Day 5 . . . pregame

DAY 5 AT THE MASTERCARD MEMORIAL CUP . . .

This is the game the host team’s organizing committee always dreads.
Why?
Because it features neither the host team nor the host league’s champion. The tickets are sold but it’s always a question mark as to just how many fans will show up.
The building is abuzz, however, as it begins to fill. I am betting attendance will be announced at around 5,100 and that there will be about 4,500 fans here.
The host Brandon Wheat Kings (1-1) and Calgary Hitmen (1-1) will meet here Wednesday night in the last game of the round-robin competition. It could be a preview of Friday’s semifinal game and, if that’s the case, the only thing on the line will be home-team advantage — the winner of Wednesday’s game would be declared home team for the semfinal so would have last line change.
Tonight, it’s the Windsor Spitfires, 2-0 and already having clinched a spot in Sunday’s final, against the Moncton Wildcats, 0-2 and needing a victory to at least force a tiebreaker on Thursday night.
The most interesting aspect of this game may be the coaching matchup.
Bob Boughner, the CEO, president and head coach of the Spitfires, used to play for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
Danny Flynn, the Moncton director of hockey operations and head coach, was an associate coach under Ted Nolan with the Greyhounds at the time.
Boughner now has been presented with the opportunity to end Flynn’s season.
And after what happened a year ago, you have to think the Spitfires want nothing more than to stomp on the Wildcats.
Last year, the tournament was held in Rimouski, Que., and it would seem that Windsor learned a couple of lessons.
To refresh your memory, the Spitfires opened that affair by losing their first two games, 3-2 in OT to the Drummondville Voltigeurs and 5-4 to the host Oceanic.
The Kelowna Rockets then had the opportunity to finish off the Spitfires, but lost 2-1 to Windsor in the second-last game of the round-robin.
Of course, Windsor and Kelowna went on to meet in the final, with the Spitfires winning, 4-1.
Had the Rockets finished off the Spitfires in that round-robin game, who knows what might have happened?
As it was, the Spitfires won four straight elimination games, including the final.
They came into this tournament knowing full well that they didn’t want a repeat performance. That was very evident in the way they dismantled the Brandon Wheat Kings, to the tune of 9-3, in the opener.
Tonight, we will see if Windsor learned how important it is to kick an opponent while it’s down.
“It’s going to be a big game,” Windsor F Dale Mitchell told Sean Myers of the Calgary Herald. “Kelowna had a chance to knock us out and we got back in, so for us to knock a team out it’s going to be easier for us to think another team is gone. It’s do or die for them.
“It could be the last game of their season, so they’re going to come out hard and we need to come out hard. We can’t take them lightly at all.”
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Unfortunately, we aren’t going to get a look at Moncton sniper Nicolas Deschamps, 20. He missed all of the QMJHL final with a high ankle sprain and has yet to play in this tournament.
He is scratched, along with F Olivier Daoust, D Alex MacDonald, F Tyler Howe, F Cedric Leblanc and D Patrick Downe.
The big change has Moncton starting Shane Owen in goal, with Nicola Riopel, who went the distance in the first two games, on the bench. There is a rumour that Riopel is a bit under the weather today.
Windsor has scratched F James Woodcroft and D Saverio Posa, and it’s Philipp Grubauer in goal. Grubauer looked quite sharp in Monday’s 6-2 victory over the Calgary Hitmen, especially in the first period.