The final . . . first period

FIRST PERIOD:
Hard to miss the buzz in this building today. . . . It has been there since at least 3:30 p.m., which is when I arrived on the scene. . . . By that time, a party — they were calling it a tailgate party — was roaring in the Manitoba Room, which is where at least 1,400 people watched Tom Cochrane perform on Saturday. . . . The Spitfires have 12 players in their lineup who were part of last season’s championship club. . . . The prevailing feeling is that G Jacob DeSerres is going to have to have the game of his life if the Wheat Kings are to have a chance at game’s end. . . . And, if you’re wondering, it’s DeSerres (not De Serres). One of the WHL beat writers (I wish I could remember which one, but I’m drawing a blank) asked DeSerres during the season and he clarified the matter. . . . Here come the Spitfires. . . . As they get to the entrance, Sportsnet is showing the hit by Brandon D Travis Hamonic on Windsor star Taylor Hall early in Game 1. . . . The officials are on the ice. . . . The Spitfires skate onto the ice as the fans chant Go Wheaties Go. . . . And here come the Wheat Kings. . . . The fans are out of their seats, roaring and waving their gold towels. . . . Brandon has to break down the start of this game into, at most, five-minute segments. Get through the first five and then the next five and take it from there. . . . It looks like former Wheat Kings G Trevor Kidd and F Eric Fehr, now of the Washinton Capitals, will be in on the ceremonial faceoff. . . . They get a rousing standing ovation when they are introduced. . . . Also on the carpet is Greg Selinger, the premier of Manitoba, decked out in a Wheat Kings jersey. . . . I know you're shocked, absolutely shocked, that a premier would show up and be at centre ice for an event like this. . . . Hall is on for the game’s second shift and Hamonic runs at him in the neutral zone. And now the two are jousting abit — Hall is the aggressor — just inside the Windsor line. . . . Schenn grabs a turnover and it’s Grubauer with a a shoulder save. . . . Schenn then separates Marc Cantin from his lid. . . . And Brandon’s Hamonic rings one of the cross-bar. . . . Shots are 3-0 for Brandon early. . . . Now Brandon turns it over and F Zack Kassian is stopped as he tries to tuck it five-hole on DeSerres. . . . Shots are 3-3 after that flurry. . . . There’s Hamonic crunching Hall again and you wonder how long before one of the Windsor players delivers a message to Hamonic? . . . Windsor has last change and puts Hall’s line out against Schenn and Co. . . . And it’s Windsor ahead 1-0 on that matchup, at 6:24. . . . F Adam Henrique found enough time and space in the slot to get off a shot that got through DeSerres. . . . Shots now are 8-5 for Windsor. . . . Henrique came open between the hashmarks and that has been a problem for Brandon’s defensive coverage in much of this tournament. . . . Brandon had a lot of jump early but is in a lull right now. . . . Windsor head coach Bob Boughner comes back with the Hall line against Schenn. . . . Windsor changes out of it at the next stoppage. . . . Now it’s Hall against Glennie. . . . The fans are well-behaved. They chant Go Wheaties Go when instructed to by the scoreclock. And isn’t that the case with so many of our crowds these days? . . . Big shot block by Kenny Ryan on Calvert. That’s three or four blocks by Windsor. . . . Hamonic gives it up at the Windsor line and DeSerres bails him out with a solid save on Timmins’ backhand attempt. . . . Glennie drills Ellis into the end boards. . . . They’ve made a scoring change and now Hall has an assist on Windsor’s goal. So he’s one point off the scoring lead that is held by Calgary F Jimmy Bubnick, with eight. . . . Windsor has come on as time has gone on here. Brandon is going to have to step it up and try to get back to where it was in the first five minutes. . . . the 50/50 pool is approaching 30 grand and the first period isn’t over yet. . . . Windsor is getting some chances off transition and there’s F Dale Mitchell shooting wide of what looked to be an open side. . . . There’s DeSerres with a couple of saves but on both of them he looked like he wasn’t sure where the puck was. . . . Shots are 15-8 for Windsor with 48.6 seconds left. . . . Brandon lost the faceoff but twice had a chance to get the puck out and didn’t. And now it’s 2-0 as F Eric Wellwood — yes, he’s a brother to Kyle of the Vancouver Canucks — snaps home a shot. . . . I think it was D Cam Fowler who made a good play at the Brandon line to keep the puck in the zone. . . . Ellis goes off for hooking and Brandon gets the first PP. . . . There is F Shayne Wiebe tipping a Glennie just wide at the buzzer. . . . It’s 2-0 Windsor and the Spitfires have a 16-8 in edge in shots. Remember that the shots were 3-0 for Brandon in the early going.