Hitmen beat Warriors 4 games to 3!

Hit of the Game

The Hitmen's Kyle Aschim rubbed out Moose Jaw's Cody Smuk into the boards deep in the Hitmen zone late in the game. A fitting end to a great victory.


Close Calls of the Night

Both Brandon Kozun and Ian Schultz rang shots off the iron. Kozun's came in the first on a point blank chance in the slot, while Schultz tipped a Matt MacKenzie blast from the point in the second period.

Post-Game Comments

Brandon Kozun – one goal, two assists

Talk about winning three straight games to take the series

“Well I think everyone knew we could do it. At the beginning of the series if you were to say ‘hey are they going win three games in a row,’ I don’t think many people would have doubted us”

How many game seven’s have you been in?

“I was with the Hitmen when I was 16 for their game seven. That was about the only one.”

How does it feel to play in such a crucial game?

“It feels awesome, I have had the luxury of playing in some pretty big games too, it’s definitely a lot similar and you know all those games help you and all the experience helped us tonight.”

Does the adversity of being down in this series help going forward?

“Well it it’s huge, I think last year obviously we swept the first three rounds and we kind of got down in Kelowna and we didn’t know how to react. Now I think we will have confidence if we get down one or two, we know in our team that we can come back.”

What was the turning point in the series?

“I think the first win we got in Moose Jaw, I think that was big for us to know that we could beat them.”

What can you say about a familiar face from Medicine Hat in Coach Willie Desjardins (who Coached Kozun at the World Juniors)?

“He is going to get his guys going, he always does. You know they have a really good team in Medicine Hat and we got to make sure we cant go down 3-1 like in this series.”


Head Coach Mike Williamson

Talk about the series

“Well I think we had to get better in order to get back in this series. We learned a lot along the way. We had some guys really step up and we just have to make sure we do a better job of letting this one go and getting ready for the next series. I don’t think we did a great job of that after the regular season, re-setting our goals, and making sure we are at the top of our game. We faced a hungry team early, they deserved everything and we put ourselves in a tough hole, but a lot of character for the guys for coming back.”

Could you sense the offence clicking?

“We’ve stumbled onto some things that we felt comfortable with. It’s an ongoing process and we will have to adjust to it. Just the more guys that are at the top of their game, the easier it is to coach obviously. Like I said, we need everybody to step up and continue to get better.”

Last year the team swept their way to the final? Does this adversity help?

“It can if you learn from it, that’s the biggest thing. We learned that we can comeback, and we prepared to comeback. We also learned that we don’t want to put ourselves in that position. If we can put ourselves in better positions in the game and in the series, it obviously helps you win games and close series’ out. It can help you in the end, bottom line; we have to be better start to finish.”

What challenges can you expect from the Tigers?

“Great group of forwards, tons of speed, some solid dangerous guys on the back end. I think the biggest thing is their transition game is second to none. If you’re not getting pucks in deep and playing simple and getting above pucks and working hard to get back, they’ll eat you up. They have as fast a group of forwards as anyone in the league. Puck management is crucial against that team.”

Jimmy Bubnick – two goals


Talk about your second goal

“Koz made a great pass. (Cowan) took the guy out of the play, the d-man. I saw I had a lot of ice and took it and put it upstairs.”

How did you comeback from being down in the series?

“We dug a hole for ourselves and we managed to get out of it. We just worked hard and got the momentum in Game 5 and just built from it there.”

You personally have not had the best luck in the playoffs, how does this feel?

“It’s great. Any time you win in the playoffs is great. I’ve had some rotten luck so far in playoffs and it just felt that much better.”

What was the feeling like in the dressing room prior to the game?

“There was no doubt in the dressing room. Everyone was focused. Everyone knew that we could do it. Everyone just bought in and just believed we could do it. It worked out for the best.”

Tyler Shattock – one goal, one assist

Talk about how your line played

“I think we had the challenge of shutting down Bast and them. I think we did a pretty good job of that the last two games.”

“I think all three of us kind of thrive on that challenge of shutting down other guys. If we can chip in ourselves, that’s a bonus. Hopefully it keeps rolling like we’ve been rolling and carries on into Medicine Hat.”

Do you think you took Moose Jaw too lightly?

“I don’t know if it was a matter we took them lightly. They came out pretty hard and they played us pretty tough.”



