Calgary last hosted the Memorial cup in 1974, so 35 years.
At any rate, part of the problem is that the Flames just don't bid on them. Next year would have been an ideal season to bid for the tournament, but the Flames don't want to tie up the Dome for 10 days in case the NHL club is still in the playoffs. Seems silly to me, since you could jsut schedule the junior game in the afternoon and the NHL game in the evening, but such is life.
Anyway, The turning point in this game was Jones' skate save early in the 2nd, followed immediately by MacDonald's skate save, which saw the puck turn right around and end up in Brandon's net. 3-0 instead of 2-1, and that's that.
Hayes wasn't great, but I also think Calgary really exposed Brandon's defence tonight. Their entire back end needs to get better if they are going to make this a long series. I liked our D overall, though giving up 3 goals was not ideal. But, two PPGs, and a third off a 2 on 1 created after Stone had the stick slashed out of his hands isn't terrible. That start to the third undoubtedly left the coaches frustrated.
Speaking of which, a couple big hits and Brandon lost their cool entirely. I know they were down by four at the time, but man, if they don't keep their emotions in check, that will be a killer. The vaunted Kyle Beech couldn't get Calgary off their game, and neither will anyone on Brandon. And since two of our goals were off retalitory penalties, that could hurt the Wheat Kings a ton if they don't control that.