2009-10 Calgary Hitmen/WHL thread

[arloiginla]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Part of the deal with the world juniors is that you have to buy Hitmen season tickets next year as well. In the lower bowl, that will amount to about $550+tax per seat. So unless whoever is making this offer is buying those tickets themselves, make certain of the fine print before you agree.

Yup I asked about that and that's part of the deal. Not crazy about it but I figure I will go see a couple of games and try and sell the rest. They are really good seats - for a discounted price someone might want them.

[Jesse834]

What a crazy night in Brandon. Garrett Mitchell was jumped by Jordan Hale 5:49 into the game and had his nose broke and his night was done. Things got kooky in the late going. Jordan Eberle drew a late penalty for a stick infraction against Alexander Urbom and Regina overage came to his star's defense and beat up Urbom. Brandon got a 5-on-3 out of it and during that powerplay, Pats captain Colten Teubert grabbed Brandon's Mark Stone and made an unfortunate mess of him. The reason for the goonery? That Pats went 122:03 of playing time without a powerplay in this building, a streak which was finally broken by a Brodie Melnychuk tripping minor at 12:13 of the second period. The streak dates back two full games, to the Pats' last visit to Brandon January 13th two games ago. The powerplays Friday night were 10-1 Brandon. Frustrating? Indeed.



http://rodpedersen.blogspot.com/2010...-night-in.html

[604flames]

^^ the most incredible story to come out of that game was the fact Regina lost by 8 goals but Eberle was a +2.

[Resolute 14]

What did Teubert do to Stone that has all of the Wheat King fan's panties in a bunch?

Brandon plays under their own rule book, so the dramatic powerplay difference is no surprise.

[Resolute 14]

As far as the Hitmen go, they clinched a playoff spot for the 13th consecutive season, the longest active playoff streak in the WHL.

They are now seven points up on Kootenay with 11 to play as the Ice have fallen back to earth, and in a hell of a battle with Brandon and Saskatoon for the top record in the conference and league. Those two losses to Brandon killed though.

[Trojan97]

Originally Posted by Jesse834

What a crazy night in Brandon. Garrett Mitchell was jumped by Jordan Hale 5:49 into the game and had his nose broke and his night was done. Things got kooky in the late going. Jordan Eberle drew a late penalty for a stick infraction against Alexander Urbom and Regina overage came to his star's defense and beat up Urbom. Brandon got a 5-on-3 out of it and during that powerplay, Pats captain Colten Teubert grabbed Brandon's Mark Stone and made an unfortunate mess of him. The reason for the goonery? That Pats went 122:03 of playing time without a powerplay in this building, a streak which was finally broken by a Brodie Melnychuk tripping minor at 12:13 of the second period. The streak dates back two full games, to the Pats' last visit to Brandon January 13th two games ago. The powerplays Friday night were 10-1 Brandon. Frustrating? Indeed.


http://rodpedersen.blogspot.com/2010...-night-in.html

I was at the game, let's get some facts straight...

A) Mitchell was hardly "jumped" by Hale.

http://www.hockeyfights.com/fights/92711

Mitchell is an established fighter who initiated contact in the first place and then didn't back down or turtle against a much bigger opponent, what the hell did he expect was going to happen?

B) If you wanna talk about jumping a guy, look no further then your second point about McColm defending Eberle. Eberle slashes Urbom behind the play (dirty but nothing major) and as soon as Urbom turns around and shoves him back, McColm has already jumped in with gloves dropped and begins blindsiding Urbom with punches. I understand the need to defend your star and would wanna see it from any of my teams if the tables were reversed but it's pathetic McColm has to basically sucker Urbom in order to get the fight started. Then again, it wasn't surprising given the way the Pats were running around embarrassing themselves for much of the night, what a horribly undisciplined team.

