Game 6

[Mileflames]

Calgary has called up a player, I think it is Chris Eckert, don't expect to see him play. from the fan960 this morning..

MONDAY NIGHT'S WHL PLAYOFF MATCH-UP - Andrew Ladd (pictured) and the Calgary Hitmen welcome the Brandon Wheat Kings tonight in game six of their Eastern conference semi-final series.

Tonight's contest between the Wheat Kings and Hitmen can be seen throughout the Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia regions on SHAW, and in Portland on Comcast (7:00 p.m., MDT).

The Hitmen fell 6-4 in game five in Brandon on Friday but still lead the series 3-2 and could advance to the Eastern conference final with a victory tonight. Calgary is a perfect 4-0 on home ice in this year's playoffs. Ryan Getzlaf, the Hitmen's leading playoff scorer with four goals and 12 assists, has hit the score sheet in nine straight games. Calgary scratches: Darryl Yacboski, Brett Carson.

The Wheat Kings are down 2-3 in the best-of-seven series and need to win tonight to stay alive in the series and force a seventh and deciding game. The Wheat Kings' penalty-killing unit has struggled in the post-season, allowing 16 power play goals in 63 shorthanded situations. Eric Fehr leads the Wheat Kings and the league in post-season scoring with nine goals and 17 points.

Game seven, if necessary, will be on Wednesday night in Brandon.
http://www.whl.ca/headlines/?id=2959

[Joe Hallenback]

Wow I seriously thought this series was over. Great by Plante and Monych see you in Brandon on Wednesday! :wave:

[RunTheGoalie]

Five reasons why we lost.

1. Luck. For 59 minutes and 52 seconds, every single bounce when Brandon's way. Pucks rolling off Hitmen player sticks, pucks that just wouldnt sit down. Bounces and rebounds straight onto Brandon sticks. I doubt Plante saw half the saves he made.

2. Brandon's defense. They did a great job keeping the Hitmen to the outside. Calgary simply did not want to fight their way into the slot, and Brandon exploited that all night long. Great effort by the Wheat Kings D.

3. McCrimmon completely outcoached Kisio. We had last change, but it was almost as if Brandon got the matchups it wanted all night long. I'll say this, one series win and one series choke is not enough. If we lose game 7 on Wednesday, I want to see Kisio handed his pink slip Thursday.

4. Calgary's Defense. Yakboski's injury and Stones cheap shot are really starting to take their effect. Schultz is obviously getting tired from playing so much, as he was completely useless tonight. Shame he got our goal. I would have rather it went to a player who was productive. With Schultz effectively nullified, I hope the rest of our young D can find that extra gear on Wednesday.

5. The Old Hitmen are back. They didnt want to fight through the D. They didnt shoot nearly enough in the first two periods. Pushkarev and Getzlaf wanted to score highlight reel goals rather than simply drive the net. Powerplay was useless. Ladd was useless. Brandon has him completely off his game.

Two days. In two days, we find out what kind of coach Kelly Kisio is.

Ryan Stone: Another cheap shot. Another hit from behind. Thankfully, no injury. Part of me really hopes this kid leaves the ice horizontal on Wednesday. What a gutless punk.

What the hell was Webb crying about at the end of the game? The little whiner sure wanted a piece of Dupont. Hopefully he spends most of game 7 trying to get it rather than playing hockey.

Derek Herman: What the hell did Brandon and Calgary do to deserve the two worst referees in hockey in the same series? C'mon WHL! Spread the incompetence around a little!

Well, onto game 7. And we have exactly zero momentum going in. :dead:

[C.F]

Poor Calgary is so innocent! Why oh why is everyone out to get them? ;)

[RunTheGoalie]

And what, praytell, do you mean by that?

[BWK]

The # 1 reason the Hitmen lost the game is because, finally, Brandon played 60 minutes of hockey.

I am not going to make any predictions but I would be very, very nervous about playing a game 7 against a team that has really only played 1 "good" game

And Ryan Stone??? It was a roughing call, not checking from behind. Even the players ignored it.

[C.F]

I didn't watch the game, so it's not for me to judge, but your post(the end in particular), just sounded a little biased. Of course, the wink was meant to indacate that I wasn't being too serious. :p

Anyway, there's 2 great days of hockey ahead of us. Can't wait!

Seattle and Brandon in 7!

[Joe Hallenback]

Ryan Stone a gutless punk? Plz get over the Fact that he laid out a crushing check that might just change this series around. If they wanted to get Stone they had plenty of Oppurtunity in the last 2 games but they didnt and you know why? Cause they will get there asses handed to them. No one and I do mean no one can go one on one with Stone on Calgary.

nuff said about that.

Looking forward to a great game 7 and I will be Happy if Brandon wins and not surprised if Calgary can steal another one in Brandon :thumb:

[RunTheGoalie]

The # 1 reason the Hitmen lost the game is because, finally, Brandon played 60 minutes of hockey.

I am not going to make any predictions but I would be very, very nervous about playing a game 7 against a team that has really only played 1 "good" game

And Ryan Stone??? It was a roughing call, not checking from behind. Even the players ignored it.

