If you knew Skinner in the WHL, it is easy to cheer for him

Stuart Skinner raises the Ed Chynoweth Cup in 2018.

“Skin-Ner.”

Inevitably, that would be something Stuart Skinner heard every time played goal in an opposing WHL rink. In suiting up for three-and-a-half seasons with the Lethbridge Hurricanes and a half campaign with the Swift Current Broncos from 2014 to 2018, someone in an opposing rink would inevitably get up and bellow out “Skin-Ner” is his or her best imitation of Simpsons character superintendent Gary Chalmers.

During the 2018 WHL Playoffs as Skinner was backstopping the Broncos to a WHL championship win, he was asked about that heckle. The star netminder, who was 19-years-old at the time, took that noise with some amusement.

“I’ve been around it for four years,” said Skinner at that time. “I hear it every place I go.

“I like it. I think it gives more energy and kind of gets me pumped up.”

These days Skinner, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 230 pounds, is a 25-year-old professional goaltender who has played last season and the current campaign full time in the NHL for his hometown Edmonton Oilers. He has backstopped the Oilers to their first appearance in the Stanley final since 2006.

The Oilers currently trail the best-of-seven Stanley Cup final series 1-0 to the Florida Panthers. Game 2 is set for Monday in Sunrise, Florida (6 p.m. Saskatchewan time, Sportsnet West).

Back in his WHL days, Skinner was good natured and had a good youthful energy to him. It felt like nothing ever got to him, and he had a lot of fun handling the big moments. In 207 career regular season contests played between the Hurricanes and Broncos, Skinner posted a 104-72-15 record, a 3.22 goals against average, a .908 save percentage and 12 shutouts.

It seemed like he was made for the big moments. He was also made for fun moments too like on March 18, 2016, when he scored an empty-net goal for the Hurricanes in a 9-3 home ice victory over their biggest rivals the Medicine Hat Tigers.

Stuart Skinner dives on a puck for the Hurricanes in 2017.

The packed crowd of 5,320 spectators at the Enmax Centre broke into a thunderous ovation as Skinner made sure to do the goal scorer’s flyby of his team’s bench. At that point in time, not too many people saw someone do a goal scorer’s flyby dressing in full goalie gear.

Skinner was a key reason the Hurricanes went on a long playoff run in 2017 and the Broncos captured the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions in 2018.

In the 2017 WHL Playoffs, Skinner backstopped the Hurricanes to the WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series for the first time in nine years. They fell in the conference title series in six games to the Regina Pats.

During the 20 contests the Hurricanes played in the post-season, Skinner posted a 10-10 record, a 3.09 goals against average and a .916 save percentage.

On January 9, 2018, Skinner was dealt to the Broncos in a blockbuster deal as Swift Current was loading up for a potential long run through the post-season. 

With Skinner holding the fort in goal, the Broncos won their first WHL championship since 1993. In 26 games in the WHL Playoffs, Skinner posted a 16-10 record, a 2.20 goals against average, a .932 save percentage and six shutouts.

Skinner’s sixth shutout was a 31-save beauty as the Broncos claimed the WHL Championship Series win a 3-0 win over the Everett Silvertops in Game 6 before a sellout crowd of 2,890 spectators at the then Innovations Credit Union i-Plex in Swift Current.

At the Memorial Cup tournament that was hosted in 2018 in Regina, the Broncos were playing on fumes at the event that crowns a CHL champion. They were trying, but it was noticeable the battles they went through in the WHL post-season took their toll.

Stuart Skinner (#74) got the Hurricanes to a conference final in 2017.

While the Broncos lost all three of their games at that event, Skinner posted a .902 save percentage. In a round robin clash against the OHL champion Hamilton Bulldogs, Skinner made 54 saves trying to steal a game the Broncos would ultimate lose 2-1.

In the professional ranks, Skinner would face a whole different challenge. 

He was selected by the Oilers in the third round and 78^th overall by the Oilers in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. The Oilers signed him to three-year NHL entry-level contract on May 14, 2018.

Skinner spent his first two seasons as a professional playing in the Oilers minor league system. He made his first NHL start in the 2020-21 campaign, and played 13 games for the Oilers in the 2021-22 campaign before becoming a full time member of the team in 2022-23.