C) Teubert continued to prove himself to be a little bitch by chasing Stone around with a minute left and laying into him with stickwork before finally goading Stone to drop the gloves where Teubert then proceeded to knock him out cold. The fight itself isn't really the bad part to me despite the ugliness of watching Stone repeatedly crumple to the ice while trying to get up, as soon as Stone dropped the gloves and started swinging he had sealed his own fate. What bothered me was how Teubert cowardly went after Stone (he of 1 career fight) while Bestland and Raedeke were on the ice and would have definitely fought Teubert. The cherry on top is how he then he runs his mouth at Miller/Bestland as he's being kicked out like he's actually a tough guy. Hopefully Hamonic tunes him once again in the season finale.

There was no unfair reffing on Friday night. The Pats were so incredibly outclassed by Brandon they had no business even being on the same sheet of ice as the Wheat Kings. Look at the highlights and tell me differently. The Pats came out and played a horribly undisciplined game as shown in the sheer amount of high sticking and slashing penalties. When you are a vastly inferior team who cannot keep up to your opponent and are forced to take another handful of holding and hooking calls just to keep from getting beaten even worse it shows how massive the gap was. Brandon was so physically superior (during play, not after) that they don't need to take penalties against the Pats, they are good enough to simply go in and take the puck whenever they feel like it, at least that's how it went on Friday.

http://www.whl.ca/regina-2-brandon-1...140861/t-webTV

[Jagger]

Hey, look at that. The Rebels finally get two points from the Hitmen! It's been a while since Red Deer has posted a win over your lot. Shootout or not, I'll take it.....

Any comments from any of you that went? Nugent-Hopkins; what do you think?

The Rebels have been on a really good run since the New year. A playoff spot looked dodgy at one time. That's pretty solid as they have now passed the Tigers in the standings.

It's going to be a good game at the Centrium on Friday. The Hitmen will be a little cranky about losing this one. Anybody making the short trip up?

[Resolute 14]

Unfortunately, missed (-ing) both games. Nice to see the Rebels rebounding after the last couple seasons, but we really needed the two points. Ahh well, can't win them all.

[Flickered Flame]

Originally Posted by Jagger

Hey, look at that. The Rebels finally get two points from the Hitmen! It's been a while since Red Deer has posted a win over your lot. Shootout or not, I'll take it.....

Any comments from any of you that went? Nugent-Hopkins; what do you think?

The Rebels have been on a really good run since the New year. A playoff spot looked dodgy at one time. That's pretty solid as they have now passed the Tigers in the standings.

It's going to be a good game at the Centrium on Friday. The Hitmen will be a little cranky about losing this one. Anybody making the short trip up?

Yeah first Rebel win vs the Hitmen since Feb. 08. A real lack luster effort last night by the Hitmen. They played good for about 10 minutes. That really has been the story of the year for the Hitmen. Nugent-Hopkins is a good 16 year old. I am surprised that more teams don't lean on him physically. The Rebels are a decent team and if they can get home ice in the first round, they should win a round because they are lights out at home. I believe they have the 2nd best home record in the league. Looking forward to the game Friday night, I will be there up in VV as I am for all the Rebel home games.

[arloiginla]

Originally Posted by Jagger

Hey, look at that. The Rebels finally get two points from the Hitmen! It's been a while since Red Deer has posted a win over your lot. Shootout or not, I'll take it.....

Any comments from any of you that went? Nugent-Hopkins; what do you think?

The Rebels have been on a really good run since the New year. A playoff spot looked dodgy at one time. That's pretty solid as they have now passed the Tigers in the standings.

It's going to be a good game at the Centrium on Friday. The Hitmen will be a little cranky about losing this one. Anybody making the short trip up?

First game I went to this year as I am now officially a season ticket holder. Hitmen puzzled me, they seemed like some Flames teams of years past in that they turned it on for about 10 minutes, scored a bunch of goals and were dominant, then lulled to sleep the rest of the way, hoping to hold on for a win. Martin Jones was horrible and it didn't happen.

Nugent-Hopkins - he strikes me as the kind of guy that will disappear if you hit him all night long. Brandon Kozun is the best player on the ice, I bet he makes the NHL.

