Patrick King

BRANDON, Man. -- Giffen Nyren isn't worried about giving another team added motivation.

Although Wednesday's game was meaningless in terms of the standings, Nyren's Calgary Hitmen prevailed over the host Brandon Wheat Kings 5-1 in a snoozer that saw its last goal at 16:50 of the first period. After the game, Nyren was his usual quote-friendly self in describing Calgary's dominance over their arch-rivals.

"I would have to go for yes," he said when asked if the Hitmen are now in the heads of the Wheat Kings players. "When I was in Kamloops and we played Kelowna, they beat us about 12 straight and it was tough to beat those guys when they were in our heads."

Prior to the game, Nyren was asked if the Wheat Kings were intimidated by the Hitmen after Calgary beat them four straight times to close out the five-game series in the playoffs.

"I would assume so," he said then.

Are they more intimidated now?

"I hope so," Nyren said, taking a more modest and safe approach. "I think it's just a statement that we mean business. We're here to play and want to do the best we can."

The answer was a refreshingly honest take in a sports world that is over-run by clichés, but its accuracy also became apparent shortly after puck drop.

The Hitmen were the better team from the outset and made Brandon goalie Jacob De Serres look more like the goalie from their quick series than the one who posted a 31-save shutout over Moncton. Calgary got to the danger areas and paid the price to score goals early then coasted from there on out.

It's hard to find motivation in a game that meant nothing more than which team gets the final change in the semi-final. Many of the Calgary players spoke of the importance of gaining “home-ice advantage” for Friday's game as if it was going to be played at their home rink, the Pengrowth Saddledome.

Calgary will be the home team on the scoreboard, but the advantage in fan participation will not change.

So how important, really, is that last line change?

"If we have our fourth line against their first, it's tough there," Calgary forward Kris Foucault said.

Come on, Kris. Just ask the Belleville Bulls how important that final change meant to them two yeas ago in Kitchener. The Bulls beat the host Rangers in that same scenario before being steamrolled 9-0 by the Rangers in the semifinal.

That round-robin game went to overtime before Keaton Turkiewicz mercifully ended the meaningless affair near the midway point of the first extra frame.

So which means more: last change or momentum?

"I think we want to keep the train rolling and the confidence going," Foucault said. "I think our best two games of the year have been against Brandon (in Games 4 and 5 of their Eastern Conference finals series). Definitely keeping confidence going in and hopefully squashing some of theirs."

That's more like it.

How do the Wheat Kings bounce back against a team so full of confidence they're not afraid of giving them motivation before their next tilt?

The Wheat Kings can start by playing better around each crease. Brandon players failed to clear the crease with effectiveness early and De Serres was forced into making far too many second and third saves on some sequences.

Conversely, the Wheat Kings failed to generate quality scoring chances beyond the first period after scoring on their first shot of the game. Calgary goaltender Martin Jones has admittedly been shaky in the tournament and was having difficulty with his rebounds early in the contest.

The most glaring difficulty for the Wheat Kings was during a full four-minute five-on-three power-play where they appeared more intent on looking for the picture-perfect pass play than the greasy goal. Now they may have awoken the man who provided so much pain for them in their playoff series.

"I felt good the first two games, but a couple of sloppy goals here and there have hurt our team," Jones said. "It's nice to have a good game under my belt heading into an elimination game."

That news couldn't be worse for the Wheat Kings. Now they might be left hoping the Hitmen will be overconfident after dominating them in their last five outings.

"I think you can read into anything for both teams," Wheat Kings captain Matt Calvert said. "Overconfidence (for Calgary), under-confidence for us. It could be anything. It's the last weekend of the year and it's go time now. It's going to show how much character we have on Friday."

The Rangers' character shone through in 2008. But that host team also won its league by beating the Bulls in the seventh game of the final. Brandon did not win its league.

The Wheat Kings have a rare second- (or if you count Wednesday's game, third-) chance at redemption. They shouldn't need any more motivation than that.