BRANDON, MB – The Brandon Wheat Kings are ready to play for the 2010 MasterCard Memorial Cup.

 

The host team for the tournament, the Wheat Kings knocked off their rival Calgary Hitmen – the WHL Champions – with a dramatic 5-4 overtime victory on Friday night in the semi-final and will now face the OHL Champion and defending Memorial Cup Champion Windsor Spitfires in the Championship game on Sunday (live on Rogers Sportsnet; 6:00pm CST).

 

“We’ve visualized this game for a long time,” said Wheat Kings’ head coach and general manager Kelly McCrimmon.  “We’ve known since October 2008 that we’d be hosting this tournament and have a chance to play for the Memorial Cup, and I think every guy has gone over this one in their minds many times.”

 

The Wheat Kings’ road to the Memorial Cup final has not been one without bumps along the way.  With a strong lineup, the Wheat Kings skated to an outstanding 50-18-1-3 record during the 2009-10 regular season and finished second overall in the WHL standings, behind only the Hitmen.

 

Having bowed out in the WHL Eastern Conference Championship series to the eventual Ed Chynoweth Cup-winning Hitmen, the Wheat Kings got off to a rocky start to the 2010 MasterCard Memorial Cup tournament, losing 9-3 at the hands of the Spitfires in the opening round robin game.

 

After a win over the QMJHL Champion Moncton Wildcats in their second round robin contest, the Wheat Kings were bested again by the Hitmen in the final round robin contest on Wednesday.

 

Yet, the team regrouped and came up with their best performance of the tournament in Friday’s semi-final, knocking off their bitter rivals to put them in position to battle for the Memorial Cup.

 

Now, they’ll have to face a Spitfires team that not only beat them badly in the round robin, but has won seven straight Memorial Cup games, dating back to last year when they battled back from an 0-2 start to win the Championship.

 

“We have gotten a bit more comfortable, now,” said Wheat Kings’ defenseman Colby Robak, who notched a goal in Friday’s semi-final win over Calgary.  “(The Spitfires) are a good team and they have great forwards, so we need to focus on our end and play good defense, play in their end of the ice, focus on our game, and we should be fine.”

 

In their first meeting with the Spitfires, the Wheat Kings were victims of a bad start, falling behind 4-0 before the game was even 10 minutes old.  Getting off on the right foot is something the Wheat Kings feel they need to do to have success versus the high-powered Windsor squad.

 

“We are going to have to have a better start to the game,” said Wheat Kings’ pivot Brayden Schenn, who played his best game of the tournament on Friday night versus the Hitmen, picking up three assists in the win.

 

“Look at the start from the last game…we allowed some quick goals and they took it from there, so getting a good start is key and we’ll go from there,” he said.

 

The big advantage the Wheat Kings will have over the Spitfires is having the home crowd behind them.  The fans at Westman Communications Group Place were at their loudest when Jay Fehr scored the overtime winner versus Calgary on Friday. 

 

Getting their fans revved up will be important in helping the Wheat Kings gain some momentum.

 

“I think the crowd has been a factor for us all week,” said McCrimmon.  “They have been tremendous, and I think it’s something that we can use to our advantage.

 

McCrimmon, however, knows the fans can’t win the game for the Wheat Kings.  He knows his team needs to bring their best game if they are to dethrone the Spitfires and hoist the Memorial Cup.

 

“We know that the game we play on Sunday needs to be our best game of the year,” he said.

 

For more on the 2010 MasterCard Memorial Cup tournament, visit the Official Website.