KNIGHTS HAVE EYE ON THE PRIZE AT MEMORIAL CUP
By: Katrina Squazzin
To say that the London Knights are on a roll heading to the MasterCard Memorial Cup is an understatement.
London is riding a 13 game win streak into Red Deer, Alberta after sweeping their final three playoff series en route to the franchise’s fourth OHL championship. The Knights outscored their opponents 64-27 during that time and have not lost a game since April 1.
“I think everyone is just buying in,” said co-captain Christian Dvorak of the Knights’ recent performances. “We’re playing a good defensive game and that leads to offence for us so we just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing.”
The Knights’ well-rounded style of play made them nearly untouchable in the final rounds of the OHL playoffs. Mitch Marner, Matthew Tkachuk, and Dvorak finished first, second, and third respectively in postseason scoring while Tyler Parsons led all goalies with a playoff-best 2.15 goals against average and a .925 save percentage.
However, the Knights are not yet satisfied. They know that there is still work to be done.
“It’s pretty easy to want to win this tournament,” said Tkachuk, who notched a playoff leading 20 goals in 18 games. “I think all of the guys are focused because we’ve made it this far and there’s no point in going out now. We want to win and that just makes sense for us right now. We have the team to do it and you never know if this is your last chance or one of your last runs at a Memorial Cup.
“I think all the guys are gearing up and we’re ready.”
The Knights have not played since May 11, earning themselves a well-deserved rest before they play their first game of the tournament against the host Red Deer Rebels on May 20. Dvorak says that the time off has been beneficial.
“It’s huge, obviously, to get everyone a little rest here,” said Dvorak. “A couple of guys have been banged up so it’s nice to get them healed up. It’s a huge rest for us and we should be ready to go for Friday.”
The Knights have also been using their rest period to watch video and scout out their opponents. London will have to go through the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champion Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, Western Hockey League champion Brandon Wheat Kings, and the Rebels to hoist the Memorial Cup.
London will face each team once in round robin play. The team with the best record advances straight to the finals while the second and third place teams face off in the semi finals.
The Knights have done their homework on all three of their opponents.
“The team in the Q[MJHL] is a really fast paced team,” said Tkachuk. “Brandon plays a lot like us: a lot of size and can skate really well. They’ve got some good players up front. Red Deer is a big physical team that is going to try and take away space from us. We’ve watched a little bit of video on them.
“Guys in their spare time have been looking up their highlights and stats to try and get us as ready as possible.”
The Knights won their only franchise Memorial Cup in 2005. They played in the tournament again as the OHL Champions in 2012 and 2013 and competed as the host team in 2014.
Very few players have the opportunity to play in the Memorial Cup during their career, a fact that none of the Knights are taking lightly.
“Even winning the OHL championship was awesome, but going to the Memorial Cup is a once in a lifetime experience and it doesn’t happen a lot,” said Parsons. “It’s a great accomplishment for the whole team.”
The Knights’ 2015-2016 season will go down as one of the most successful in franchise history regardless of the result in Red Deer, but winning the Memorial Cup would make this year’s campaign truly unforgettable.