He has put up some good numbers so far in his NHL career. In 123 career regular season games with the Oilers, Skinner has posted a 72-36-10 record, a 2.69 goals against average, a .909 save percentage and four shutouts.

If you know someone who plays in the NHL for a Canadian team, it is advised to not look at the Platform-X social media line. That goes double if the person you know is a goalie for his hometown Canadian team.

While Skinner was a finalist last year for the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year, it seems like some of the Oilers supporters in the social media world expect Skinner to be Patrick Roy right now. When struggles have come Skinner’s way, some Oilers fans will basically post their team would be better off with anyone else in goal.

Stuart Skinner helped bring a WHL title to Swift Current in 2018.

In the WHL, those who play for their hometown teams are viewed that much bigger of being a hero when they succeed in good times and take seemingly twice the harder criticism in the bad times. Those extremes are seen in a larger way at the NHL level.

The Oilers dropped Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final 3-0 on Saturday in Florida despite holding a 32-18 edge in shots on goal. 

Skinner stopped 15-of-17 shots sent his way. He had no chance on the two goals the Panthers scored on him, and the Florida side sealed the win with an empty-net tally.

Still, you are going to hear voices about how Panthers star netminder Sergei Bobrovsky is going to put Skinner in his back pocket in this series. Bobrovsky was sensational making 32 saves for the shutout in Game 1, where the Oilers likely would have had seven or eight goals on any other netminder.

For those that knew Skinner during his WHL days, the soft spot in the heart for him is always there. If the Oilers ultimately don’t win this series, you hope the there won’t be an effort by some fans in Edmonton to run him out of town.

If that materializes, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Vegas Golden Knights and their brilliant general manager Kelly McCrimmon swoop in to pick him up.

Right now, it would be preferable if the storybook situation plays out here. 

Stuart Skinner will try to add a Stanley Cup win to his resume.

That would see the Oilers become the first Canadian based team to win the Stanley Cup since the 1993 victory by Roy and the Montreal Canadiens, and Skinner materializes as the ultimate hometown hero in the Alberta capital city along the way.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Memorial Cup drought for WHL hits new distinction

Remparts blank Thunderbirds 5-0 in CHL final

The WHL’s drought for winning the Memorial Cup hit an unwelcome milestone for the major junior circuit.

On Sunday, the QMJHL champion Quebec Remparts blanked the WHL champion Seattle Thunderbirds 5-0 in the title game of the Memorial Cup tournament played at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops, B.C. The Remparts skated away as CHL champions for the second time in team history with the first Memorial Cup championship win coming in 2006.

Since the WHL came into existence in the 1966-67 campaign, it is going through its longest drought of not winning the Memorial Cup and that includes times when the circuit was ineligible to compete for the storied championship trophy. In three of the first four seasons the WHL existed, the circuit wasn’t eligible to compete for the Memorial Cup as the circuit was originally viewed as an “outlaw league” by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association that governed the game in Canada at that time.

The WHL didn’t have any Memorial Cup victories in its first seven seasons of existence, and that winless run came to an end when the Regina Pats won storied trophy for the third time in team history to conclude the 1973-74 campaign. Clubs from the WHL became eligible to play for the Memorial Cup on a regular basis in the 1970-71 campaign.

The WHL’s current drought spans seven seasons including the tournaments played from 2015 to 2019, 2022 and 2023. The Memorial Cup tournament wasn’t contested in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The current drought matches the drought the WHL had at the beginning of its existence that included seasons the league wasn’t allowed to compete for the trophy that was first awarded in 1919. Including the two years the Memorial Cup tournaments that were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the WHL is in its longest drought for winning major junior hockey’s biggest prize when it comes to considering how much time has elapsed since the last win.

The Edmonton Oil Kings were the last team from the WHL to win the Memorial Cup, and that victory came back in 2014. Edmonton captured the WHL and CHL titles that year playing to honour the memory of former player Kristians Pelss, who was with the Oil Kings 2012 WHL championship team and passed away in June of 2013 due to a recreation diving accident.

In the championship game of the 2014 Memorial Cup tournament played in London, Ont., on May 25 of that year, the WHL champion Oil Kings downed the OHL champion Guelph Storm 6-3. It has been nine years since a WHL team last captured the Memorial Cup.

On the other end of the spectrum, teams from the QMJHL have won the Memorial Cup the last four times the CHL’s championship tournament was held. That included the Saint John Sea Dogs winning the event as the host squad last year after being eliminated in the first round of the QMJHL Playoffs.