Actually, it was called crosschecking, and it could have been boarding or checking from behind.

The Hitmen should turn their jerseys around. Stone seems to only be able to hit guys between the numbers, and maybe if Calgary wears it's numbers on the front, they might actually teach Stone how to throw a legal bodycheck.

Though that might be asking a bit much.

Also, why would I be nervous about a team that apparently mailed in in five straight games before showing up? The odds suggest they would be more likely to mail it in again than supposedly play their first full game, and that is rather debatable given the shots ended up in the neighborhood of 20-7 in the third period.

[RunTheGoalie]

Ryan Stone a gutless punk? Plz get over the Fact that he laid out a crushing check that might just change this series around. If they wanted to get Stone they had plenty of Oppurtunity in the last 2 games but they didnt and you know why? Cause they will get there asses handed to them. No one and I do mean no one can go one on one with Stone on Calgary.

nuff said about that.

Looking forward to a great game 7 and I will be Happy if Brandon wins and not surprised if Calgary can steal another one in Brandon :thumb:

Perhaps the Hitmen wont give Stone the chance to drop the gloves. They should hit the coward the exact same way he hits guys: square from behind.

A nice little "clean" "shoulder to shoulder" check from behind would do the trick.

Exactly as they teach you to hit in Brandon.

Fortunately for us, Calgary has about a hundred times the class Brandon has. When they went after Stone - drilling him twice in one shift in game 4, they hit him the legal way. I'm sure Stone was laughing at the backwards way Calgary hits guys though. I mean, giving them a chance at defending themselves? How silly is that?

[ScottyWazz]

It was a tale of Hitmen teams. The team that came out in the first and the team out there for the other 40 minutes.

The Hitmen just played horrible defencive hockey. Point blank period. You DO NOT put the puck up the middle in your own zone. You know Sindel isn't going to miss with a chance like that. You also DO NOT leave a guy like Monych on the back door wide open, where he could have ordered a drink if he wanted to.

The Hitmen just played sloppy after the first. They kept making risky passes, all of their shots or passes got clipped by pad or skate, and they just played bad in their own zone.

The Wheaties wanted it more and they make the Hitmen know it after the game. There were plenty of players who had a defeatest attitude after the game. One even walking passed me and saying that he'd be surprised if we saw another series. That just shows how much the life has been sucked out of the sails of the Hitmen.

[Joe Hallenback]

Perhaps the Hitmen wont give Stone the chance to drop the gloves. They should hit the coward the exact same way he hits guys: square from behind.

A nice little "clean" "shoulder to shoulder" check from behind would do the trick.

Exactly as they teach you to hit in Brandon.

Like I said if they thought it was so dirty they would settle it on the Ice. But I guess they dont cause you know what they dont go near Stone. The only people who complain are a Few Calgary fans that cant accept the fact that Hockey is a contact game and if Calgary was upset by the hit they would seek out retribution but they dont or they wont. Either way its over and Calgary faces a tough task in Brandon possibly without the Services of a Fine defencemen because Of a hit that you say was dirty while others call it just tough hockey. :thumb:

[RunTheGoalie]

And the only people who called that hit clean are the morons in Brandon.

You should just be happy the Hitmen are as classy as they are. Stone might have ended his season being wheeled out on a stretcher otherwise.

Quite frankly, he deserves it too.

[BWK]

...given the shots ended up in the neighborhood of 20-7 in the third period.

And the game ended up 3-1 and the series evened up 3-3 :clap:

Keep grasping for bright spots in the Hitties amazing collapse

[Joe Hallenback]

And the only people who called that hit clean are the morons in Brandon.

You should just be happy the Hitmen are as classy as they are. Stone might have ended his season being wheeled out on a stretcher otherwise.

Quite frankly, he deserves it too.


LOL sure thing Buddy. I don't want this thread to turn into a flame war but seriously take the tutu off and start posting on a Ringette forum. :clown:

IF Brandon wins this series I would say that the turning point WAS that hit.

btw The league still hasn't spoken up about this dastardly dirty check. Maybe they were watching a different game?

[peatfan]

Good game by Brandon. They outplayed us, their defense was vry good at limiting our quality chances, bounces went their way (especially on first goal) and like the first post said our d is getting tired This especially goes to Schultz who proved why he was a firsat one pick. Turning point was Stone's cheap shot(sorry charging across the ice and hitting i the back is cheap). Calgary's defense just too young and its starting to show. As far as Game 6 cheap sot by Stone that everyone is complaining about, I never saw any. Bodychecks but clean one. Just because he did it once doesn't mean thats all he does. I noticed he is one of the first forwards back to help the d. I think he will be a much better NHLer than Fehr(does he know his goalie's name?). I would love to see Stone on my team. For game 7 HITMEN to win 5-3 with Pushie coming through with two goals and White, Ladd and Dupont one each. Stone, Reaves and Monych for Wheaties. Hows that for a prediction. :clap:

[RunTheGoalie]

LOL sure thing Buddy. I don't want this thread to turn into a flame war but seriously take the tutu off and start posting on a Ringette forum. :clown:

IF Brandon wins this series I would say that the turning point WAS that hit.

btw The league still hasn't spoken up about this dastardly dirty check. Maybe they were watching a different game?

