Wheat Kings respect Hitmen’s depth
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The path to beating the Calgary Hitmen is clear for the Brandon Wheat Kings, but that certainly doesn’t make it easy when their Western Hockey League series begins tonight.
The fourth-place Hitmen (38-21-8-1) and fifth-place Wheat Kings (40-26-2-0) split the season series, but since Calgary finished three points ahead, they will hosts Games 1, 2, 6 and 7, with Games 3, 4 and 5 at Virden’s Tundra Oil and Gas Place.
Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said his club has to play the right way to beat the fleet and structurally sound Hitmen.
Brandon Wheat Kings forward Jordan Gavin (13) goes between his legs for a shot that was denied by Calgary Hitmen Eric Tu (31) during Western Hockey League action at Scotiabank Saddledome on Dec. 19. Brandon won 3-2 in overtime. (Jenn Pierce/Calgary Hitmen)
“Discipline, staying out of the box and skating,” Murray said. “They are a quick team. They’re one of the fastest teams in transition and off the rush their D are joining. We have to match that speed and intensity they have. If we don’t, we’re going to be chasing it. If we do, we stand a chance.”
Here’s a look at the Hitmen through a Wheat Kings perspective.
GOAL
Eric Tu (2008 45gp, 2.79 gaa, .898 save %), Aiden Hesse (2008, 3.57 gaa, .867 save %).
The six-foot-three Tu is the starter, and was in net for all four Brandon games, posting a 3.23 goals-against average and a .851 save percentage against the Wheat Kings.
“He’s an exceptional young goalie,” Murray said. “He’s big physically and cover a lot of the net. He’s very competitive and very technical. He’s a real good goalie, so we’ll have to create some traffic to disrupt him a little bit. Certainly he’s a good goalie who’s had a solid season.”
DEFENCE
Ben MacBeath (2008, 67gp, 51p), Hunter Aura (2007, 64gp, 40p), Wyatt Pisarczyk (2007, 64gp, 29p). Calder Hamilton (2009, 53gp, 28p), Axel Hurtig (2005, 64gp, 19p), Jakub Seidl (2007, 61gp, 10p).
Kaden Meyer (2008, 38gp, 7p), Bobby Williams (2007, 29gp, 6p), Murray likes the blend of puck-moving blue-liners and tough defenders that Calgary plays.
“Like a lot of teams, they rely on their top four, who play a lot of minutes,” Murray said. “Hurtig is a big-body defensive defenceman and then they have some guys who are very agile with MacBeath and Pisarczyk. They move well and the young kid Hamilton moves well as well. “They get up the ice, they can move pucks and join the rush. They’re on their toes all the time.”
MacBeath led the way offensively with six assists in the season series.
FORWARDS
Julien Maze (2007, 68gp, 38g, 40a, 78p), Kale Dach (2007, 63gp, 34g, 41a, 75p), Andrei Molgachev (2008, 61gp, 29g, 30a, 59p). Ethan Moore (2005, 66gp, 25g, 29a, 54p), Caine Wilke (2008, 64gp, 15g, 28a, 43p), Harrison Lodewyk (2005, 55gp, 18g, 22a, 40p).
Blake Vanek (2007, 69gp, 19g, 17a, 36p), Ty Meunier (2008, 64gp, 12g, 20a, 32p), Landon Amrhein (2008, 64gp, 10g, 21a, 31p).
Keaton Jundt (2008, 62gp, 12g, 10a, 22p), Luc Trevors (2006, 66gp, 6g, 8a, 14p), Shaun Hildebrandt (2009, 63gp, 3g, 8a, 11p). (Injured players who won’t skate in the series aren’t included.)
While the Hitmen may not have a superstar game breaker — their top scorer, Maze, had 78 points to finish 17th in league scoring — they do have a wide array of players who can beat a team.
Maze, who was acquired from the Regina Pats, led the way with 38 goals, and Dach, Molgachev and Moore all had 25 or more.