This year’s WHL champion in the Thunderbirds was the deepest squad the circuit sent to the Memorial Cup since the Oil Kings championship win in 2014. The Thunderbirds and Remparts were two of the CHL’s top clubs throughout the 2022-23 campaign.

Kyle Crnkovic was a Memorial Cup tournament all-star.

The Thunderbirds topped the WHL’s Western Conference and finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 54-11-1-2 record. The U.S. Division champions were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. Seattle’s 54 wins and standings points total of 111 points are new regular season club records.

In the WHL Playoffs, the Thunderbird proceeded to win the league title posting a 16-3 mark.

The Remparts finished first overall in the QMJHL regular season standings with a 53-12-1-2 record and were rated fifth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. In the QMJHL Playoffs, the Remparts proceeded to win the league crown posting a 16-2 mark.

Both clubs were 2-1 in the round robin portion of the tournament, and the Remparts took first place and earned a bye to the tournament final with a 3-1 victory in a head-to-head meeting with the Thunderbirds on May 29. The Thunderbirds downed the OHL champion Peterborough Petes 4-1 in a semifinal contest to advance to the final.

It was expected the Memorial Cup title game between the Thunderbirds and Remparts would be a heavyweight tilt. It was apparent in that contest Remparts head coach and general manager Patrick Roy and his staff used the four days off between their last round robin game and the title contest to ensure their team was ready for the final.

The Memorial Cup win just added to more to Roy’s hockey legend and his image as an all-time hero in the province of Quebec rightfully nicknamed “Saint Patrick.”

At the 6:31 mark of the first period, Remparts import defenceman Vsevolod Komarov fired a shot to the top right corner of the Seattle net converting a beauty pass on a two-on-one break from Remparts left-winger Kassim Gaudet to open the game’s scoring.

The Remparts pushed their advantage out to 2-0 at the 8:50 mark of the second as star right-winger James Malatesta fired home his fifth goal of the tournament converting a tick-tack-toe passing play involving star centre Theo Rochette and Komarov. Malatesta’s tally came during a stretch were the two sides were playing four skaters versus four skaters due to off-setting penalties.

Seattle appeared to have a big chance to mount a comeback after Remparts centre Mikael Huchette was given a minor penalty for cross-checking sending the Thunderbirds to the power play with 8:58 remaining in the third. On the Thunderbirds power play, the Remparts scored a short-handed goal to go up 3-0 that proved to be a backbreaking tally to the hopes of the WHL champs.

In the Remparts zone, Thunderbirds star centre Brad Lambert had a shot blocked by Remparts defenceman Nicolas Savoie. The puck deflected right to Remparts star centre Justin Robidas who quickly transitioned down the right-wing on a two-on-one break with Gaudet.

Robidas passed the puck across the front of the Seattle net to Gaudet, who buried the short-handed marker to give the Remparts their three-goal lead with 7:39 remaining in the third. Gaudet’s goal ultimate brought an end to the competitive part of the contest.

Zachary Bolduc tallied on the power play and Charles Savoie scored at even strength for the Remparts to round out the 5-0 final.

William Rousseau stopped all 32 shots he faced to pick up the shutout win in goal for the Remparts. Thomas Milic turned away 30 shots to take the setback in goal for the Thunderbirds.

Malatesta took the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as the MVP of the Memorial Cup tournament. He was named to the tournament all-star team along with teammates Rochette and Rousseau. Rousseau claimed the Hap Emms Memorial Trophy as the event’s most outstanding goaltender.

Thunderbirds star left-winger Kyle Crnkovic and standout defensive-defenceman Nolan Allan were also named to the tournament’s all-star team.

While the Remparts on the scoreboard posted a convincing win, the Thunderbirds did have chances to change their fate. After the Remparts got ahead 1-0 and increased their edge to 2-0, the Thunderbirds were never able to find a traction moment to change the complexion of the contest.

Had the Thunderbirds scored in the game’s first 50 minutes, it could have changed how that whole contest played out. The Remparts did make a handful of mistakes that resulted in scoring chances for the Thunderbirds.

The Thunderbirds weren’t able to score off those mistakes, and it ended up being a no harm and now foul situation for the Remparts.

