Hitmen win Ed Chynoweth Cup!

Hit of the Game

Zak Stebner lays out Americans assistant captain Kruise Reddick right beside the Hitmen bench.

Save of the Game

Martin Jones makes a blocker save on the Amerks Patrick Holland with 7 minutes left in 1st to keep the game tied at 1-1.

Post Game Commentary

Martin Jones - MVP of WHL Final

"We didn’t want it to be easy. We wanted them to push hard and for it to be a battle. It’s just an awesome feeling now, knowing that we beat them at their best."

"We’re just so excited right now. We are going to soak this in for a couple of days then back to work."

Ian Schultz - Hitmen Co-Captain

"It hasn’t really sunk in yet, I can’t even put it into words. It really makes us feel like Calgary’s team right now and it’s awesome."

"We were not going to be denied tonight. We said leave it all on the table, there is nothing to save it for. My hat goes off to every single person on this team. We worked as hard as we could for a full sixty minutes. We never gave up and we got rewarded for it."

"To have this many people behind us, it makes it feel like we are really Calgary’s team. My hat goes off to them. For them to come and support us like this, it’s awesome."

Down 3-1 to MJ

"Yeah that was a bit of a wake up call, that first series, we didn’t want to get behind the 8-ball like that but good teams find ways to win, that’s what we did."

"We can still be a little bit sharper, but we are happy with the success so far."

Talk about Martin Jones

"Outstanding, he has been doing it all year, so it’s not too much of a surprise but my hat goes off the kid, he some how makes saves that nobody else in this league can make."

Zak Stebner - Hitmen defenceman

"It’s simply unbelievable."

What was going through your mind the last five minutes?

"I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face, I don’t know if anyone noticed out there but I was smiling for the last 5 minutes of the game. It’s just an amazing feeling."

How about winning on home ice?

"It’s unbelievable. Something just didn’t feel right about last game. I was talking to Captain Ian Schultz, it just didn’t feel right. We knew this morning and then coming out to pre-game skate that tonight was the night and we proved it."

Thinking about the Memorial Cup?

"I’m so excited to play against high calibre teams. It is going to be good test for our team."

Matt MacKenzie - Hitmen defenceman

"It’s great. Last year it was pretty devastating, we were on the opposite end. This is definitely a lot nicer."

"It’s great. We had a few big penalty kills, which everybody was laying their bodies on the line. I think right after those, we just knew it was going to happen. Everyone was just in a groove."

About Jones

"He’s been great. After that Moose Jaw series, that was kind of a wake up call for everyone and after that he was pretty much unbeatable on most nights. It’s pretty easy playing in front of him."

Memorial Cup?

"I’ve been kind of thinking about it a little bit, but on game days you got to focus on this. I think the next couple of days I’ll be thinking about it more."

Michael Stone - Hitmen Co-Captain

"It’s nice to finally get it for them. We had that disappointment last year and it’s nice to fix it, I guess you could say."

"We knew they were going to come. Obviously they were fighting for their lives.
They really pushed at the start. We weren’t going to take no for an answer here tonight."

"The two goals were on two good screens where I picked the right spot and I connected with the puck really well."

"It’s a great feeling. It’s nice to see. The disappointment from last year was really hurting me throughout the year. It’s nice to do it not only for the boys here now, but for the boys that missed out on the chance last year. I think they feel like they’re a little bit a part of it as well.
We’ve still got one more thing to win."

Talk about the fans

"It’s amazing. We knew they were going to come out. We didn’t know how many, but we knew they were going to come out and support us no matter how many there were. It’s really nice to see the amount."

Giffen Nyren - Hitmen defenceman

"This is our night. We knew it. We didn’t want to go back to Tri-Cities. Everyone was focused coming to the rink and we knew what we had to do."

"A lot of my friends and family are here. I’ll always remember this moment for the rest of my life. That’s amazing."

"We’ll enjoy this for a couple days and prepare for the bigger one."

Kris Foucault - Hitmen forward

"Eleven years ago I was standing in this spot exactly today, except I was somewhere out there, so it’s very exciting to be down on the ice doing the same thing."

"We did exactly what they did. They went down 3-1 and came back. History’s repeating itself and it feels great."

"It’s definitely exciting. To be on the winning side of this on the ice, it’s actually unbelievable.
It’s exciting either way. This is what we work for."

"The Memorial Cup’s a big thing, but we’ve got to enjoy this right now because this is a huge trophy to win."

Brandon Kozun - Hitmen leading scorer

"It’s a great feeling. It’s unlike anything I’ve experience so far. I’m pretty happy right now. I’m going to savour this moment."

How are you?

"Perfectly fine. I could skate right now if I wanted to. It was mostly precautionary reasons. I’ll be alright."

There’s nothing that’s going to stop you?

"Absolutely not."

Fans?

"Unbelievable. It says a lot about this city, the amount of people that came out to support us. It’s awesome, really awesome."

Mike Williamson - Hitmen Head Coach

"Jonesy was incredible, the guys on the kill did a great job. I think Jonesy played like he expects and that’s why he’s there. He sets a high standard. I think our team has embraced and set a high standard. We’re just very ecstatic to get the opportunity to go to Brandon."

"All of our guys will enjoy this. They’ll already be thinking about how important it is to live in the moment right now, but start to prepare and focus mentally. We’re going to have to be better yet and I think we will be."

"So many guys stepped up. Obviously Jonesy had to weather the storm for us. We were on our heels at times and he was incredible. We got some big, big efforts out of guys that maybe haven’t seen the ice on a regular basis – blocked shots, guys sacrificing. It’s unbelievable."

About Stone

"Any time he gets the chance to shoot the puck, we want him to shoot it. He’s done it all year."

"Any time you have a chance to win the league, it’s a special feeling for the whole group. Obviously with me not coaching the last two years, to come in and get the opportunity was the biggest thing. I owe so much to the Flames and Hitmen for allowing that to happen. The players, it’s just incredible that this group has."

Jim Hiller - Tri City Head Coach

"Not a lot of people thought much of our team early, certainly in the pre-season polls and then we stumbled a little bit at the end. I think people wrote us off going into the playoffs particularly based on the size of our team. I thought we showed tremendous character and will through the playoffs."

"I don’t think we got a lot of bounces in this series. Calgary’s an excellent team. They made us pay when we made our mistakes."

"I thought that was probably our best period of the series and maybe our best game of the series. I didn’t think they had a lot of good chances. They did a really good job this series of finishing when they had chances."

"It certainly is a great achievement. It’s not where we wanted to end up. Based on the age of our team, we’ve got a lot of good things to look forward to and a lot of people with something to prove again next year."