Game 6 . . . postgame

POSTGAME:
There isn’t much doubt but that the Calgary Hitmen think they are in the Brandon Wheat Kings heads.
The Hitmen beat Brandon 5-1 here Wednesday night and the teams will meet again Friday in the tournament’s semifinal game.
Calgary now has beaten Brandon in five straight games, and the scores in the last two meetings were 6-1 and 5-1. In those five games, Calgary has a 24-10 edge in scoring.
So, Giffen Nyren, are you guys in Brandon’s heads?
“Do you think Kelowna was in our heads last season in Kamloops when we lost 13 straight?” the Calgary defenceman replied. He spent last season with the Kamloops Blazers who, through exhibition, regular-season and playoff action, were beaten 13 times by the Rockets. “A team that wins that many in a row on you . . . I think you’re definitely in their heads a bit.”
The Hitmen also are 13-3 against the Wheat Kings in playoff and Memorial Cup games going back four seasons.
“I think so,” offered Calgary right-winger Tyler Shattock when asked the same question. “We’ve beaten them five in a row but the biggest one is the next one. Our focus has to be on that one.
“We have to put this one in the backs of our minds. We know this was a meaningless game and maybe they had that in their heads. I’m sure they’ll come out a lot harder on Friday night.”
Calgary centre Jimmy Bubnick, who had a goal and three assists in the first period, also thinks he and his mates are winning the mental game.
“I think so,” he said. “They’re a great team so we can’t take anything for granted and we have to come out just as hard on Friday.”
With his four-point night, Bubnick now is leading the Memorial Cup scoring race by one point over Windsor Spitfires star Taylor Hall.
So how about Bubnick for the MVP of this tournament?
“Taylor Hall who?” said a laughing Nyren.
“Good for him,” said Shattock, who arrived in Calgary from Kamloops with Bubnick and D Zak Stebner at the Jan. 10 trade deadline. “He’s playing well right now. Our line is getting a lot of good bounces."
Kris Foucault, the left winger on that line, had two goals and two assists in the first period. Shattock had one of each.
“We haven’t scored a lot of pretty goals," Shattock said. "We’re around the net and around the crease and that’s what we have to do. We’re all big guys who can put the puck in the net.
“We didn’t get many bounces (in the WHL final) against Tri-City. But we’ve been lucky enough we’re getting them now.”
Shattock, of course, scored the winner late in the third period when the Hitmen came back from a 3-0 deficit with four third-period goals and beat the Moncton Wildcats, 5-4, the other night.
Shattock added that Bubnick’s play has been terrific and can only help him down the road.
“That’d be huge for him,” Shattock said with a grin when it was suggested that maybe Bubnick was having an MVP-type tournament, “and I’m sure that would help him out with Atlanta. I’m proud of him and it’s nice to see.”
While Shattock, a fourth-round pick of the St. Louis Blues in the 2009 NHL draft, has signed a pro deal, Bubnick, taken by the Atlanta Thrashers in the sixth round, has yet to sign.
As for leading the scoring race, Bubnick said: “That’s a great honour. But the tournament is far from over and there are a lot of great players here. I’m not looking at that at all.”
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Nyren, Shattock and Bubnick also were quick to sign the praises of their goaltender. After a shaky start in a 6-2 loss to Windsor on Monday night, Jones looked to be back in a groove against Brandon.
“Jonesy was on his game tonight,” Nyren said. “He responded really well and that’s what we’re going to need Friday night.
“I thought a lot of us were on our game tonight and that’s what we’re going to have to bring on Friday night.”
Bubnick added: “(Jones) was tremendous. He’s been our stud all season. How he played tonight . . . that’s what we need.”
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Kelly McCrimmon, Brandon’s GM/head coach, said he didn’t know much more than any of the media members on the status of F Scott Glennie.
“I don’t think it’s anything serioues. The doctors told us they didnt’ want him going back into the game so we respected that decision.”
Glennie, one of Brandon’s big guns, left the game early in the second period and didn’t play again. He hasn’t been good in the tournament, leading to speculation that he may have been playing hurt.
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The Hitmen were without F Brandon Kozun, who suffered an ankle injury in Game 5 of the WHL championship final against the Tri-City Americans.
Kozun sat out the first game here, tried to play in the second but wasn’t effective, and didn’t dress last night.
Asked late Wednesday night about Kozun’s status for Friday’s semifinal, Calgary head coach Mike Williamson said: “He’ll play.”
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Calgary F Rigby Burgart took a cross-checking major and game misconduct at 14:04 of the third period. That penalty will be reviewed by the Memorial Cup discipline committee to see if further action is warranted.
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The three stars may as well have been selected after the first period, with Foucault the first star, Bubnick second and Shattock third.