Like I said, the WHL is a very timid league when it comes to penalties and suspensions.

Honestly, I would like to think that if Brandon does win this series, that the turning point was something other than the dirty act of a coward.

I think Brandon is a better team than to be labelled with "they couldnt win clean."

If Brandon wins, the turning point is going to be coaching. Kisio hasn't been able to get this team up for any game after game 1. Their comebacks in games 3 and 4 were impressive, but when you are constantly playing from behind, you are ultimately going to start losing.

Brandon is usually ready to play from the drop of the puck. Calgary usually shows up midway through the first period. As I said earlier, Calgary is clearly the superior team, if they are ready to play start-to-finish, they will win.

Problem all season long has been that the people tasked with getting this team to play a complete game has consistantly failed to do so. And if we lose tomorrow, it will be for that reason.

Our so-called leaders need to step up big in order to save what should have been a great post-season run.

[Joe Hallenback]

Like I said, the WHL is a very timid league when it comes to penalties and suspensions.

Honestly, I would like to think that if Brandon does win this series, that the turning point was something other than the dirty act of a coward.

I think Brandon is a better team than to be labelled with "they couldnt win clean."

If Brandon wins, the turning point is going to be coaching. Kisio hasn't been able to get this team up for any game after game 1. Their comebacks in games 3 and 4 were impressive, but when you are constantly playing from behind, you are ultimately going to start losing.

Brandon is usually ready to play from the drop of the puck. Calgary usually shows up midway through the first period. As I said earlier, Calgary is clearly the superior team, if they are ready to play start-to-finish, they will win.

Problem all season long has been that the people tasked with getting this team to play a complete game has consistantly failed to do so. And if we lose tomorrow, it will be for that reason.

Our so-called leaders need to step up big in order to save what should have been a great post-season run.


Honestly the one team I was afraid the Wheaties would have to play in the east was Calgary. I think on paper they have one of the best teams in the league but sometimes being great on paper doesnt translate to being great on the ice.

Hypothetically speaking if Stone's hit was dirty as you contend it was and Calgary does nothing to retaliate do you think that can have an affect on the players mind? I think not sticking up for each other can pull a team apart IMO

[rockinthehouse]

Honestly the one team I was afraid the Wheaties would have to play in the east was Calgary. I think on paper they have one of the best teams in the league but sometimes being great on paper doesnt translate to being great on the ice.

Hypothetically speaking if Stone's hit was dirty as you contend it was and Calgary does nothing to retaliate do you think that can have an affect on the players mind? I think not sticking up for each other can pull a team apart IMO
I completely agree with you Joe about retaliating tearing a team apart. They are trying to focus on the task at hand to win the series and not something as silly as a dirty hit.

As for the game, I'm ashamed to say I'm a Hitmen fan after that performance. That was disguisting. Our defence kept coughing up the puck in their own end. It was no wonder we lost. We basically got what we deserved in Game 6.

When it comes to Game 7, if they play the way they played in Game 6, they deserve to lose the series. :(

[RunTheGoalie]

Honestly the one team I was afraid the Wheaties would have to play in the east was Calgary. I think on paper they have one of the best teams in the league but sometimes being great on paper doesnt translate to being great on the ice.

Hypothetically speaking if Stone's hit was dirty as you contend it was and Calgary does nothing to retaliate do you think that can have an affect on the players mind? I think not sticking up for each other can pull a team apart IMO

Depends on how you define "sticking up for your teammates."

In a one goal game, the Hitmen couldnt take a penalty to get at him. Losing the game just isnt worth it. When Getzlaf scored to put that game away, and Stone went at him as he celebrated, the Hitmen challenged back. Fortunately for Stone, his teammates and the linesmen kept things at bay.

The Hitmen nailed him twice in the fourth game, but again they didnt focus straight on him. To do so would not help the team win.

Finally, as much as I would like to see Stone pay for his cheapshot in kind, the Hitmen are much classier than that. I dont think not sending Stone off the ice in a stretcher is causing problems within the team.

[ScottyWazz]

I think Andy Ladd is as tough as Stone. However, the problem is that they need him out there because he's been the best player for the Hitmen this playoffs. The Hitmen need to come out on all cylinders and play that way for 60+ minutes strong and get something done.

[tazndevil]

Carson is tougher than Stone.

Remember he was the one the broke Stones orbital bone with one punch?

Now he's out with a concussion with that clean shoulder to shoulder check.

My My. What a coincidence.

Too bad Yac is done. I think he could take Stone. (Not too sure tho.) I think Yac could take him now with one arm recovering from major surgery.

Taz

[RunTheGoalie]

Personally, "tough" isnt a label I would give a player who repeatedly runs guys from behind.

[Joe Hallenback]

Yes I am sure they are "tougher" then Stone. Im guess thats why he can go out there and knock the crap out of any Calgary player and not have to worry about any retaliation :laugh: