Brandon Victory Propels Them To Finals
Saturday, 05.22.2010 / 11:47 AM
/ Memorial Cup
Florida Panthers
By Glenn Odebralski for floridapanthers.com
There was jubilation Friday in Brandon.
And there will be jubilation once again Sunday night.
That's because one Panthers prospect will get to hold the Memorial Cup up high. The question is, will it be either Scott Timmins and the Windsor Spitfires or Colby Robak and the Brandon Wheat Kings.
For Brandon, they went the hard route. Having to go through the semis, they faced the difficult task of beating WHL foe Calgary, a team they lost to in five games in the WHL semis and lost 5-1 on Wednesday in round robin play.
But this time, it was different. In a winner moves on, loser goes home, Brandon scored 3:16 into overtime to knock off the Hitmen with a 5-4 victory and set up a championship game with Windsor on Sunday (7:00pm EST).
Calgary jumped on the scoresheet first and would build a two-zip lead in the first. Working on a power play, Joel Broda capitalized on his own rebound with a backhander 13:31 into the first. Then nine seconds later, Ian Schultz blasted a wrist-shot past Jacob De Serres, upping their lead.
Brandon finally gave the home crowd something to cheer about 1:35 into the second when Alexander Urbom scored. But the Hitmen retook a two-goal lead when Tyler Fiddler blasted a slap shot past De Serres midway through the second.
Down but not out, Brandon responded two minutes later as Matt Calvert netted a goal. Then Travis Hamonic scored with nine seconds left in the period on a power play to knot the score at three heading into the third.
The Wheat Kings took their first lead of the game, all thanks to Robak. The blueliner rocketed a shot past the Martin Jones 5:09 into the final period of play. Calgary would end of forcing overtime as Misha Fisenko scored with 5:12 left in the game.
In the all or nothing sudden death period, Jay Fehr sent the Wheat Kings and their fans into a frenzy with the winner 3:16 in.
There was jubilation Friday in Brandon.
And there will be jubilation once again Sunday night.
That's because one Panthers prospect will get to hold the Memorial Cup up high. The question is, will it be either Scott Timmins and the Windsor Spitfires or Colby Robak and the Brandon Wheat Kings.
For Brandon, they went the hard route. Having to go through the semis, they faced the difficult task of beating WHL foe Calgary, a team they lost to in five games in the WHL semis and lost 5-1 on Wednesday in round robin play.
But this time, it was different. In a winner moves on, loser goes home, Brandon scored 3:16 into overtime to knock off the Hitmen with a 5-4 victory and set up a championship game with Windsor on Sunday (7:00pm EST).
Calgary jumped on the scoresheet first and would build a two-zip lead in the first. Working on a power play, Joel Broda capitalized on his own rebound with a backhander 13:31 into the first. Then nine seconds later, Ian Schultz blasted a wrist-shot past Jacob De Serres, upping their lead.
Brandon finally gave the home crowd something to cheer about 1:35 into the second when Alexander Urbom scored. But the Hitmen retook a two-goal lead when Tyler Fiddler blasted a slap shot past De Serres midway through the second.
Down but not out, Brandon responded two minutes later as Matt Calvert netted a goal. Then Travis Hamonic scored with nine seconds left in the period on a power play to knot the score at three heading into the third.
The Wheat Kings took their first lead of the game, all thanks to Robak. The blueliner rocketed a shot past the Martin Jones 5:09 into the final period of play. Calgary would end of forcing overtime as Misha Fisenko scored with 5:12 left in the game.
In the all or nothing sudden death period, Jay Fehr sent the Wheat Kings and their fans into a frenzy with the winner 3:16 in.
