While I’m waiting for class to start, a few more things to consider:
- While the Hitmen and Warriors split their season series, three of the four games came in the first two months of the season. After two disappointing loses in October, the Hitmen won an OT game in November, then pasted the Warriors 5-0 on January 22.
- After going 3-7 from mid-December to mid-January, the Hitmen finished the year 24-3. Their last seven games include three consecutive shutouts by Martin Jones, followed by four games in which they outscored their opponents by a combined 25-5.
- According to Sportsnet, the last team to have both the WHL’s best scorer and best goalie were the Memorial Cup Champion 2001 Red Deer Rebels. Okay, so Jones is only first in GAA and Wins and not SVP, too (he’s fourth in that), but he also spent the first six or eight weeks of the season playing hurt and putting up Godawful numbers while doing so. Nitpicking.
- Did I mention that the Hitmen have the Bobby Clarke Trophy winner for most points scored with Brandon Kozun (32-75-107)? And that they also won the regular season crown with that same total of 107 points (52-17-3)? While Moose Jaw had just 78 (33-27-12)? Just sayin’.
- The Hitmen have the WHL’s best power play (29.0%) and penalty kill (87.5%) this year, after ranking first and second in those categories last year. Moose Jaw ranks 6th (23.4%) and 16th (77.2%) on their respective special teams.
- The Hitmen haven’t missed the conference finals since 2006. I’ve been to the third round every year I’ve been a season ticket holder.
I’m not going to be arrogant and say they’ll win in four or anything, but I think they hold the clear advantage in every area, and it would take a monumental failure on their part to be stymied in the first round.
Edit: Because it’s so very relevant, playoff history. Because I can now.
| 2000 CQF | 2006 CSF | 2008 CQF |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
| 4-0 | 4-3 | 4-2 |
And to be clear after last night, running into a hot goalie, when you’re one of the top-scoring teams in the League, constitutes a monumental failure.
[...] boys in and get them playing confident and physical, more like Game 3 — or for that matter, the last 27 games of the season — and less like they have most of this series. They need to remember what got them here to [...]