What was the turning point in the series?

“Probably when we won that second game, we kind of knew we maybe had them on the ropes there a bit and we had a bit more confidence going.”

“Once we got pucks past Bosch and got bodies in front of him, I think he let a couple goals in there. He played really well all series, credit to him, but credit to us for getting by him.”

“Once we started putting pucks by (Bosch) and got confidence and we knew we could beat him with the puck, I think that the series was all but ours.”

Does facing this adversity make you a better team going forward?

“That’ll make us a better team in the long run for sure. Even though we were down 3-1 we came back and showed a lot of character in that room. We’ve got an old group in there. I think that Calgary’s made it to the third round three straight years, so we definitely want to surpass that goal this year.”

Cody Sylvester – two goals

Describe what is was like to get the first goal?

“First goal is always huge in a game 7 game, actually any game, but Beacher made a beautiful pass behind their D man and I went in opening up looking for a guy coming in but I just thought I would shoot it on net and it happened to go in.”

“It’s a great feeling scoring the first one, getting any goal. My line-mates were going. Everyone was going tonight and everyone was working hard.”

What was it like to play in a game seven?

“First game seven ever. It’s always nice to get that game seven, hopefully you wont have to see that again but everyone was going out hard tonight, it was do-or-die, and we had our backs against the wall the whole series and we just came out strong.”

What did you learn about yourself? What did the team learn?

“You always have to face adversity playing hockey and myself face adversity too. You just have to stick with your game plan, and pucks will go your way. And like it happened in this series, the bounces started going our way in the seventh game.”

Does the adversity help going forward?

“Going through all these games, it should help us in the long run and everyone is going to build off of it and go from there.”

Hitmen force Game 7!

The Hitmen went back into 'The Crushed Can' and forced a seventh and deciding game, set for Monday night back in Calgary.

Get your tickets now and see you under the Saddle!

Post game comments to follow Game 7.

Hitmen win Game 5 to stay in series!

Hit of the Game

Ian Schultz plasters Warrior forward Thomas Frazee into the boards deep in the Hitmen zone in the later stages of the 2nd period. This hit helped the Hitmen kill off a key Warrior powerplay.


Save of the Game

Jeff Bosch continues to amaze even in a losing fashion. He stopped three straight shots from Kozun, Shattock and then Broda at point blank range in the first period. The play was reviewed but it was deemed that Bosch did actually save Broda's last attempt.

Quotable Quotes

Brandon Kozun - four point night

Coming back from an early deficit

“Just knowing that we can come back from that is going to give us confidence if it ever happens again.”

What’s next?

“We know the ability on our team. You know what, one game at a time.”


Playing in the ‘Crushed Can?’

"We know we can win in that building. We’ve done it twice this year. We know our abilities. We had the best road record in the league this year, so we know we can win on the road. We’re just going to take it one shift at a time, one period at a time, one game at a time."

What did Fiddler’s goal mean to the team?

“Those goals are huge. You get that goal and their team, I wouldn’t say gives up, but it’s just another dagger into it. Obviously, you need support and that goal was a support.”

Mike Williamson, Hitmen Head Coach

Tonight’s effort

“We wanted a win. It was a close hockey game again. I think our guys did a better job of not passing up opportunities to shoot the puck and we had a little better traffic and that’s what we did in the other game we won. It’s a good character test for our guys. I’m really proud of the way they responded. Now we’ve got to regroup and get the next one.”

Down 1-0 after the 1st period

“I think it was a true test of the character of the hockey team and they responded. I think you create your own bounces and luck, so it was great to see the guys regroup after the first period and be rewarded for it. I thought a lot of our guys did (respond).”

Co-Captain Ian Schultz - one goal, one assist

Talk about tonight’s effort

“Absolutely, we kind of came out with the mindset that it's do or die. I mean, you look at it, it is now, you know we don’t want to go home. I am home so I don’t want to see anyone else go home. We have a great group of guys in here; everybody is starting to buy in for real now. It’s not just lace’em up and put your sticks on the ice, you know we are going out and getting it. We’re taking it into our own hands.”

What was said in the 1st intermission?

“We knew we were having a couple of bad bounces again, like it seems like we’ve had all series but you got to stay positive. Each game is a game of short memories, especially in the playoffs and we figured we played pretty well in the first. We just built on that. We established a good base in the first and we just kind of built on that in the second and the bounces started going our way and pucks started going in.”

