PHOTO BY SCOTT VANKOUGHNETT | 
BRANDON, Man. — Two desperate teams will look to gain their first win at the Memorial Cup this afternoon as the QMJHL champion Moncton Wildcats take on the host Brandon Wheat Kings.
The Wildcats are playing their second game in as many days and are trying to bounce back from a heartbreaking 5-4 loss yesterday to the Calgary Hitmen.
Wildcats’ coach Danny Flynn said after the morning skate that his team has forgotten the loss, and will be ready to go.
“We have a rule called the 12 o’clock rule,” he said. “After a game you enjoy the win or analyze the loss until midnight. And then you re-focus and the next day is a new day. We’ve talked about the things we need to do better and the things we need to focus on.”
Forward Cole MacMillan echoed his coach’s sentiments.
“It’s a new day. Yesterday was yesterday,” he said. “It’s a good tournament in the sense that if you lose a game you have a chance to bounce back and that’s going to work out in our favor.”
The Wheat Kings come in having lost a disappointing opening match 9-3 to the defending Memorial Cup champion Windsor Spitfires.
The over 6,000 plus fans on hand did not have much to cheer about, as Windsor went up 5-0 by the end of the first period.
Forward Shayne Wiebe felt as though they let their hometown fans down, but now have another chance today to make it up to them.
“That’s the good thing about the tournament format you don’t have too much time between games so you can forget the last game,” he said. “We’re looking to come out and redeem ourselves.”
Redeeming themselves could be a difficult task even with the huge crowd support expected here at the Westman Place.
Throughout the playoffs, the Wildcats only lost five games in total, and were dominant on the road.
MacMillan feels they’ve been tested enough in other rinks that they should be fine going up against the Wheat Kings and their fans.
“We’ve had some tough barns to win in that’s for sure,” he said. “We’ve come through and we’ve proven we’re a good road team. We’ve shown all year and throughout the playoffs that we can play in a tough barn.”
Whichever way you want to put it, one team will capture their first victory of the tournament, and secure a birth in at least the tiebreaker game Thursday.
Game time is set for 2 pm (3pm EST).
Topics: Brandon, Brandon Wheat Kings, Cole MacMillan, Danny Flynn, Manitoba, Mastercard Memorial Cup, Memorial Cup 2010, Moncton Wildcats, Shayne Wiebe, Wheat Kings
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