“It’s very deep,” Murray said. “They have four solid lines that can and contribute and much like us, they have lines that can be factors in the game night in and night out. They’re maybe a smaller group but they’re really competitive and they really skate well. We’re going to have to play fast to match their pace. They’re an exciting young forward group for sure.”
It’s also a young group, with just three players in their overage or 19-year-old seasons. In contrast, Brandon has six.
Even so, the youthful Hitmen can fly.
“They have an excellent team,” overage defenceman Grayson Burzynski said. “They play so fast, we have to be careful in the neutral zone. The first time we played them here we had absolutely nothing because they are very structured group and anything through the neutral zone that you’re not 100 per cent sure on, they turn over pucks and go.
“They have a few guys who can burn you like Maze and Dach, and MacBeath is really good on the back end.”
Maze torched the Wheat Kings for seven points in seven games with Regina and Calgary, while Molgachev, Moore and Wilke all had four. The are missing one regular, Rylan Ng, who is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Calgary finished second on the power play at 31.7 per cent, with 77 goals on 243 chances. They allowed six shorthanded goals, while Brandon scored two shorties.
Brandon’s once mighty power play, which was still first in the league in mid-November, fell off precipitously and finished the season in 11th place at 23.6 per cent.
“They have the best power play in the league, and that’s certainly been the story in our head-to-head series this year, special teams and their power play and our lack of ability to get it done,” Murray said. “Two things have to happen. We have to be disciplined and not give them extra opportunities on the power play, and secondly, we have to get it done, whether it’s winning a faceoff or clears or blocking shots.
“It’s go time and we have to make sure we’re paying the price.”
On the penalty kill, Calgary was ninth at 79.2 per cent, tying for second best in the WHL. They gave up just 43 power-play goals against on 207 chances, fourth best in the league.
The Hitmen took a league-low 612 penalty minutes in 68 games, an average of nine per night.
In contrast, Brandon took 877 penalty minutes, an average of 12.9. Brandon finished 14th on the kill in the 23-team league at 75.2 per cent, allowing 63 power-play goals on 254 chances.
In the four games they played this season, Calgary went 8-for-15 with the man advantage while Brandon was 2-for-9.
“They’re the least penalized team in the league,” Burzynski said. “We have to toe the line. We want to get them out of their comfort zone, we don’t want to play right into them. We have to be careful, we don’t want to be dumb and take any extra penalties because they have an excellent power play.”
A noticeable part of Calgary’s game is their unwillingness to engage in net-front shenanigans after whistles. They’ll usually either skate away or let the other team take a roughing minor.
Overage forward Nick Johnson said his team has to be mindful of that.
“It’s super important,” Johnson said. “We have to stay disciplined and maybe not get into all that stuff after the whistle. I think if we play our game, it will work out for us.”
Murray agreed.
“We want to play hard, we want to finish checks but you’re wasting energy if you’re going to spend time after whistles in shoving matches,” Murray said. “It’s not the way this series is going to be dictated. If you get involved in that game, it’s probably only going to hurt you.”
SERIES FORMAT
The series is just one of two in the league that will follow a 2-3-2 format, which could potentially shave thousands of kilometres of bus travel for the teams if the series goes the distance.
“If the series extends to seven, all the bus trips if it’s not a 2-3-2 would take a toll on the bodies,” rookie forward Brett Wilson said. “I like it. Three games at home in a row, you get comfortable in your ways here. Then you go back there and have one more bus trip.”
Burzynski agreed, even if his fervent hope was that the series would start in Brandon.
“I love it,” Burzynski said. “I really wish we got home ice. We finished three points behind them, which is just a couple more wins. You look back and see some of the losses earlier in the year kind of bite you on the butt a little bit. “I like the 2-3-2 because we don’t have to go back and forth. It’s a long way.”
And while playing in Virden might be a wildcard, another rookie forward said it will be fine.
“I think it should be fun,” Ryan Boyce said. “We’re both playing on the same ice, at the end of the day. No team is going to get a real advantage. It’s going to be hard games and I can’t wait for it.”
» pbergson@brandonsun.com