SPOKANE CHIEFS WIN 2008 MASTERCARD MEMORIAL CUP

DUSTIN TOKARSKI NAMED MVP — Kitchener, ON – The Spokane Chiefs are the 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup Champions after defeating the Kitchener Rangers 4-1 in the championship game on Sunday, May 25th, in Kitchener, ON.
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rGoaltender Dustin Tokarski turned in a tremendous 53-save performance and earned the Most Valuable Player of the tournament award as the Spokane Chiefs won their second Memorial Cup in franchise history. The Chiefs won their first Memorial Cup in 1991.
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rSpokane also finished the tournament with a perfect 4-0 record, having beat the Belleville Bulls, the Gatineau Olympiques and the Rangers in the round-robin to earn the automatic berth in the Championship game. It was the ninth consecutive victory overall for the Chiefs, dating back to their Kal Tire Western Conference Championship series versus the Tri-City Americans.
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rIt’s the second straight year a WHL team has captured the Master Card Memorial Cup. The Vancouver Giants won the 2007 MasterCard Memorial Cup as the host team last year.
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rThe Rangers – 2008 tournament hosts and OHL Champions – came out with a strong performance, firing 19 first-period shots at Tokarski, and were rewarded when Brandon Mashinter one-times home a centering feed from Mike Mascioli 5:01 into the contest.
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rThe Chiefs settled down as the first period progressed, and began to exert some pressure of their own.
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rThe line of David Rutherford, Ondrej Roman and Judd Blackwater may have been held off the score sheet through the round-robin despite their strong play and many great scoring chances.
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rThey were finally rewarded when it counted most as Ondrej Roman raced into the Rangers zone and fed a quick pass out front as he headed behind the net, finding Blackwater who put the puck over the shoulder of Kitchener netminder Josh Unice.
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rDrayson Bowman, Spokane’s leading scorer at the tournament, put the Chiefs ahead 4:11 into the second period with his sixth goal of the tournament. The 19-year-old Carolina Hurricanes draft pick picked up the puck at the top of the left circle, spun and fired a low shot that beat Unice on the far side.
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rChiefs’ rearguard Trevor Glass made it 3-1 just 1:01 later with his second goal of the tournament on a shot that beat Unice on the glove side.
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rThe Rangers came out fast and furious in the third period, knowing they needed to find a way through Spokane’s clinical defensive system. Yet, it was Tokarski who took over when the Chiefs’ defense was pressed.
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rTokarski, who won a Telus Cup National Midget Championship in 2006 with the Prince Albert Mintos, turned aside 25 shots in the third period as the Rangers peppered the net and poured on the pressure.
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rRookie defenseman Jared Cowen put the game on ice with an empty-net goal with under a minute remaining in the third period.
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rGame Summary
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rFor complete coverage of the 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup tournament, visit the MasterCard Memorial Cup Website.
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