2009 Hitmen/WHL Playoffs - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

604flames · 03-18-2009, 08:42 AM

Since the second season is upon us, I figured I'd start a new thread. Here are the first round matchups.

EAST:
(1) Calgary vs. (8) Edmonton
(2) Saskatoon vs. (7) Lethbridge
(3) Brandon vs. (6) Kootenay
(4) Swift Current vs. (5) Medicine Hat

WEST:
(1) Vancouver vs. (8) Prince George
(2) Tri-City vs. (7) Everett
(3) Kelowna vs. (6) Kamloops
(4) Spokane vs. (5) Seattle

The Hitmen/Oil Kings series starts tomorrow, everything else on Friday. Here's my picks for round 1.

Hitmen in 4
Blades in 6
Wheat Kings in 7
Broncos in 7

Giants in 5
Americans in 4
Rockets in 4
Thunderbirds in 7

Flickered Flame · 03-18-2009, 09:01 AM

Hitmen in 4
Blades in 5
Wheaties in 6
Broncos in 7

Giants in 4
Americans in 4
Rockets in 4
Chiefs in 6

You Need a Thneed · 03-18-2009, 09:36 AM

Yikes the travel is rough for that Kootenay - Brandon Series. Are they still required to take the bus during the playoffs? 1300 km between the two cities. Game 7 appears to be in Winnipeg if it is required - another 200 km further.

If Kootenay makes it to game 7, they will have travelled 2 times to Brandon and back, and once to Winnipeg and back, for a total of 8200 km travelled by bus for one series. That's a lot of hours on a bus in a short time.

604flames · 03-18-2009, 11:37 AM

^ apparently, the Wheat Kings had the option (from what I heard) to make it a 2-3-2, and they declined.

EDIT: teams are also not allowed to fly, because the larger market teams would have an unfair advantage.

Flickered Flame · 03-18-2009, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 604flames

EDIT: teams are also not allowed to fly, because the larger market teams would have an unfair advantage.

Which I believe the wanted a few years ago when they played the Wheaties in the East final but the league didn't let them fly back to Brandon for game 7. I think that was the story.

Resolute 14 · 03-18-2009, 12:43 PM

I think if both teams agreed to fly, they can, but the smaller teams never take it because of cost. And yeah, Brandon always gets kicked out of their arena for the back half of their first round series. Winnipeg is the usual host.

A lot of good rivalries, or potential rivalries here. Calgary-Edmonton, MH-SC, Kelowna-Kamloops, Seattle-Spokane.

Anyway...
Calgary over Edmonton in 4
Saskatoon over Lethbridge in 6
Brandon over Kootenay in 6
Medicine Hat over Swift Current in 7

Vancouver over Prince George in 3 (PG will forefit game 4 to avoid embarrassment)
Tri-City over Everett in 5
Kelowna over Kamloops in 5
Seattle over Spokane in 7

moon · 03-18-2009, 01:51 PM

Calgary in 4
Lethbridge in 7- Yes I am a homer but at least I made it a close series.

Brandon in 5
Swift Current in 6

Vancouver in 4
Tri-City in 5
Kelowna in 4
Spokane in 7

Jagger · 03-18-2009, 02:06 PM

I'm going with

Calgary in the minimum amount of games required to win the next two series.
Blades in 6
Ice in 6
Tigers in 7

Giants in the minimum amount of games required to win round one
Ams in 5
Rockets in 4
Chiefs in 6

Aeneas · 03-18-2009, 03:48 PM

Calgary in 4
Lethbridge in 6
Brandon in 6
Med Hat in 5

Vancouver in 6
Tri City in 4
Kelowna in 5
Spokane in 5

Berger · 03-18-2009, 04:06 PM

calgary in 4
lethbridge in 6
brandon in 5
med hat in 7

vancouver in 4
tri city in 5
kelowna in 6
spokane in 6

Resolute 14 · 03-18-2009, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moon

Lethbridge in 7- Yes I am a homer but at least I made it a close series.

I thought about picking Lethbridge as an upset, but really, if after 72 games the team we expected them to be hasn't shown up, no reason to expect it now.

Though I wouldn't be disappointed if it did happen, as it would give us an opportunity to exact revenge for last year in the second round.

Resolute 14 · 03-19-2009, 07:52 AM

The Hitmen enter the playoffs back on top of the CHL standings. Vancouver 4th, Saskatoon 7th.

malcolmk14 · 03-19-2009, 10:52 AM

Heading to game 1 tonight, got a couple seats in Section 112. I'm expecting no less than a 7-0 blowout.

Resolute 14 · 03-19-2009, 08:25 PM

4-0 in second. Kicking edmontons ass is fun. Crowd is really into it.

Flickered Flame · 03-19-2009, 08:26 PM

Former Hitmen TJ Galiardi was recalled by the Avs today and is playing vs the Oilers tonight. Congrats to TJ!

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=414550

Flickered Flame · 03-19-2009, 09:24 PM

Hitmen win game 1 5-0 tonight. It took them awhile to get going but once they did it was all Hitmen. The Oil Kings lost the game in the first period where they had the first 3 power plays of the game but came away with nothing. A couple days off before game 2 on Sunday afternoon.

Resolute 14 · 03-19-2009, 09:55 PM

Gotta give the Oil Kings credit though. They played with a ton of heart and tenacity, and kept this a game until midway through the second. Jung made some saves, and the officials did their part to keep it close.

The problem for Edmonton though is that they never had any period of sustained pressure. A couple of good shots, but no rebound chances, no flurries, never hemmed Calgary into their own zone. The Hitmen simply have too many weapons, both on offence and defence, and it showed.

The score doesn't look great, but Edmonton has nothing to be ashamed of tonight. They entered this game with nothing to lose, and played like it. Problem now is that they can't be that loose Sunday, as another loss puts them in a deep hole. Each loss the Oil Kings suffer adds just a bit more pressure, and that will kill them.

And, as expected, the Oil Kings media notes were just covered in "Oil Kings history". Numerous mentions of the glorious past, with only a cursory mention that it was some other franchise that had those two Memorial Cups sandwiched around five finals losses. Got a chuckle out of that, as it was so predictable.

North East Goon · 03-20-2009, 09:19 AM

How are the Oil kings doing attendance wise? I would think much improved over the Edmonton Ice debacle. If they want to be the Heartland of Hockey, they better prove it!

moon · 03-20-2009, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by North East Goon

How are the Oil kings doing attendance wise? I would think much improved over the Edmonton Ice debacle. If they want to be the Heartland of Hockey, they better prove it!

They aren't doing great. I have heard some complaints about prices and the general marketing of the team from people in Edmonton.

The fact that they are a new team and not winning much likely doesn't help as well. The fact that they made the play-offs this year speaks a lot more to the WHL play-off set-up and to how bad MJ, PA and RD were this season.

Resolute 14 · 03-20-2009, 10:28 AM

Well, they aren't doing great by Calgary and Vancouver's standards, but not terrible overall. And yes, the prices up there are bad, but getting better. Calgary has high prices, but Edmonton's are a bit worse.

It looks like early season games for Edmonton were in the 3-4,000 range, up to about 7,000 when the team began to compete better and a couple 10k+ games thrown in. I'd say they were easily above league averge.