Before the Remparts netted their first goal, Lambert had a chance in alone in the Quebec zone to score for the Thunderbirds, but he as stoned by Rousseau. Late in the first period with the Remparts holding a 1-0 lead, the Thunderbirds forced the Remparts to turn the puck over in their own zone resulting in a scoring chance for Crnkovic, whose backhand shot was swallowed up with some juggling by Rousseau.

Nolan Allan was a Memorial Cup tournament all-star.

A short time after that scoring chance, Crnkovic created another scoring opportunity. He intercepted a pass by a Remparts player behind the Quebec goal. After getting the puck, Crnkovic fed a pass to the front of the net to Thunderbirds captain Lucas Ciona. Ciona quick shot was swallowed up by an alert Rousseau.

About eight minutes into the second, Thunderbirds offensive-defenceman Jeremy Hanzel had a point blank chance to score, but Rousseau turned that shot away with a pad stop.

Had the Thunderbirds scored on any of those early chances, it might have created some doubts for the players on the Remparts.

The Remparts were able to make the Thunderbirds hesitate and second guess what they were able to do with the puck thanks to structured play. Quebec created a number of Seattle turnovers.

Lambert had his struggles turning the puck over at least on three occasions with backhanded passes that resulted in turnovers and offensive zone rushes for the Remparts. Thanks to Milic, the Remparts didn’t score on any of those turnovers.

Lambert, who is 19-years-old, was selected in the first round and 30^th overall in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft and has a signed entry-level contract with the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets assigned Lambert to the Thunderbirds in January from the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, and Lambert looked like a future NHL star in his half season with the Thunderbirds.

If he makes turnovers like he did in the Memorial Cup title game at the NHL level, Lambert won’t be in the NHL for very long. He is already under the microscope by Jets followers, so you can be sure his turnovers in the Memorial Cup title game were noticed.

Had the Thunderbirds scored on the third period power play they received due to Huchette’s cross-checking minor, a goal at that point could have changed how the Memorial Cup title game played out.

Still, the Remparts were 27-3 overall in their last 30 contests, so they flat out deserved to win the Memorial Cup and soak in all the praise that comes their way.

For the WHL as a league, maybe the “Curse of the Drop” still lingers.

For the superstitious types, that event took place on May 25, 2008 after the WHL champion Spokane Chiefs downed the host Kitchener Rangers 4-1 in the Memorial Cup tournament’s championship game. After receiving the trophy, Chiefs captain Chris Bruton had the Memorial Cup fall apart in his hands as he attempted to give it to veteran defenceman Trevor Glass.

Since that drop, the WHL has only won the Memorial Cup once coming with the Oil Kings win in 2014.

Going forward, one has to wonder how long the WHL’s Memorial Cup drought will continue, and how much the hands of fate will play a part in extending that drought.

Bedard makes history at CHL Awards

Connor Bedard collect three honours at the CHL Awards.

Regina Pats 17-year-old phenom centre Connor Bedard continues to make history even when he isn’t skating in games on the ice.

On Saturday, Bedard cleaned up at the CHL Awards held in Kamloops, B.C., as part of the Memorial Cup tournament that is held to crown a CHL champion. Bedard claimed the David Branch Player of the Year Award, the CHL Top Draft Prospect Award and the CHL Top Scorer Award.

The North Vancouver, B.C., product became the first play to win all three awards since the CHL Top Scorer Award was first introduced in 1994.

In 57 regular season appearances for the Pats, Bedard, who is the Pats captain, piled up 71 goals and 72 assists for 143 points to go with a plus-39 rating in the plus-minus department. In the WHL Playoffs, Bedard had 10 goals and 10 assists for 20 points to go with a plus-eight rating as Regina fell in a tough seven game first round series to the Saskatoon Blades.

Bedard is rated number one among North American skaters in the final ranking released by NHL Central Scouting. Barring something unforeseen, Bedard will be the first overall selection in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft set for June 28 to 29 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, and he will be skating in the NHL next season as an 18-year-old with the Chicago Blackhawks, who hold the first overall selection.

At this past world juniors held in Halifax, N.S., and Moncton, N.B., Bedard set numerous Canadian team records helping Canada take the gold medal final 3-2 in overtime over Czechia this past January 5 in Halifax.

Bedard was named the most valuable player at world juniors along with picking up accolades being named the event’s best forward and a tournament all-star.

His tallies for assists (14) and points (23) were new Canadian records for a single world juniors along with setting a new record for points in a tournament by any player aged 18 or younger. In 16 career games played at world juniors, Bedard set new Canadian career records at the event for goals (16) and points (36).

Bedard’s own brand skyrocketed following world juniors. He sold out rinks or set attendance records at arena across the WHL in most games he played in following world juniors.

Connor Bedard had 143 points in 57 regular season games in 2022-23.

It likely won’t be long when Bedard is in his NHL career that a new appreciation hits fans and followers of the WHL circuit that he played his entire major junior career on that circuit. There are probably some fans out there who are kicking themselves they didn’t get out to see Bedard in his 16-year-old season in 2021-22.

In 2021-22 when the WHL clubs started playing in their home rinks in front of fans after big shutdowns due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, WHL teams drew an average of 3,205 spectators per game for 748 regular season dates. This past season, WHL squads drew an average of 3,895 spectators per game for 748 regular season date.

At some point in time, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Bedard maybe one game become a sports cultural icon in Chicago like the late Walter Payton with the NFL’s Bears and Michael Jordan with the NBA’s Bulls.

In making the rounds on the interview trail around Game 2 of the NHL’s Stanley Cup final in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Monday, Bedard looked poised. He also displayed a cool and confident strut when he was on an NHL on TNT panel with Wayne Gretzky, Anson Carter, Henrik Lundquist and Paul Bissonnette.

You have to think it is going to be fun watching Bedard’s NHL journey play out.

Besides the continuing excitement with Bedard, Olen Zellweger was the other winner at the CHL Awards from the WHL. The Kamloops Blazers star defenceman claimed the CHL Defenceman of the Year Award.

Nathan Darveau of the QMJHL’s Victoriaville Tigres claimed the CHL’s Goaltender of the Year Award, Maxim Masse of the QMJHL’s Chicoutimi Sagueneens took home the CHL Rookie of the Year Award, Dave Cameron of the OHL’s Ottawa 67s captured the Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year Award, Evan Vierling of the OHL’s Barrie Colts won the CHL Sportsman Player of the Year Award, Colby Barlow of the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack claimed the CHL Scholastic Player of the Year Award and Dalyn Wakely of the OHL’s North Bay Battalion took home the CHL Humanitarian of the Year Award.

On Sunday, Zellweger picked up another honour as he was named an all-star on defence for the Memorial Cup Tournament following the Quebec Remparts 5-0 championship game win over the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Connor Bedard will be selected first in the NHL Entry Draft.

Blazers star captain Logan Stankoven picked up a pair of Memorial Cup tournament awards. Stankoven captured the Ed Chynoweth Trophy as the event’s top scorer and George Parsons Trophy as most sportsmanlike player. The skilled centre topped the Memorial Cup tournament with nine points coming off two goals and seven assists in four games.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Thunderbirds on the clock to end WHL’s Memorial Cup woes

Colton Dach scored a key goal in the Memorial Cup semifinal.

Will the Seattle Thunderbirds end the WHL’s drought when it comes to winning the Memorial Cup?

That will be the burning question for WHL followers when the Thunderbirds take the ice in the title game of the CHL’s championship tournament. They will go up against the QMJHL champion Quebec Remparts on Sunday at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops, B.C., at 4 p.m. local time. The winner claims junior hockey’s most prestigious trophy in the Memorial Cup.

On paper, this has the makings to be a heavyweight tilt that produces a classic of a championship game. Both the Thunderbirds and Remparts have been two of the CHL’s top clubs throughout the 2022-23 campaign.

The Thunderbirds topped the WHL’s Western Conference and finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 54-11-1-2 record. The U.S. Division champions were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. Seattle’s 54 wins and standings points total of 111 points are new regular season club records.

In the WHL Playoffs, the Thunderbird proceeded to win the league title posting a 16-3 mark.

The Remparts finished first overall in the QMJHL regular season standings with a 53-12-1-2 record and were rated fifth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. In the QMJHL Playoffs, the Remparts proceeded to win the league crown posting a 16-2 mark.

In the round robin game held this past Monday between the two sides at the Memorial Cup tournament, the Remparts slipped past the Thunderbirds 3-1, but Seattle held a 36-22 edge in shots on goal. Both teams posted identical 2-1 records in the round robin portion of the event, and the Remparts were given first place and a bye to the event’s championship game due to the head-to-head victory over the Thunderbirds.

