The bitter taste of defeat never left Paul Postma and his Calgary Hitmen teammates.

It's for that reason Postma and the Hitmen aren't taking anything for granted in their third consecutive appearance in the Western Hockey League's Eastern Conference final. Despite finishing first in the conference in the regular season year ago, the Hitmen were swept by the upstart Lethbridge Hurricanes, an experience Postma uses as motivation.

"It was absolutely awful, a pretty quiet ride," Postma recalled of the drive back to Calgary. "It's something you don't forget about too quickly. We had to live with that the entire summer."

The returning players from last year's team learned from their experience as the Hitmen are back in the league's final four. Calgary finished with the best record in the regular season and best in franchise history with 122 points, a mere three points shy of tying the league record for points in a season.

Unlike a year ago, the Hitmen may be playing their best hockey in the playoffs, having swept both of their first two opponents. Ironically, the team they beat in the second round were those same Hurricanes who provided the Hitmen with heartache and learning lessons a year ago.

"Last year was obviously a huge disappointment," assistant coach Brent Kisio said. "We were rolling along and we thought we were doing well and then we ran into Lethbridge and they kind of handed it to us."

"You look at our series last year with Lethbridge and we had a lot of talent on our team but it was just a case that Lethbridge had their way with us all year and we couldn't get anything going," Hitmen forward Brandon Kozun added. "It was definitely a big motivator for us this year knowing they eliminated your team last year and your chance to go to the finals."

After exorcising last year's demons, the Hitmen draw similarities between the Hurricanes and their next opponent, the Brandon Wheat Kings. Brandon boasts a group of elite forwards headlined by their top trio of Brayden Schenn, Scott Glennie and Matt Calvert.

Lethbridge's offence was led by Zach Boychuk, Colton Sceviour and Dwight King, a group of forwards the Hitmen were successful in neutralizing for the majority of their series. Kozun believes a similar physical approach against Brandon's big three could give his team an advantage.

"Brandon is kind of a similar team," Postma added. "(They're) really skilled up front and I think they like to trade chances."

The Hitmen saw just how potent the Wheat Kings' offence can be in a game earlier this season. Brandon was one of just four teams to beat the Hitmen in Calgary all season. The Wheat Kings won the thrilling, back and forth game 7-6 in overtime on Jan. 31.

As Kozun indicated, that loss to Brandon not only gave the Hitmen a wake up call as to Brandon's potential but proved their worth as an adversary.

"They showed us they are a good team and they can compete with us," he said.

The Hitmen trailed 5-2 in that game before rallying with four goals in the final 21 minutes of regulation. Postma, who scored two of his team's four rallying goals, says the team will need to be much more disciplined defensively than they were on Jan. 31.

Kisio, however, believes defensive discipline is just one of the areas his team will need to improve on in order to avoid a similar result.

"Going back and looking at it the biggest thing we saw is any time we turned the puck over they're taking off," he said. "We're not a team that usually gives up seven goals but we turned pucks over and we know Brandon likes to go the other way and that's what they're going to do to us."

The Hitmen hope the Wheat Kings learned a lesson in that game. While most teams would have difficulty clawing back from a three-goal deficit, the Hitmen's rally proves their never-say-die attitude in the face of adversity.

"I'm sure they've watched us play a lot and they know we don't quit," Kisio said. "We both know what we can do and both teams respect each other and we know it's going to be a battle."

After experiencing such heartbreak a year ago, this year's version of the Hitmen is confident they have the pieces in place to succeed where others failed.

"There's something (special) about this team," Postma said.

"I'd say the only thing different is this year's team is a little closer and we play much more as a team," Kisio explained. "We're not so offence-oriented or relying on one or two guys. This year's team is really a team and that's probably the biggest difference."

Remembering the bitter taste of defeat the team felt a year ago, the Hitmen may have all the motivation needed to make amends for previous failures.