MEMORIAL CUP GAME DAY

GAME DAY
What: 2010 MasterCard Memorial Cup: Preliminary Round
Who: Brandon Wheat Kings vs Moncton Wildcats
When: 4:00 pm
Where: Keystone Centre, Brandon, Manitoba

The Moncton Wildcats look to rebound from a rough 5-4 loss yesterday against the Calgary Hitmen this afternoon. The host Brandon Wheat Kings will be looking for their first win of the tournament as well after dropping their first game 9-3 to the Windsor Spitfires.

BRANDON WHEAT KINGS
Regular season record: 50-18-1-3 (104 points)
League regular season ranking: Second overall, second in Eastern Conference
Combined regular season and playoff home record: 31-10-0-2
Regular season goal differential: 321-204
Playoff goal differential: 56-51
Playoff record: 9-6
Memorial Cup appearances: Three (1979, 1995 and 1996)
Memorial Cup championships: None
League championships: Two (1979 and 1996)
Preview: Rogers Sportsnet

MONCTON WILDCATS
Regular season record: 48-14-2-4 (102 points)
League regular season ranking: Third overall, second in Atlantic Division
Combined regular season and playoff road record: 30-10-2-2
Regular season goal differential: 276-164
Playoff goal differential: 95-48
Playoff record: 16-5
Memorial Cup appearances: One (2006)
Memorial Cup championships: None
League championships: Two (2006 and 2010)
Preview: Rogers Sportsnet

BAD BOUNCE
The Moncton Wildcats’ epic collapse yesterday was capped off by a freakish bounce that caught ‘Cats goalie Nicola Riopel by surprise.

"I've never seen a bounce like that," said Riopel. "And I didn't see him, I looked up to play the puck and there he was."

"It was almost two small games inside one," said Wildcats coach Danny Flynn. "I thought the first half of the game, we played real well." (Calgary Herald)


LOOKING TO REBOUND
The Brandon Wheat Kings looked like a high school team on Friday, getting destroyed 9-3 by the powerful Windsor Spitfires. The Kings can’t afford another big loss.

"We were far from our best (Friday) night," McCrimmon said Saturday following a morning practice with his Brandon club. "And with the field we have here, you have to be ready to play and you have to play real well to have a chance at success." (Winnipeg Free Press)

NOT GOOD ENOUGH
Battling an ankle injury, Hitmen star Brandon Kozun appeared ready to play yesterday. But after a few shifts, he was glued t0 the bench for the rest of the way.

“I wanted to get out there so bad. I probably could have, but there were a lot of guys playing well. It was a smart choice by Mike (Williamson, head coach) to keep playing them.” (Toronto Sun)

NO RISK TAKEN
Wildcats head coach Danny Flynn said that Moncton was being very cautious yesterday, especially in the third period.

"The players care so much and they so badly want to win," he said. "It’s human nature for you not to want to make a mistake and kind of subconsciously sit back."

"Momentum’s a powerful force in hockey and they got momentum and seized it and pushed us hard and battled back to tie it," Flynn noted. "The last (goal) is one you’d like to have back… but that’s hockey and you make your own breaks." (Rogers Sportsnet)

GETTING IT DONE
What the Wildcats need to do today against the Wheat Kings according to Danny Flynn:

“We have to get back to grinding and working and we need to keep our composure a little bit,” said Flynn. “We got a little nervous at times and didn’t show the composure we needed. Hopefully, we’ll have a little more poise, and hopefully, we can make some of those plays under pressure.” (Toronto Sun)

LIVE CHAT
Join Yahoo! Sports Jr. Hockey Editor Sunaya Sapurji and Buzzing the Net blogger Neate Sager live from the MasterCard Memorial Cup as they blog Game 3 of the junior hockey championship. (Yahoo!)

CHECKING IT OUT
The odd bounce that won the game for the Calgary Hitmen was examined by Canadian Hockey League officials this morning. From Patrick’s King Memorial Cup Notebook:

Western Hockey League vice president of hockey operations, Rick Doerksen, along with Chad Lang, hockey operations for the host committee and Marcel Patenaude, vice president of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, could not find anything irregular with the corner zamboni entrance.

"We just felt it was important to look at the strange bounce that caused such impact and take a look this morning to see if there was anything irregular," Doerksen told sportsnet.ca. "In viewing the boards, we found nothing irregular and it appears it was just those fluky bounces that happen on occasion."

Lang fired approximately two dozen pucks around the corner boards, none of which ricocheted back towards the net. Only one shot had changed its course, but wasn't significantly altered like in Saturday's game.

"Nothing came out tested," Doerksen explained. "We shot a number of pucks and certainly couldn't get a bounce like that in a 4-4 game."

MEDIA
Television: Rogers Sportsnet, RDS, and NHL Network (USA)
Webcast: Sportsnet.ca