Brad Lambert scored Seattle’s first goal in the Memorial Cup semifinal.

Seattle downed the OHL champion Peterborough Petes 4-1 in a semifinal contest on Friday to advance to the tournament’s championship game. With the win over the Petes, the Thunderbirds were officially put “on the clock” to try and end the WHL’s drought when it comes to winning the Memorial Cup.

The Edmonton Oil Kings were the last team from the WHL to win the Memorial Cup, and that victory came back in 2014. Edmonton captured the WHL and CHL titles that year playing to honour the memory of former player Kristians Pelss, who was with the Oil Kings 2012 WHL championship team and passed away in June of 2013 due to a recreation diving accident.

The WHL is currently in its longest drought as a league of not being able to win the Memorial Cup spanning six seasons from 2015 to 2019 and 2022. The Memorial Cup tournament wasn’t contested in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Clubs from the WHL became eligible to play for the Memorial Cup on a regular basis in the 1970-71 campaign. If the Thunderbirds lose in the CHL’s title game on Sunday, the WHL’s drought will grow to seven seasons creating a new distinction for the drought.

Since the WHL first hit the ice as a circuit for the 1966-67 campaign, the longest it has gone without a Memorial Cup win is seven seasons. That drought included years the WHL wasn’t eligible to compete for the Memorial Cup as the circuit was originally viewed as an “outlaw league” by the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association that governed the game in Canada at that time.

The WHL didn’t have any Memorial Cup victories in its first seven seasons of existence, and that winless run came to an end when the Regina Pats won storied trophy for the third time in team history to conclude the 1973-74 campaign.

Kyle Crnkovic scored Seattle’s third goal on Friday.

For a moment, the possibility existed that there wouldn’t be a WHL team in this year’s championship game at the Memorial Cup tournament. On Thursday, the Petes met the host Blazers in a standings tiebreaking game as both teams were 1-2 in round robin play.

Despite not winning the WHL title, the Blazers had a fairly stellar campaign in 2022-23. They finished second overall in the Western Conference and third overall in the WHL regular season with a 48-13-4-3 mark. The B.C. Division champions were rated ninth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

The Blazers won their first eight straight games in the WHL Playoffs to advance to the Western Conference Championship Series. They fell in six games in that set to the Thunderbirds.

The Petes were the Cinderella team of CHL’s post-season. They finish 10^th in the overall OHL regular season standings with a 35-29-2-2 record. Despite being an afterthought when the post-season began, the Petes proceeded to win the OHL title posting a 16-7 record in the OHL Playoffs.

In the round robin portion of the Memorial Cup tournament, the Blazers pummeled the Petes 10-2 on May 28. The Blazers held a 4-1 lead early in the second period of Thursday’s tiebreaking game and appeared to be set to cruise to victory.

The Petes caught fired and evened the score 4-4 by the end of the second period. The contest ultimately went to overtime and Petes 19-year-old left-winger J.R. Avon scored the winner at the 10:54 mark of extra time to give the Petes a 5-4 victory.

Going into Friday’s semifinal between the Petes and Thunderbirds, one had to wonder if the Petes were going to see their Cinderella run through to getting their hands on the Memorial Cup. Unfortunately for the Petes, the fact that they were playing their fifth game in seven days caught up with them on the fatigue front.

Thomas Milic made 27 saves in Seattle’s Memorial Cup semifinal win.

The Petes looked fatigued in that clash, but they stayed in the game thanks to a spectacular effort by their star netminder in Michael Simpson. Simpson kept the Thunderbirds off the scoreboard until being beaten by star Seattle centre Brad Lambert with 4:28 remaining in the second period. Lambert’s tally gave the Thunderbirds a 1-0 edge.

Power forward Colton Dach scored 88 seconds into the third to push the Thunderbirds lead out to 2-0. The Petes responded 73 seconds later with a goal from left-winger Brennan Othmann to cut the Seattle lead to 2-1.

Seattle put the contest away with a goal by star left-winger Kyle Crnkovic just before the midway point of the frame and an empty-net tally from standout left-winger Nico Myatovic to round out the 4-1 win. 

Star netminder Thomas Milic made 27 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Thunderbirds, while Simpson turned away 43-of-46 shots in the campaign ending setback for the Petes.

