2017 MasterCard Memorial Cup: Go hard or go home

Another day rises at the 2017 MasterCard Memorial Cup national tournament, where two teams compete in a do or die matchup as the winner gets his ticket to the semi-final, while the loser heads home on vacations. This fifth meeting will be settled between QMJHL champions, the Saint John Sea Dogs and the WHL champions, the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Saint John Sea Dogs (0-2-0-0)

24 hours after swallowing a historic loss at the hands of the Erie Otters, the Sea Dogs will return to action tonight at the WFCU Center in Windsor, Ontario. Danny Flynn’s squad suffered a bitter 12-5 loss and unfortunately found themselves on the wrong side of the record book in a game where 19 goals were scored.

Quebec’s native, Cédric Paré, scored two goals in the loss, with the other scorers being Mathieu Joseph (one goal and an assist), Spencer smallman and Julien Gauthier.

For his part, Callum Booth conceded five goals on 14 shots before he was replaced by rookie goaltender Alex D’Orio. The latter allowed seven goals on 25 shots.

Highlights of the meeting are available here.

Julien Gauthier addressed the media following the game. “To be honest, we played below our capabilities, we were unable to get the puck through, we can not stand enough, we can not move with the puck. We need to adjust quickly because our season depends on [today’s] game. ”

The Sea Dogs will need forget their previous day’s performance to prepare for the next meeting that will be an important one. The next challenge will be against the Thunderbirds, a team who’s also looking for a first victory. A game without a tomorrow for the two clubs, while one of them will be on vacation as soon as the buzzer goes off.

In a pre-game press conference, players Mathieu Joseph and Samuel Dove-McFalls answered a few questions of the media.

“Sure it’s not going so well but I think we are able to change our situation, I think you need a victory a day and it starts tonight. We are a good team in adversity, so we will have to demonstrate it tonight, “reveals forward Mathieu Joseph.

Meanwhile, Dove-McFalls stayed focus on today’s game. “We’re focused on tonight’s game and we want to get ready to play a good game and do better than what we did in the first two games.”

The Sea Dogs’ 2016-2017 season is in jeopardy and hanging by a thread, with the team’s backs against the wall. If the Sea Dogs manage to win, they will get their ticket to the semi-finals, which will be played on May 26th.

Seattle Thunderbirds (0-2-0-0)

The Sea Dogs are able to breathe a little as another team climbed the same boat, the Seattle Thunderbirds. With no win since the start of the tournament, Seattle’s season also depends on what will happen in tonight’s game. The Thunderbirds have recently suffered a tough loss, a tough one by the 7-1 mark against the tournament’s hosts, the Windsor Spitfires.

Only forward Keegan Kolesar and prospect of the Columbus Blue Jackets, managed to beat the Spitfires goaltender. Helpers were given to Turner Ottenbreit and Mathew Barzal.

For the young goalie, 17-year-old Carl Stankowski, it was first misstep since the start of the WHL playoffs. The goaltender stayed in net for exactly five minutes, giving up three goals on six shots. His teammate, Rylan Toth, conceded four goals, blocking 18 shots.

For the game’s highlights, click here.

A few minutes ago, Thunderbirds head coach Steve Konowalchuk spoke to the media.

“Both teams have had adversity, thats all.”

“I think it’s a character game a little bit and again coming off adversity you wanna see who steps up after some adversity and we’ve definitely had a little bit, so i wanna see the way the guys respond and show their character and what they’re all about. ”

For overager Ryan Gropp, the latter enjoyed the day off provided by his coach.

“It felt really good, we went over to Detroit and just kinda hung out and gotta day from the ice and recharge and rethink the last two games.”

Game five can be watched on Sportsnet and TVA Sports starting at 7:00 pm. You can also catch the game on CHLLive.com.

A text by Frédéric Damiani