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HomerSimpson
05-14-2008, 08:48 AM
Game 1 is on Saturday for us against the Belleville Bulls. What do we know about this team?

tigerfan
05-14-2008, 11:33 AM
Game 1 is on Saturday for us against the Belleville Bulls. What do we know about this team?



Their full of BULL. They came back from 3-0 to tie up the series against Kitchener and lose in game seven so never count them out. Great goaltending in the Memorial cup is a must and if you get it you ccan beat a better team in a one game showdown.

dondo
05-14-2008, 12:33 PM
all offense as far as I can figure. The Chiefs will need to play their tight checking game, frustrate the Bulls offense and capitalise on the Bulls mistakes.

The Chiefs have to do what the Giants failed to do a couple of years back though. Trust their system, be patient and roll four lines. They should not be trying to line-match to get better defensive pairings out against the other guys top players.

They need to trust the team and their work ethic and use their speed and physical play to rock the Bulls, while not allowing themselves to be put out of position giving hits. Positional play is the key when you are playing high scoring teams, keep them to the outside and don't allow them any holes.

rinkrat
05-14-2008, 05:02 PM
The Chiefs have to do what the Giants failed to do a couple of years back though. Trust their system, be patient and roll four lines. They should not be trying to line-match to get better defensive pairings out against the other guys top players.
.

The reason the Giants didn't roll four lines and wear down the opposition was the TV timeouts.
There are way more TV timeouts during the Memorial Cup,which results in more time to rest your top two lines.
I can't see many teams rolling out their fourth line when the top line is sitting there rested.

chiefaholic
05-14-2008, 05:26 PM
The reason the Giants didn't roll four lines and wear down the opposition was the TV timeouts.
There are way more TV timeouts during the Memorial Cup,which results in more time to rest your top two lines.
I can't see many teams rolling out their fourth line when the top line is sitting there rested.

True , but the Chiefs tend to rely on their 3rd and 4th lines for checking , and even a little scoring. So I would imagine you'll see all 4 lines rolling quite a bit. But I'm not the coach so i can't predict what the chiefs have planned. :karate:

LinkGaetzFan
05-14-2008, 08:48 PM
I'll bet we'll roll the top 3 lines and use the 4th sparingly. This isn't a marathon like the WHL playoffs; it's a sprint.

Chief Jeff
05-14-2008, 08:57 PM
When the Chiefs get the lead they love rolling the 4th line out there. Letts and Kelner are both huge hitters and they play an important roll in the Chiefs smothering defense. They don't score much but they don't give up much either.

Pete76
05-14-2008, 10:20 PM
IIRC the 4th line barely played in the 3rd period of game 3 against the Canes ... but they did play in the tight games against Tri (right?)

LinkGaetzFan
05-15-2008, 12:32 AM
When the Chiefs get the lead they love rolling the 4th line out there. Letts and Kelner are both huge hitters and they play an important roll in the Chiefs smothering defense. They don't score much but they don't give up much either.

From what I saw they gave up more chances because of their lack of speed. Compton is quick but he can't be everywhere. It'll likely end up different against each team we play and the circumstances around each.

HomerSimpson
05-15-2008, 08:20 AM
Compton is definitely good enough to be on the ice in most situations. Kelner is a surprisingly strong skater for such a big guy, and we all know what he can do with the body...but Letts seems sluggish at times, and rarely seems to get the big checks in the way Kelner does. If Peters came to me, I'd tell him to give Donaghy another chance since he's such a better skater and posesses that cannon shot of his.

Scout
05-15-2008, 07:52 PM
Belleville Bulls

Coach/general manager: George Burnett.

Regular-season record: 48-14-4-2.

Canadian Hockey League final ranking: 3rd.

Leading scorer: Matt Beleskey (62 GP, 41 G, 49 A, 90 pts.).

Playoff route: Defeated Peterborough (4-1); Barrie (4-0); Oshawa (4-1) and lost to Kitchener (4-3).

First game: vs. Spokane, Saturday.

Who to watch: Veteran forward Shawn Matthias appears healthy after battling mono during the playoffs, forcing him to miss all but one game in the post-season. The 20-year-old power forward, who scored two goals in four games with the Florida Panthers this season, scored 32 goals and 47 assists in 53 regular-season games with the Bulls.