Unfortunately for the loaded up Thunderbirds, they could be running into a buzzsaw with the Remparts, whose level of play might be raised by their own emotional motivation. The Memorial Cup title game could be the last ride with the Remparts for “Saint Patrick.”

Hockey legend Patrick Roy, who is the Remparts head coach and general manager, is involved in speculation with regards to NHL head coaching vacancies. The Remparts players could be motivated to see the 57-year-old Roy departs on an ultimate high note.

The Remparts starting star netminder William Rousseau has been solid during the tournament stopping 87-of-95 shots for a .916 save percentage and a 2.93 goals against average.

Nico Myatovic scored an empty-net goal on Friday night.

You can expect the Thunderbirds will give their best to try and win their first Memorial Cup title in team history. If they fall in the CHL’s title game on Sunday, one has to wonder how far the WHL’s Memorial Cup drought will go.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Memorial Cup heads into playoff round with field intact

Eliminations begin tonight with tiebreaking game

Thomas Milic leads the Memorial Cup with a .923 save percentage.

The Memorial Cup tournament’s four-team field has stayed alive going into the playoff round.

For event organizers, it is always optimal when the four clubs competing at the tournament that crowns a CHL champion are still playing going into the playoff round. In most years, at least two teams have traveled a great distance to get to the tournament’s host location.

At this year’s tourney in Kamloops, B.C., the QMJHL champion Quebec Remparts and the OHL champion Peterborough Petes are the squads that have traveled the greatest distance to compete for major junior hockey’s biggest prize at the Sandman Centre. The results from the round robin portion of the tournament leave the door open for anything to happen. With that said, some trends have materialized in the games that have been played so far.

The playoff round starts tonight with a tiebreaking game between the Petes and the host Blazers from the WHL set for a 6 p.m. local time start. Both teams posted 1-2 records in round robin play with the Blazers bombing the Petes 10-2 this past Sunday.

The Petes rebounded from that drubbing with a 4-2 victory over the Remparts on Tuesday holding a 36-28 edge in shots on goal. Peterborough has been the Cinderella team in the CHL post-season having finished 10^th overall in the OHL with a 35-29-2-2 record.

Logan Stankoven

It should come as no surprise they got into the Memorial Cup’s playoff round by having to play a tiebreaker. Now, they will see if they can get to the CHL’s biggest ball in the Memorial Cup championship game on Sunday.

The Petes have scored the fewest goals in the tournament at nine. Petes 20-year-old right-winger Avery Hayes tops the club having scored three goals, while left-winger Brennan Othmann tops the Petes with three assists.

The Blazers have scored the most goals in the tournament with 14. Blazers star centre Logan Stankoven tops the Memorial Cup in scoring with eight points coming off one goal and seven assists.

The toughest obstacle the Blazers might be facing is the fact star netminder Dylan Ernst is the coldest of the four starting goalies at the event. Ernst has stopped 89-of-105 shots fired his way for a .848 save percentage, which is the worst among the starting netminders. His 5.39 goals against average is also the worst among the starting goaltenders.

The WHL champion Seattle Thunderbirds finished second in the round robin standings with a 2-1 mark and will face the winner of the clash between the Petes and Blazers in a tournament semifinal contest set for Friday at 7 p.m. local time. The Thunderbirds loss came on Monday with a 3-1 setback to the Remparts in a contest that saw Seattle hold a 36-22 edge in shots on goal.

The Remparts scored 54 seconds into that contest to go up 1-0, but the Thunderbirds were really composed in playing the rest of that game. They just didn’t get rewarded with the goals for their work.

Had the Thunderbirds won that contest, they would have finished first and had a bye into Sunday’s championship game. The Remparts locked up first place and that path to the championship game with their Monday victory over Seattle.

The Thunderbirds are a deep team, but their biggest ace is star netminder Thomas Milic. Milic backstopped Canada to a gold medal win at world juniors that wrapped up this past January.

The Coquitlam, B.C., product has stopped 72-of-78 shots fired his way for a tournament leading .923 save percentage. Seattle has allowed the event’s fewest goals at seven, which means Milic has the lowest goals against average among starting netminders at 2.02.

