MEMORIAL CUP BEGINS FRIDAY
The MasterCard Memorial Cup began last Friday with the host Mississauga St. Michaels Majors falling to the Saint John Sea Dogs by a score of 4-3.
The host Majors backed in to the Memorial Cup after falling in a seven game classic battle with the OHL Champion Owen Sound Attack. Mississauga and Owen Sound will meet again in the final game of round-robin play on Wednesday, May 25th.
The Saint John Sea Dogs finished the season as the number one ranked team in all of Canada after finishing with a record of 58-7-1-2.
The Sea Dogs swept through Cape Breton in the first round and then disposed of Victoriaville in five games. They gathered another sweep against Lewiston in the Conference Finals setting up a QMJHL Final with Gatineau. Saint John would win both games three and four in Gatineau and go on to take the series in six games.
Fresh off of winning the OHL Championship the Owen Sound Attack will play their first Memorial Cup game on Saturday, May 21st against the Kootenay Ice.
The Ice were lucky to get out of the first round of the Western Hockey League playoffs as Moose Jaw took them to six games. The Ice then skated to back-to-back sweeps of the Saskatoon Blades and Medicine Hat Tigers, setting up a WHL Final with the Portland Winterhawks.
Portland would win the first game of the series but Kootenay then went on to win four straight and capture the series in five games, sending them to their third Memorial Cup in franchise history.
In the Ontario Hockey League the Owen Sound Attack won the Western Conference and were granted an automatic berth in to the Memorial Cup thanks to the host Majors also getting to the OHL Finals.
The Attack, however, wanted to prove that they are a team that should be taken seriously as they prepared to take on the third-ranked team in all of Canada.
Mississauga captured the first two games of the series and appeared on their way to an OHL Championship, but the Attack would come back with wins in games three and four to tie the series at two games each.
The Majors out-scored Owen Sound by four goals in the pivotal game five, but the Attack answered when they returned to Owen Sound to play their final game of the season at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Arena. The Attack won 3-2 and forced a game seven back in Mississauga.
Game seven was an epic battle between the two clubs that eventually ended in overtime. A 2-2 draw was sent to extra time and it was Owen Sound’s Jarrod Maidens scoring his second of the game and the finals-winner just 3:27 in to overtime.
The Attack finished the year as the eighth-ranked team in the CHL and will now get to prove that they are the top team in all of Canada, as they get set to face Mississauga, Saint John and Kootenay at the Memorial Cup.
After leading the OHL all year long the season came to an abrupt end for the Majors, who now get a quick opportunity to turn things around. They are one of the top-ranked teams to ever host the Memorial Cup, and after losing out on the OHL Championship, you can bet that Dave Cameron will have his Majors ready to roll come Friday night.
Kootenay Ice l Saint John Sea Dogs l Mississauga St. Michaels Majors l Owen Sound Attack
