London Knights win 2013 Robertson Cup
Bo Horvat scored with less than one second remaining in regulation to lift the London Knights to a thrilling Robertson Cup title with a 3-2 win over the Barrie Colts in Game 7 of the Rogers OHL Championship Series Monday night in London.
The win gives the Knights their third OHL Championship and second straight title becoming just the 10th team to win back-to-back Robertson Cups.
Horvat finished the game with two goals and was named the recipient of the Wayne Gretzky ’99’ Award as MVP of the 2013 OHL Playoffs with 23 points netting 16 goals including three game-winners in the Championship Series.
The Knights won three straight games including their Game 7 victory to become just the third team in OHL history to battle back from a 3-1 series deficit in the OHL Finals following the 1990 Oshawa Generals and the 1979 Peterborough Petes.
Horvat opened the scoring at 7:13 of the first period from Tyler Ferry to give the Knights a 1-0 lead. Andreas Athanasiou tied the score for the Colts less than two minutes later with his 12th of the playoffs.
Olli Maatta put the Knights ahead 2-1 with the lone goal of the second period, his 4th of the playoffs from Seth Griffith and Alex Broadhurst.
The Knights appeared poised for the win until Mitchell Theoret scored his 14th of the playoffs for the Colts with less than three minutes to play. It marked the second straight game-tying goal for Theoret late in the third period.
Horvat’s goal sent the sold out crowd of 9046 fans at Budweiser Gardens into a frenzy.
Jake Patterson earned the win in goal with 30 saves, while Mathias Niederberger stopped 45 shots despite the loss.
The Knights will represent the OHL at the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup May 17-26 along with the QMJHL Champion Halifax Mooseheads, WHL Champion Portland Winterhawks, and the host Saskatoon Blades.
The Knights open the tournament against the host Blades on Friday May 17 at 8PM Eastern live on Sportsnet.