Overcoming adversity, overcoming a deficit?

“It’s great. We kind of haven’t had a lot of rewards for our hard work so far, so to kind of get recognized or the opportunity tonight to extend the series is big for us and we wont take it for granted, we still have our backs to the wall. We still have to go into a hostile environment on Saturday and put up another good effort.”

Tough penalties against you?

"The standards been set for the referees in the series. We got to change our games to stay disciplined. Our coaches have preached good discipline since the start of the series. I think we finally took our heads out of the sand, as you may say, and kind of listened to him (Coach Williamson). We didn’t take as many stick infractions or holdings or anything like that. We are taking roughing and charging penalties, you know, making them feel like we’re coming for them."

How was your ability to get to the front of the net

"It was good, Bosch will save whatever he sees. It was huge to get in there and disrupt his vision and get in his head a little bit. A little bit of his focus was on us instead of the puck and I guess it paid off."

Talk about the Hitmen Powerplay

"Coach has been preaching discipline and moving your feet off the wall to get to the net and with the new rules they cant hook or impede you at all and it paid off for us tonight."

Chasing Bosch, does that put doubt in his mind?

"I don’t think so. He should have all the confidence in the world. He stood on his head. Even tonight, he had some (great) saves. He’s kept them ahead of us a lot. A lot of their success goes to him and my hat goes off to him. He comes and competes every night. We expect him to bounce back twice as hard on Saturday so we just keep doing the same thing and hopefully the bounces go our way."

Tyler Fiddler - game-winning goal

Are you still feeling ill?

"Still sick here, but just trying to give the team what I got."

Can you talk about that explosive second period the team had.

"We thought we had a pretty good first period there. We didn’t get any bounces and didn’t score but we just said stick with it, and came through on the power play and on the special teams in the second period."

Moose Jaw Head Coach Dave Hunchak

Tonight's game comments

"They got some bounces tonight, we didn’t get any tonight. As a result they win the game, so it's back to Moose Jaw for Game 6. "

Is Saturday going to be a different Moose Jaw Warriors then tonight?

"We have to be a deeper group. We have to make sure we get production not only from Jason Bast and Thomas Frazee but those other guys as well too, that’s going to be really important. We cant have any passengers at this time of year, we gotta make sure that everything we do is for the right reasons and making sure we keep the pucks moving ahead, and make sure we get as many pucks to Jones as we can an see if we cant feed off the momentum our crowd is going to give us."

Does the 'Crushed Can' give you an advantage?

"It does, but there is no question we control the volume in that building by how we play. I think they are very passionate fan base when we’re going and we’re playing Warrior hockey, it's unbelievable in that rink. When we are not playing Warrior hockey, they let us know as well too, they are very knowledgable, they get it and they also get that Game 6 probably for both teams is the biggest game of the year."

Pulling Bosch?

"Mental break for him. Every time we have done that with Jeff he seems to bounce back and by no means do I think any of the goals tonight were his fault. I think there was a tremendous amount of traffic and some unfortunate bounces. Just a matter of giving him a mental refresher."

Did you say anything to Bosch when he came off the ice?

"Yup, spent some time with him. He understands, he gets that he’s our number one guy, as do we. We will go right back with him."

Hitmen Climb Back into Series

The Calgary Hitmen win 7-3 tonight but still trail in best of seven series 2-1.

Mike Williamson, Hitmen Head Coach

About rebounding from 2-0 series deficit

"We were pretty sure we had the leadership to guide us through that. Every minute you go further in the playoffs it gets tougher. It's one game again. I don't know if any momentum's on our side. Moose Jaw's an opportunistic team. We have to be sharp mentally. We can't have any lapses."

What did you think of Martin Jones tonight?

"Jonesy was spectacular tonight for us and made some big, big stops at key times. Every step of the way it gets tougher and tougher. We have to find a way to stay out of the box. We haven't been in the penalty box this much this year. Discipline has got to be the priority for us."

Ian Schultz, Hitmen Co-Captain

"We kind of just went back to basics. I think we were trying to be too pretty before."

About Moose Jaw Goalie Jeff Bosch

"He still made some unreal saves tonight. We came in here with the mindset to be greasy and we got a couple dirty goals. It starts with the leaders and it's got to trickle down among the whole team."

