
Ryan Dech, D-93 (Edmonton - 2008 3rd rd)
Matt Glowa, F-92 (Prince Albert - 2007 7th rd)
Michael Hay, F-92 (Swift Current - 2007 4th rd)
Michael Lazo, F-93 (Swift Current - 2008 8th rd)
Colin Mospanchuk, F-93 (Medicine Hat - 2008 5th rd)
I may have missed a few players if any have been protected in the last little while that I don't know about. Corrections are welcome if you know of any mistakes or omissions I made.
If anyone's interested, you can follow the Telus Cup here. There's always a bunch of kids from this tournament who crack WHL rosters the following year....see if you can pick out the ones above who will be WHLers next season....
4 comments:
in regards to the senior players not being in "Shape" not sure what team you're speaking of. Minus maybe big Kevin Smyth the Generals team are not all 30-50 lbs over weight. They're all in good physical condition, lets not fool ourselves here.
I am fairly certain that Joel Lowry is listed or drafted by Swift Current not Red Deer
I didn't say they were all out of shape. I said some of them were. I'm sure many of them are in excellent shape.
I'm just saying on TV I saw more than a few guys out there, for both teams, who looked quite wide up top. Certainly much bigger than the NHL & WHL players we're used to seeing on TV.
As for Joel Lowry, he was definitely Rebels property at Christmas this year, so if he is now Broncos property, it's because Red Deer dropped him since then.
I can tell you first hand none with the exception of maybe 1 General play is out of shape. The game was excellent from start to finish, they had a tremendous year and I am damn glad to be a part of it!
Central AB, hell AB as a whole can be proud of a winning team!!
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