WHL club can finish off Ice on Friday
In the last dozen days of March, the Calgary Hitmen and Kootenay Ice played five- straight games that were decided by just one goal.
Led by a hat trick off the stick of Connor Rankin, the Hitmen then broke out in a big way on Wednesday at Western Financial Place in Cranbrook to trounce the Ice by a final count of 7- 2.
“A lot of guys had pretty good personal games and it led to team success,” said Rankin, who expects the Ice to bounce back with a much better effort on Friday. “We know Kootenay’s going to push hard. It’s do- or- die for them.”
Up three games to one in their Western Hockey League Round 1 matchup against the Ice, the Hitmen now have a chance to close out the best- of- seven series on Friday ( 7 p. m., Shaw TV, SN960) at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
“I think it’s just a matter of time before it reverts back to those tight- checking affairs that we saw in the last two games of the regular season and the first two games of this series,” cautioned Hitmen head coach Mark French, whose squad closed out the regular season with a 2- 1 win over the Ice in Cranbrook on March 20 followed by a 3- 2 decision over their Central Division rivals two days later in Calgary.
The Ice then opened the series with a 4- 3 win in Game 1 at the Dome on March 27 before the Hitmen responded with a 3- 2 overtime win at home two days later. Adam Tambellini scored the deciding sudden- death goal and then repeated the same feat to lead Calgary to a wild 8- 7 OT win in Cranbrook on Tuesday.
Winners of three straight games, the Hitmen definitely don’t want to make the trek back to Cranbrook for a sixth game on Saturday.
“We don’t want to come back here and play another game,” stressed Tambellini after Wednesday’s win. “We know what they can do here. And it would be great to win in front of our fans as well.”
After scoring an empty netter and assisting on all three of Rankin’s goals on Wednesday, Tambellini found himself atop the WHL post- season scoring list with five goals and four helpers through four games.
“You expect your key players to really step up in defined moments in the series,” French said. “Adam’s done a really good job of that. I’m proud of his 200- foot game. He’s done a good job in both ends and on both sides of the puck. Most important is, he stepped up at those key times when we really needed him to deliver.”
Hitmen defenceman Travis Sanheim scored once and set up another in Game 4 to give him two goals and five helpers overall. That pulled him into a tie for second spot among WHL scorers with forward Tim McGauley, who had three goals and four assists to help lead the Brandon Wheat Kings to a five- game series win over the defending Memorial Cup champion Edmonton Oil Kings.
“We want to come back on Friday and have the same effort and not really give them too much,” said Sanheim about his team’s mindset heading into Game 5.
“Hopefully we can come away with the win.”
After playing three intense games in four days and enduring a long bus ride home to Calgary following Wednesday’s win, the Hitmen players were rewarded with a recovery day on Thursday.
“It’s nice to have the day off to recharge the batteries and get our heads, but we’ll have to be really good on Friday,” said French, while noting he stressed to his players the importance of having a strong start like they did on Wednesday. “I don’t know if momentum carries from game to game in the playoffs. I think it’s earned each and every game.”