Day 5 . . . postgame

DAY 5 AT THE MASTERCARD MEMORIAL CUP . . .

POSTGAME:
Not much postgame tonight. It’s late. I’m tired. But I’ve got a whack of notes for you to enjoy with your late night pop or your early morning coffee, and they're coming up shortly. . . . By the way, there never is coffee in the Media Centre here late at night. Which means this really isn’t a media centre, if you know what I mean. . . .
I am flabbergasted. Not only was Moncton G Shane Owen not the first star. He wasn’t the second star. Nor was he the third star. . . . The guy plays in 42 minutes of playoff hockey — that’s it! 42 minutes! — and he gets to start his club’s third game in the Memorial Cup final, facing elimination square in the face. Against the defending Memorial Cup champions. . . . He stops 48 shots. He gives his club a real shot at winning and extending its season. And he isn’t one of the stars?!?!?!?! Sheesh, they could have given him all three stars and not been wrong. . . . Owen got the start because Nicola Riopel came down with the flu.
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Anyway . . . Windsor finishes its portion of the round-robin at 3-0 and now is off until Sunday’s final. . . . Moncton is 0-3 and its season is over. . . . The Brandon Wheat Kings and Calgary Hitmen meet Wednesday in the last game of the round-robin. Each team is 1-1.
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I saw another quote from Danny Flynn, Moncton’s director of hockey operations and head coach, that I think says something about the man.
“The thing I’ve learned,” he said, “is the way to become a good coach is to have good players.”
That quote, in a story by Jim Parker of the Windsor Star, pretty much sums it up.