Between the pipes: Mike Murphy was named the OHL's goaltender of the year on the strength of a 2.24 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage. He posted a 36-7-3-1 record during the regular season and is 14-3-1 in the playoffs.

defenceman P.K. Subban led all OHL blue-liners in playoff scoring with eight goals and 15 assists. ... Belleville is making just its second trip to the Memorial Cup, losing to the Ottawa 67s in the semifinal of the 1999 Cup. ... Belleville's defence was a combined plus-31 during the playoffs.

Head coach/GM George Burnett coached 35 career NHL games with the Edmonton Oilers, posting a record of 12-20-3. He replaced Glen Sather behind the bench.

Scout
05-15-2008, 07:57 PM
Shawn Matthias - Belleville Bulls
Matthias might be one of the most recognizable names as the Memorial Cup begins which is ironic considering few outside of the OHL knew the name before the world junior tournament.

The power-forward's first claim to fame came at the NHL trading deadline in 2007 when he was part of the package the Detroit Red Wings sent to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Todd Bertuzzi. The Red Wings, who drafted Matthias in the second round of the 2006 draft, are probably wishing they could have this trade back. Bertuzzi ended up signing with Anaheim in the summer while Matthias has turned into a gem of a prospect for the Panthers.

Matthias' breakout campaign came last season when he notched 38 goals and 35 assists for 73 points in 64 games. He led the Bulls to the Eastern Conference final where they were eliminated by the upstart Sudbury Wolves in six games.

It's safe to say Matthias have overcome a lot in his short career. When he was drafted in the 2004 OHL Priority Selection, it was John Hughes who made the majority of the news out of Belleville as the first overall pick. Matthias wasn't taken until the first pick in the sixth round, 101st overall.

His career only really took off on a national scale once he made the world junior team this past year. Head coach Craig Hartsburg gushed about Matthias during the selection camp in Calgary and the rest of the country saw why once the tournament was underway.

Matthias was one of Canada's best players and created the play which turned into the gold medal winning goal. In fitting fashion, Matthias went hard to the net where Rangers forward Matt Halischuk poked his rebound home to give Canada its fourth-consecutive gold medal in the tournament.

The Panthers took notice, calling him up shortly after the tournament's conclusion where he suited up in two games. The forward from Mississauga, Ont. went on to score twice in his first four NHL games.

Like many of the other players to watch, Matthias had adversities to overcome but none bigger than his most recent. In what appeared to be a banner season for Matthias, he was diagnosed with mononucleosis and tonsillitis prior to this year's playoffs. It wasn't easy sitting out when your team had a chance to win the league title but thankfully he'll still have a chance at the Memorial Cup.

Matthias plays with a chip on his shoulder and has an NHL caliber shot. He's quick and has terrific hockey sense. Matthias goes to the net hard where he creates scoring chances for himself and his teammates. Despite just playing in one playoff game, the seventh and deciding game of the OHL final, the Bulls will need him at his best to have success in the Memorial Cup.

LinkGaetzFan
05-15-2008, 08:52 PM
Apparently Belville is a big team who likes to pound the body. Most of our guys can and will take the hits and dish them out when Peters tells them to. Vancouver tried the aggressive "go-for-the-body" approach but we were able to work around it. Hopefully we'll do the same against Belville.

HomerSimpson
05-16-2008, 08:43 AM
Physicality of the teams doesn't really scare me at all. Our "smallish" defense handled themselves just fine all season and through the playoffs in the rigors of the Western Hockey League...which is by far the toughest junior league physically. We'll be fine.

What does scare me is the Chiefs not being ready to play tomorrow night...we seem to have our worst games after long layoffs, and I'm hoping that doesn't hold true against Belleville. In a short tournament, every game is VERY important. We need to come out the way we did in game 1 against Lethbridge and put all the critics to rest. clrkth

Scout
05-16-2008, 09:54 AM
I posted previews of all four teams involved in the Memorial Cup in the General Forums under WHL General Discussions.

Scout

dondo
05-16-2008, 04:26 PM
The reason the Giants didn't roll four lines and wear down the opposition was the TV timeouts.
There are way more TV timeouts during the Memorial Cup,which results in more time to rest your top two lines.
I can't see many teams rolling out their fourth line when the top line is sitting there rested.

interesting perspective rinkrat, but Hay himself was quoted as saying that one of the reasons they did not do as well as they hoped, was that he changed his strategy to match the other guy's styles and should have just continued with the game which got them there.

However you are probably right, TV time-outs can change the game as far as rest is concerned. Hopefully it doesn't affect the Chiefs in the same way.