Shugg helping Majors roll along
By Aaron Bell
After helping the Windsor Spitfires win back-to-back OHL and Memorial Cup titles, Justin Shugg finds himself with the rare opportunity for a three-peat.
The veteran forward was shipped to the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors, along with overage defenceman Marc Cantin, in the off-season. The Majors were stocking up their roster after being named the host team for the 2011 MasterCard Memorial Cup and the addition of the two-time champion was too much to pass up.
“Me and Marc are both bringing in veteran leadership and especially Memorial Cup experience,” said Shugg, who is leading the Majors with 60 points in 47 games this season.
Despite the differences in their lineups, Shugg said that there are a lot of similarities between the Spitfires’ championship teams and the Majors’ squad this year.
“Playing on the Windsor Spitfires the last two years – almost a dream team – I think here there is a lot of chemistry and structure to our game here,” Shugg said. “I think we’re a meat and potatoes type of team. We’re going to win games two-one as opposed to five, six or seven-one.”
The Spitfires knocked out the host team in the past two Memorial Cup tournaments. They defeated the Rimouski Oceanic 6-4 in the tie-breaker game in the 2009 tournament in Quebec and then went on to a 4-1 win over the Kelowna Rockets in the championship game. Last year in Brandon, MB, the Spitfires opened the tournament with a 9-3 win over the host Wheat Kings and beat them again with a 9-1 win in the championship game to finish the tournament with a perfect 4-0 record.
Both of those teams were knocked out during their league playoffs and Shugg said that the Majors are focused on making sure they win their way into the national championship tournament, which opens at the Hershey Centre on May 20.
“Having played in Rimouski and Brandon, you don’t want to be the host team that gets beat out (of the playoffs),” Shugg said. “You’re sitting around and waiting around. For us, our goal is to win the OHL championship.”
Shugg is hoping to become just the fifth player in CHL history to win three Memorial Cup championships. Ryan Huska, Tyson Nash and Darcy Tucker all won three Memorial Cups in a four-year stretch with the Kamloops Blazers from 1992 – 1995. Robert Savard won a pair Memorial Cups with the Cornwall Royals in 1980 and 1981 and won again in 1982 with the Kitchener Rangers.
The Majors have enjoyed a terrific season to date. They are the top team in the OHL with a 39-8-0-2 record through 49 games this season. They have won eight of their past 10 games and six in a row and have established themselves as a legitimate contender to win the Memorial Cup.
And much like the Spitfires experienced during the past two years, that success makes it difficult to sneak up on teams.
“Just like last year, we’ve got the bull’s eye stamped on our backs,” Shugg said. “Everyone’s giving their best against us. We just try to come out and give it everything we’ve got every game.”