Hot Stove Lounge...Sports Talk

[Guest1]

Congrats to the BB for there sweep over the Habs

[Summitric]

Originally Posted by FABSTER

Congrats to the BB for there sweep over the Habs

YUP, I CONCUR, FAB

[Guest1]

Congrats to the WHL Calgary Hitmen on there 3rd sweep in a row over the Brandon WheatKings

[Guest1]

Congrats to the Penguins on moving on to the 2nd round

[Guest1]

Congrats to the HAWKS on beating the Flames in 6

Congrats to the Ducks on beating the Sharks in 6

[Guest1]

Congrats to the Caps and Canes for moving on to the 2nd round

[Guest1]

Calgary Hitmen stave off elimination in Kelowna.The Calgary Hitmen tore the mask off the Guggenburglar on Wednesday night and extended their Western Hockey League playoff lives.

They also plowed through a tough Kelowna Rockets de-fence en route to a 6-2 victory in front of another towel-waving, standing-room-only crowd at Prospera Place to begin the nibbling process in earnest at a 3-0 deficit in the best-of-seven series.

It'll be another do-or-die situation for the Eastern Conference champions tonight at 7 in Game 5 at the Pengrowth Saddledome. Additional games are slated for Saturday at Kelowna and Monday in Calgary, as necessary.

If there was any question about the character or the desire of coach Dave Lowry's troops and how they'd deal with their first dose of adversity this season, it was quickly answered as they came out loaded for bull and maintained the push as best they could for most of the game against an explosive band of Rockets.

On a night when they finally caught a few breaks, a couple of fortunate bounces and got their power play back on track, the Hitmen also undressed goaltender Mark Guggenberger for the first time.

There'd be no big theft by the 20-year-old American in this one as the Hitmen jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first period and upped it to 4-2 after 40 minutes.

And, for the first time in this set-to, the Hitmen finally got some production from their top guns and big performances from their special teams.

Brett Sonne, a 100-point man during the regular season, scored twice and added an assist. Brandon Kozun, a 108-point man, broke free for a goal and an assist. Alex Plante, Carson McMillan and Bostjan Golicic also had a goal each.

The power play, skunked on 10 chances in the first three games, scored three times on five chances.

The penalty kill shut down Kelowna five times, including a lengthy two-man advantage midway through the second period when the Rockets were in full rally mode.

"Our guys did a great job of getting in lanes, making themselves big, blocking shots, keeping it tight," said Lowry of the two-man kill when the Rockets were looking to add to a 2-1 lead. Our goalie had to make some saves as well, but when you get a huge kill like that and are able to gain some momentum right after, it's a big lift. . . a key for sure."

Golicic got the equalizer a minute after the two-man kill and the Hitmen were back in business, taking over the momentum and maintaining it the rest of the way.

Mikael Backlund, with his playoff-leading 12th and 13th goals, replied for the Rockets in a shootout of sorts that saw Guggenberger face 35 shots and Calgary goalie Martin Jones tested 37 times.

"We were ready to go," said Lowry. "We competed from start to finish. We found ways to get pucks to the net, get guys at the net and were rewarded for keeping our nose to the grindstone.

''It's a very tough position to be in, but we were a very composed team tonight and I like the way our guys competed,'' said Lowry.

"Tonight was the night where we worked for our opportunities. We were very diligent in doing the little things right. Our guys were committed."

Needless to say, Sonne and a few other front-line forwards felt some relief for finally getting on the scoreboard for the first time in this series.

"Obviously, when you're put in a position to produce and help your team win and you're not doing that, it's frustrating but, at the same time, as long as we got a win and I didn't have any points I'd be happy with that.

"We're still down two games and have a lot of work to do, but it felt good to get some bounces tonight."


**Lowry should be named the new Head Coach of the Flames along with Joel Otto as his assistant and Kiso should be named GM**

[Guest1]

Congrats to the K-Town Rockets (and Gusto for winning a 40 o Crown off me) by beating the Hitmen last night....Good luck at the Memorial Cup

GO ROCKETS GO

[Guest1]

Quinn & Renney...do they make the LOSERTON OILDRIPS a better/playoff team?

Quinn's first stint as an NHL coach came in 1978-79 with the Philadelphia Flyers and also worked behind the bench and in the front office with the Los Angeles Kings, Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.

He coached five seasons in Vancouver, winning the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year in 1992 and leading the team to the 1994 Stanley Cup final where they lost to the New York Rangers. He joined the Maple Leafs for the 1998-99 season and led the club to two straight appearances in the Eastern Conference Final.

Quinn was also coach of Canada's Olympic entry for Salt Lake City in 2002 and led the Canadian National Men's Hockey Team to gold, ending the team's 50-year drought. Two years later, he returned to coach Team Canada in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey leading them to a championship finish.

**NO STANLEY CUP**

Renney, who was fired near the end of the 2008-09 season by the New York Rangers after five-seasons behind the bench.

**NO STANLEY CUP**

[sledneckx69]

I for one, am happy with this. HUGE improvement from MacT.

And sutter to go back to the bench?

[Summitric]

Did cowtown find a coach yet? Just curious...... Haven't heard anything about it?

[snotterite]

Originally Posted by Summitric

Did cowtown find a coach yet? Just curious...... Haven't heard anything about it?

3 candidates.....the 4th being DS.