Friday vs Hitmen

[Brandonite]

Fridays game vs the Hitmen will be a real test for the Wheaties. The Hitmen are 3-0 with 2 wins coming from a weak Rebels team but are heavy favorites in the East. Now that White is back it will only help this team that much more but I don't think Alex Plante will be back for a while. Any predictions for Friday?

[Hitmen1]

4-2 Hitmen.

[WHEATMAN]

I will go with 5-4 Wheaties...I hope

[Hitmen1]

Well I was close :)

Good guys Wheaties. Spence was really good tonight.

[Joe Hallenback]

Slow start for the wheaties cost them this game. I was kinda worried they would come out tentative and not play their skating game. They really dominated the second and third periods and if it wasnt for Spence would have won this game. All in all a great game for the young wheaties and nothing to be ashamed about losing to my pick as the best team in the WHL this year

[Brandonite]

Well I was close :)

Good guys Wheaties. Spence was really good tonight.

Yeah, awesome game by Brandon tonight but just came up short on a questionable call against Brandon for disallowing the 4th goal but overall great game vs a strong Hitmen club. The Schenn, Glennie & Calvert line is explosive and simply win battles with their hard work! I loved nothing more than seeing Schenn at age 16 toss Carson McMillan at 19 around like a rag doll. That was the highlight of the night!! One thing is I think Sanfred King has not stood out as much as I may have thought. That may be because of the other guys getting the attention but I just havent noticed King so much at all!

[Bully73]

[QUOTE=Brandonite]Sanfred King has not stood out as much as I may have thought.QUOTE]

He needs to develop some confidence in his game like the other rookies have and start skating. He looked absolutely lost out there, standing around doing nothing when Kelly gave him a shift with the top line.

[sbtatter]

Poor Joe C and a slow first 7 minutes by the W/K's cost Brandon this game against the much vaunted Hitmen. But even in the loss their was a lot of positives to take away from this game. The shots, 40 v 29 for the Wheaties. The way Lowry stood up for Robak, the way Schenn handled MacMillan, the energy and play of the rookie line, the fact that the crowd was into the game, our section gave Schenn a standing ovation after his fight! We shouldn't be in the same ballpark as this veteran laden Calgary team, so the fact we deserved to win is amazing. Spence was Calgary's best player, closely followed by White who did it all, hit, fight, score, agitate. Alzner looked pretty quiet out there. Bartek's disallowed goal was given by the ref closest to the play, but he was talked out of it by the trailing ref for some reason (I haven't seen the highlights to determine if it was a good goal).
The defence as a whole struggled a little against a relentless Calgary forecheck. Grille-Donovan did ok in his debut, I guess KM is rotating between him, Smith and Melynuchuk at the moment? I think KM will need to change the top 2 lines a bit, b/c I don't think we see the best of Clarkey when he's paired with Dittmer. The speed of Brandon really unsettles defenceman who cough the puck up quite a bit, especially when Schenn, Calvert and Glennie are forechecking.
As far as overagers go, they will have some extra time to decide what to do b/c Yeo is out for 3 or 4 weeks for knee surgery. You'd hate to keep 3 overage d men b/c that hinders Melnychuk and Grille Donovans development. So, one of Louis and Yeo will be moved i would guess.
Can you imagine if Burki, Reaves et al had showed this much intensity and comraderie last year? A guy behind me said that in 2 games this season he's seen more entertainment than he did all of last season!!!
Add in Regier, Stone, Depape, Miller, Erdhardt next season and this team is going to be so strong!

[WestLEAFfan]

Is Matty Smith playing a regular shift? How does he look? Thanks for any info.

[sbtatter]

Is Matty Smith playing a regular shift? How does he look? Thanks for any info.
He played the one game in Saskatoon and I think played a regular shift, actually enede up a plus 2. He is physical enough, but unless we trade some dmen out I don't think he'll beat out Melnychuk and Grille-Donovan

[dagley]

[QUOTE=Brandonite]Sanfred King has not stood out as much as I may have thought.QUOTE]

He needs to develop some confidence in his game like the other rookies have and start skating. He looked absolutely lost out there, standing around doing nothing when Kelly gave him a shift with the top line.

Same path Green took last year.

[sbtatter]

Same path Green took last year. Green looks way better this year. Stronger, braver, more inventive, i think he's going to be a player...

[dagley]

Green looks way better this year. Stronger, braver, more inventive, i think he's going to be a player...

I said King looks like hes going to go the same path Green did last year.

[sbtatter]

I said King looks like hes going to go the same path Green did last year. I know you did. I just took the opportunity to point out that King may start slow as Green did, but as Green is improving, so will King...

[Brandonite]

Same path Green took last year.

I agree, Nathan Green was nothing at all like a former AAA scoring champion the previous season. He never stood out at all last year and looked very nervous at times. He has come a long ways this year and looks alot more comfortable out there and hopefully will continue! This isn't AAA, this is Major Junior and your not gonna score 90 points in 60 games as a rookie unless your name is Sidney Crosby! Everyone goes through it. Derlago, Dittmer, Topilko, Kauk, Green and now King! The way he was talking before the season, he had high expectations to be a top scorer for this team but he will adjust and will be a key member to this team for years to come!

[sbtatter]

I agree, Nathan Green was nothing at all like a former AAA scoring champion the previous season. He never stood out at all last year and looked very nervous at times. He has come a long ways this year and looks alot more comfortable out there and hopefully will continue! This isn't AAA, this is Major Junior and your not gonna score 90 points in 60 games as a rookie unless your name is Sidney Crosby! Everyone goes through it. Derlago, Dittmer, Topilko, Kauk, Green and now King! The way he was talking before the season, he had high expectations to be a top scorer for this team but he will adjust and will be a key member to this team for years to come!
Speaking of kauk, he's scored more than a ppg for Dauphin (but I still don't want him back)!!!

[Brandonite]

Speaking of kauk, he's scored more than a ppg for Dauphin (but I still don't want him back)!!!

Yeah I noticed he is doing quite well for himself in Dauphin so far helping them into an early 1st place their division. In saying that, he should be!! He didnt do NOTHING when he played in the WHL for any of the 3 teams (Hat, Kamloops & Brandon) but still managed to hang around the league for 3 full seasons. But guys like that should rip up JrA atleast! But like you said, I dont want him back, he can stay right there!

[dagley]

King will be a key player though in a few years, probably playing on the second line with Regier or something. These next few years will be so exciting. Schenn reminds me so much of Ryan Stone.

[Brandonite]

King will be a key player though in a few years, probably playing on the second line with Regier or something. These next few years will be so exciting. Schenn reminds me so much of Ryan Stone.

I think Ryan Stone hit alot more than Schenn does! Not taking anything away from Schenn at all but Stone literally flew around the ice smoking guys at will. Schenn is more finess than Stone but thats still a good call! Tonight vs Regina King looked once again a little nervous at times, especially after he got hit it would sorta set him back a bit but it will come and im not worried at all. Especially with his brother there next year hopefully that will spark him that much more

[dagley]

I think Ryan Stone hit alot more than Schenn does! Not taking anything away from Schenn at all but Stone literally flew around the ice smoking guys at will. Schenn is more finess than Stone but thats still a good call! Tonight vs Regina King looked once again a little nervous at times, especially after he got hit it would sorta set him back a bit but it will come and im not worried at all. Especially with his brother there next year hopefully that will spark him that much more

Yeah I agree, Stone was more physical...Schenn's style just reminds me of my all-time favorite Wheat King :)