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.”