Day 6 . . . first period

FIRST PERIOD:
With 45 minutes until the opening faceoff, the 50/50 pool already was at $1,400. . . . The big question in the Media Centre prior to the game, however, had nothing to do with the 50/50 draw and everything to do with: What kind of game are we going to see tonight? . . . I have a feeling that these young players will get caught up in the moment in front of a full house and will try to entertain us. . . . Someone just pointed out that the 50/50 pool, which was closing on $1,800, already was more than the entire pot for an entire regular-season game here. . . . With F Cody Sylvester ill and not able to play, F Justin Kirsch, a 17-year-old from Chilliwack, gets into the lineup. . . . The Hitmen will be the home team for this one. . . . Another unseasonally warm day in Brandon today. It is 27C right now, with humidity at 25 per cent. . . . The forecast for semifinal Friday is a high of 22C with isolated showers. . . . The rain that was being forecast for Sunday now is forecast for Saturday. They’re calling for a high of 21C and a 40 percent chance of precipitation on championship Sunday. . . . The Wheat Kings open with their top line — Brayden Schenn with Matt Calvert and Scott Glennie. . . . Calgary will have Matt Mackenzie and Zak Stebner on the back end. . . . The Wheat Kings got a rousing ovation when they came onto the ice and when the starting lineup was introduced. . . . There were a few boos when the Hitmen were introduced, although F Del Cowan got a warmer welcome. . . . Former Wheat Kings owner Bob Cornell and former Wheat Kings and NHL star Bill Fairbairn — The Plumber and The Bulldog — get standing ovations prior to the ceremonial faceoff. It’s great to see Cornell out there. He had quite a health scare a while back as he was driving home from an NFL game in Green Bay. . . . Fairbairn played for the Wheat Kings in the 1960s. He and Juha Widing, one of the first Europeans to play regularly over here, did a lot of damage on the Wheat Kings’ behalf back in the day. . . . Cornell was the Wheat Kings’ owner who brought Kelly McCrimmon on board and later got him involved at the ownership level. McCrimmon now is the team’s sole owner. . . . Wheat Kings get caught on a change and F Joel Broda has room on the left side. G Jacob DeSerres coolly makes the save. . . . Calgary has the edge early. Brandon is awfully loose in its zone and has tried to move the puck up the middle a couple of times. Try that too many times and it’ll be trouble. . . . Faceoff in the Brandon zone and somehow it’s 1-0. . . . Looks like F Jimmy Bubnick wins the draw and F Kris Foucault scoops it past DeSerres. That’s a bad one on the goaltender. . . . And just like that it’s 1-1 as Brandon cycles the puck out front and F Jay Fehr beats G Martin Jones from in close. . . . Now Brandon has the game’s first PP with F Cody Beach in stir for interference. . . . Brandon D Travis Hamonic loses his stick. The Hitmen take the puck to the net and it’s in. . . . It’s Foucault with his second of the game. . . . F Jimmy Bubnick gets an assist. He’s got a team-high five points for Calgary. He’s one point off the tournament lead, held by Windsor’s Taylor Hall. . . . Brandon F Mark Stone rings one a post. . . . Foucault has three goals in this tournament. He had 11 in 16 playoff games. . . . Lots of bounces, as usual. . . . Any doubts as to whether these teams would play hard have been disspelled. . . . Calgary’s on the PP and is being outshot, 10-5, with 9:00 left. . . . D Giffen Nyren with a great cross-ice pass as Calgary moves into the Brandon zone. The Hitmen get the puck to the net and a cross-crease pass finds F Cody Beach, who stuffs it into the open corner before DeSerres can get across. . . . It’s 3-1 Calgary with 6:00 left. . . . F Rigby Burgart got the puck on the left side and simply fired it to the net where Beach had escaped notice. . . . A mad scramble and it’s 4-1 Calgary. Brandon really is having a hard time in its zone. . . . If you’re coaching the Wheat Kings, do you change goaltenders or are you riding DeSerres all the way? . . . It’s Bubnick with his third of the tournament and he has the tournament scoring lead, with seven points. . . . What’s this? A fight. Brandon D Travis Hamonic and Beach. Calgary has to like this tradeoff. . . . Calgary guy walks around two defenders and Shattock puts it in for a 5-1 lead. . . . Brandon has been outscored 11-2 in the last four periods it has played against Calgary. . . . The buzzer sounds and it’s a subdued crowd. . . . Calgary getting outshot 15-14 but with a 5-1 lead.