‘We can leave a legacy’

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This article was published 23/05/2010 (5763 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Windsor Spitfires are already champions.

Tonight, they have a shot at lasting greatness.

The Ontario Hockey League-champion Spitfires meet the host Brandon Wheat Kings in the final of the MasterCard Memorial Cup (6 p.m., Westman Place) with a chance to join the select group of teams that have claimed the coveted trophy in back-to-back seasons.

"We’ve talked about that. I think that would be a great accomplishment and a privilege to be a part of," said Spitfires left-winger Eric Wellwood, who scored the overtime winner in Windsor’s 4-3 victory over the Moncton Wildcats that wrapped up a 3-0 round-robin record for his team. "This was our goal at the beginning of the year, to win it again and we’re one game away so hopefully we can do that."

Successfully repeating as Memorial Cup champions is a feat that’s been accomplished only seven times before and not since the Kamloops Blazers won in both 1994 and 1995.

Hall said the key to getting it done today is focusing on the smaller tasks involved, while shutting out the big picture.

"It’s such an incredible opportunity we have in front of us," said Taylor Hall, who leads the Spitfires in scoring with four goals and six points in the Memorial Cup. "If you think about it, it’s not that hard. We’ve got three periods of hockey, everyone’s got maybe 15 shifts and that’s not too much to ask. If you go out and play 100 per cent and everyone chips in, at the end of the day we can leave a legacy and that’s pretty special."

The Spitfires had their way with the Wheat Kings during the round robin, scoring five times in the first period and cruising to a 9-3 victory on the opening night of the tournament. After watching the Wheat Kings outlast the Calgary Hitmen in a 5-4 overtime thriller in Friday’s semifinal, Wellwood expects to see a different Brandon team today.

"We watched them play Calgary (Friday) night and they played really good, way better than we expected," Wellwood said. "I think in the first game, they hadn’t played in 20 days and I think that was a big factor."

This time around, it’s the Spitfires who will be shaking off the rust, although the four-day layoff Windsor has had since their last game against the Wildcats isn’t a big concern for defenceman Mark Cundari.

"It’s the same as (the layoff before) a regular-season game — play Sunday, don’t play till next Thursday, so for us it’s kind of a good thing," said Cundari, who leads the tournament with a plus-minus of +7.

"(The Wheat Kings are) gonna have that confidence, they’re gonna play hard. There’s no controlling that. … They’re gonna come out flying, so we’ve just gotta control them the first little bit."

Cundari said that his team’s experience will be a huge factor tonight.

"When you’re coming into let’s say the third period, it’s a tie game, we know that we’ve got the edge there because we’ve got a team that’s so deep and so experienced and so much more composed," he said. "We feel that in any major scenario, that we can come out on top."

Spitfires head coach Bob Boughner likes to see confidence in his team. Having watched the semifinal, however, he said it’s important to make sure confidence doesn’t become overconfidence.

"With no disrespect to Calgary, I think that was the problem," he said. "They were talking about Sunday’s game and they had some success against the Wheat Kings this year during the playoffs and I think they might have overlooked them. And that’s one thing that we can’t do (today)."