How do you deal with the insane crowd in Moose Jaw?

"Moose Jaw's got some of the loudest fans, the craziest fans I've ever seen. They make it hard to even hear yourself think."

Just looking to get some bounces

"We kind of felt that some of the bounces are coming our way. Hockey is a game of bounces. They were getting a couple in our barn and it feels good to get one or two in their barn. It kind of made us tighten up a bit when they got that one early (in the third). We kind of pride ourselves at being able to come back on teams."

About getting "the fire" back

"I think a little bit, but not too high and not too low."

Hitmen Lose Again, Must Re-Group Quickly

HIT OF THE GAME

In the first period, Calgary defenceman Ben Wilson stands up Nathan MacMaster with a big check knocking the Moose Jaw forward to the ice.

SAVE OF THE GAME

With the Warriors up 4-1 mid way through the third period, Moose Jaw goalie Jeff Bosch does the splits to get his left pad out to turn aside a shot off the stick of Calgary forward Kris Foucault.

Mike Williamson, Hitmen Head Coach

"There’s nothing magical about it. Moose Jaw is working extremely hard, you have to give them credit."

"We just have to get back to basics. We’re a hockey team right now that isn’t playing like I’ve seen us play all year. We know it’s within us. We just have to find our game in a hurry here and keep things simple. There’s no magic formula. We have to keep things simple and work hard. If we do that, we can chip away at this."

Martin Jones

"They’ve really come out hard. We shouldn’t be surprised about that. They’re a young and hard-working hockey team. We just have to make sure we’re ready right from the get-go."

"That’s the key to playoffs is to have short memories; take it one game at a time and forget the last one. It shouldn’t be a problem. We just need to refocus and get ready for Game 3."

"I think that’s good for us. We’re going to face some adversity, better now and try and battle through it and become a stronger group from it."

Kris Foucault

Looking Forward

"Definitely, we’ve got to have a good start in Game 3 to have a chance in this series."

"We know Moose Jaw. They’re a great team and Bosch has played unreal through this whole series. A little bit of shock that they’ve come out this strong and have won games by this much."

"As a team, I think we have to work a little harder. We’re being outworked by Moose Jaw. We need to get better."

What do you have to do?

"Going down by a couple goals in each first period, it’s tough to come back from that. Guys are trying to do it themselves. We need to just get back to working as a team."

Jeff Bosch, Moose Jaw Goaltender

"Nobody really expected us to do this. We felt really good in our two games here. We’ve maybe been a bit fortunate at times, but we got the job done and it’s great to going up 2-0 back home.

How have you been able to stop the Hitmen power play?

"I think guys are just committed to blocking shots and staying in lanes. My d-men and my forwards have been doing a great job helping me out and making my job a lot easier and that’s what we’ve got to do against a team like this."

Dave Hunchak, Moose Jaw Head Coach

About impressive 22-7-3-2 home-ice record in regular season

"It has been good, but we’ve learned that lesson two seasons ago. It’s a brand new season. We haven’t won or lost at home yet."

"They’re a hard forechecking team. We were fortunate a few times with some of the breaks we got with the puck coming around the boards. We certainly made a few adjustments to try and get away from that forecheck."

"You look at that team and they’re stacked, they’re loaded. They’re a very good hockey team. We have to play a good team game in order for us to have success."

"We’ll have to adjust a few things here again and try and get better in Game 3."

Moose Jaw Downs Hitmen 4-2 in Game 1

Hit of the Game

Hitmen defenceman Giffen Nyren plasters Warriors forward Thomas Frazee into the glass just inside the Warriors blue line 8:35 into the first period. The hit led to a great scoring chance for the Hitmen when Joel Broda was stoned on a point blank chance by Moose Jaw goaltender Jeff Bosch.

Frazee would later go on to score the Warriors third goal, 6:44 into the 2nd period.

Saves of the Game

At the 8:17 mark of the second period Jeff Bosch makes a wicked glove save off Matt Mackenzie to deny the Hitmen defenceman his second goal of the game.

Jones makes two great stops on the penalty kill midway through the second period. First he robs Frazee and then turns away Moose Jaw Captain Jason Bast on the rebound.