My seats are great, I love how empty the arena is, I never have to stand in line for anything! And I get a parking pass and tickets to the world Juniors in 2012, which is why I bought in the first place

[Jagger]

Originally Posted by arloiginla

Nugent-Hopkins - he strikes me as the kind of guy that will disappear if you hit him all night long.

Funnily enough but that doesn't seem to happen often as Flickered Flame mentioned. He's got really good hockey sense so perhaps doesn't put himself in those vulnerable positions too often. I expected to see him pounded and then some this season but that's not been the case.

He's been incredible for a 16 year old. Certainly the best 16 I've seen playing for the Rebels, better even than Dion.

[arloiginla]

Originally Posted by Jagger

He's been incredible for a 16 year old. Certainly the best 16 I've seen playing for the Rebels, better even than Dion.

I guess you would know better than me but he didn't impress me to that degree. I didn't have him pegged to be 16 and he was one of the better players on the ice but he didn't have that "wow" quality that future NHL stars have.

[Resolute 14]

Not many 16 year olds wow you in the WHL though. The league is just too good. Hell, Brett Connolly was the first 16 year old to score 30 goals in over a decade last year.

[GrrlGoalie33]

I have a question for our Hitmen faithful about playoff tickets...

I remember getting playoff tickets for $15/seat for all rounds. In my renewal package all but the first round are significantly more expensive than that. Any insight. Does the $15 promotion they put on last year usually happen?

[Resolute 14]

It has for the last few. Not sure if they will do the promotions they did again this year though.

Riley Nugent-pick-a-last-name is ranked as the fifth best skater for the 2011 draft by ISS right now.

Kelowna game has been highly entertaining. Both goalies playing great, though Jones got away with one when Kelowna blew two shots on a wide open net from five feet after a turnover.

[arloiginla]

Originally Posted by Frankster

I have a question for our Hitmen faithful about playoff tickets...

I remember getting playoff tickets for $15/seat for all rounds. In my renewal package all but the first round are significantly more expensive than that. Any insight. Does the $15 promotion they put on last year usually happen?

My tickets are way more expensive than that. It's about $20 a seat for the first round but way more for the later rounds.

I'm considering releasing my playoff tickets entirely as they are asking way too much for Hitmen hockey IMO.

[Jagger]

With the Raiders loss and the Rebels winning the Rebels clinched their first playoff berth since 2007. I'd love them to get 4th and they have a legitimate chance of achieving that now.

Anyway, nice to see them making the post season again. I don't give them much chance of getting past the likes of the Hitmen or Wheaties but still it's fun to be there.

[Flickered Flame]

Originally Posted by Jagger

With the Raiders loss and the Rebels winning the Rebels clinched their first playoff berth since 2007. I'd love them to get 4th and they have a legitimate chance of achieving that now.

They really do have a chance at finishing 4th. The Tigers played so many games early on and now that everyone has caught in games played it is easy to tell that the Tigers were just an above average team. I am hoping that the Wheaties finish 3rd and the Tigers 6th. I think MH is probably the only team that can matchup offensively with the Wheaties.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Jagger

With the Raiders loss and the Rebels winning the Rebels clinched their first playoff berth since 2007. I'd love them to get 4th and they have a legitimate chance of achieving that now.

The Rebels need to finish 4th or 5th if they want to see even a sixth playoff game this year. Barring divine intervention, I don't see the 6-8 teams in the East lasting very long at all.

That said, if Calgary can finish 1st somehow, and Red Deer 4th/5th, I wouldn't say no to a Hitmen-Rebels second round!

Meanwhile, former Hitman and Ice player Jason MacDonald did his part to screw the Calgary Canucks over, taking a slashing major that his own coach called stupid to the press, during which Calgary gave up 3 powerplay goals. Didn't expect anything from the Royals, but the Canucks should not be down 2-0 against Brooks.

[604flames]

Resolute do you follow the Canucks? The Jr. B team I work for had a guy this year who played the first half of the season in the AJHL, Patrick Christie.