Bosch makes flurry of saves during a 5 on 3 in the second period to keep the Warriors ahead. Shots were 30-14 with 3:40 seconds left in the second.

Bosch makes a left pad save on Misha Fisenko midway through the 3rd period, which was a timely stop as it kept the Warriors up by three.

Tonight's Quirky Stat

The Hitmen outshot the Warriors 18-0 in the third period.

Quotable Quotes:

Hitmen Co-Captain Michael Stone gives his thoughts on the game that was.

"We took too many penalties. We had our chances but their goalie played really strong. They capitalized on their powerplays and that was the difference. "

Where do you go from here?

"We’re just looking to bounce back. We’re not hitting the panic button or anything like that. We’re gona come out with a strong effort on Saturday and take it from there.

Is there any point in complaining about penalties?

"They thought they were penalties obviously, and we’re maybe not happy with it at the time but that’s the way it goes."

Facing adversity at an early stage?

"We didn’t have adversity until the finals last year, so let’s get it out of the way early and bounce back. "

Is it easy to get frustrated in a game like this?

"Little bit, I think we did a pretty good job of it though. Obviously it’s the heat of the battle, so we’re gonna get frustrated but I think we kept our composure and got our chances, we just have to bury them."

Thoughts on the Powerplay tonight

"They did a really good job on the penalty kill tonight. They were blocking shots, getting in passing lanes and their goalie was their best penalty killer tonight. Once we get a few I think it will start to roll though."

"Quicker movement on our feet, lots of guys were standing and looking for the pretty play and we gotta move and get shots to net and get greasy goals. That’s what playoff hockey is all about. Let’s just get pucks at the net."

WHL Leading scorer Brandon Kozun on tonight's loss

"We were hot and cold, I thought we did some good things and we did some bad things as well. Obviously we had 50 shots, we gotta make sure we put a couple of those in. Anytime you get 50 shots you should have more then two goals and we didn’t have that and they won the game and that’s what it comes down to."

Hitmen Head Coach Mike Williamson on the loss

"You have to adjust to the officiating. I didn’t think it was a standard we’d seen much this year. I don’t know if we adjusted really well. It was a bit frustrating, but that’s … there’s always going to be something that comes up, whether it’s frustration there or a hot goalie. I think we’ve got a mature and experienced enough team that we should be able to play through that."

"We knew that there was going to be adversity … a tough loss, backs against the wall. Sometimes in playoffs, if you’re going to play for a long time, that situation’s going to come up. Certainly, ideally we would have come out and got off on a better foot and got a win tonight. That wasn’t the case and we’re just going to have to regroup and be better next time out."

Moose Jaw Head Coach Dave Hunchak on the Warrior Win

"Important victory for our team. I thought we did a lot of little things real well. We were really committed to winning the hockey game. Our powerplay obviously was on fire tonight. We’re gonna need that for us to have any chance in the series. Certainly it’s a long ways from being over but to get that first one is important."

How big was that 5 on 3 kill for your team?

"I think it changed the momentum of the game. You could sense it building a little bit in their favour after we had scored. Another changing point was the goal right after the non goal, I thought it was a real important part of the game as well too. Full marks to our guys for doing the little things right and getting ourselves the victory in game 1."

Can an 8 seed beat a 1?

"Belief is important at this time in the year. Our group is a group that is still very young. We dress nine 92’s on any given night and we’re still in a situation where we’re in our process of building. You know, to get that first playoff victory with essentially 17 guys that haven’t played a playoff game is important, that’s what you’re building on."

What can you say about the play of your goaltender Jeff Bosch, who faced 50 shots!

"Well, Bosch has been solid for us all year. He’s a guy that enjoys the workload. Certainly we don’t want to be giving up that many shots, but I do think that our guys did a very good job of letting him see the puck and any shots form outside and any second or third chances that were there, we did a good job of getting rid of them."

Source of Photos: http://www.whl.ca/ & http://kingscast.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/Brandon_Kozun.jpg

Welcome to the Official Calgary Hitmen Blog!

Welcome all you Hitmen and WHL fans to the offical blog of the Calgary Hitmen!

The playoffs are starting up and we thought this would be a good time to get this blog up and running.

We will have interactive chats during games and live blogging throughout the playoffs!

We will also have live updates directly from the players themselves!

This will give every fan a chance to interact with team on another level!

GO HITMEN GO!