A Seattle has a pair of star players who are playing out their final games of their major junior careers and are trying to go out in a blaze of glory. Left-winger Kyle Crnkovic, who is 21-years-old, sits second in tournament scoring with six points coming off four goals and two assists. Jared Davidson, who is a 20-year-old centre and a career member of the Thunderbirds, has four points coming off a goal and three assists.

The Remparts are sitting in the best spot having topped the round robin standings with a 2-1 record to earn a berth in Sunday’s championships game. They will face the winner of Friday’s semifinal match in the winner take all Memorial Cup title game set for 4 p.m. local time on Sunday.

Quebec started the tournament with a bang downing the host Blazers 8-3 in the event’s opening game. Had the Remparts gone undefeated in the round robin portion of the tourney, there could have been a worry about the Quebec side facing complacency when taking the ice for the Memorial Cup championship game.

After getting past the Thunderbirds, the Remparts closed their round robin schedule with their loss to the Petes. You can bet Remparts head coach and general manager Patrick Roy in reinforcing to his players how much better they need to be in the title contest during the club’s four days off leading up to the Memorial Cup final. It would be wise to expect the Remparts will be ready for the event’s championship game.

The Remparts starting star netminder William Rousseau has been solid during the tournament stopping 87-of-95 shots for a .916 save percentage and a 2.93 goals against average.

Quebec’s scoring has been more spread out through its roster with four players tied for the team lead with four points. Right-winger James Malatesta has four goals, centre Theo Rochette has three goals and one assist, left-winger Zachary Bolduc had one goal and three assists and centre Justin Robidas has four assists.

The Memorial Cup title game could be the last ride with the Remparts for “Saint Patrick.” The 57-year-old Roy is involved in speculation with regards to NHL head coaching vacancies.

Kyle Crnkovic has six points at the Memorial Cup tourney.

For any hockey fan, the playoff round of the Memorial Cup tournament should be fun to follow with all the potential storylines that could play out. It is time to sit back, watch the games play out and enjoy.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Ayres NHL story shows people identify with the regular guy

David Ayres, left signs an autograph for a young fan.

    It might not be an exaggeration to say that David Ayres is the most famous goaltender in North America at the moment.

    After appearing in just one half of one NHL regular season game, Ayres is arguably more well-known than Vegas Golden Knights star netminder Marc-Andre Fleury or even retired Hockey Hall of Fame member Patrick Roy, who won four Stanley Cup rings in his NHL career.

    Ayres’ tale proves how much fans of sports and the general public still identify with the ordinary guy. His story is still seemingly getting more and more cemented in the collective conscious of the public.

    The Whitby, Ont., product became famous on February 22 for having to enter an NHL regular season game to play goal for the Carolina Hurricanes against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. 

The line was long to see David Ayres, left, on Friday night.

    After the Hurricanes starting and backup goalies were injured, the 42-year-old Ayres fulfilled his role as the emergency backup entering the contest in the second period with the visitors holding a 3-1 edge.

    He allowed goals on the first two shots he faced and turned away the next eight shots in a 6-3 victory for the Hurricanes. With that result, Ayres became the first emergency backup goaltender to earn an NHL win.

    At age 42 years and 194 days, he became the oldest goaltender to win his NHL regular season debut.

    He is the operations manager for the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto, Ont., and is best known for being a Zamboni driver.

    Ayres had a kidney transplant in 2004, which has allowed him to live his life to the fullest. His mother, Mary, was the donor.

David Ayres, right, is pictured with some minor hockey players.

    While he has been a practice goalie with the Leafs and the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, Ayres basically lived out the story of being the regular guy to come in off the street to play a sport at the highest professional level and earn success against people who play every day in “The Show.”

    The general public gravitates to that story. Over most of the time professional sports have existed, fans have often carried that illusion that they too could be on that athletic stage if only they caught a break.

    It recalls a lengthy period of time when professional athletes showed up to training camp to get in shape. Often during the off-season, athletes would let themselves go and either lounge on a beach or go party and socialize.

    In a past era that wasn’t really that long ago, professional athletes often held another occupation in the off-season to pay the bills to go along with the income they made playing their sport. This used to include players in the NHL.

David Ayres speaks at the press conference on Friday in Saskatoon.

    Back in that not so long ago but seemingly forgotten era, professional athletes seemed more connected to the general public, and the general public could make a connection of seeing a professional athlete as an everyday person.

    That perception changed in the early 1990s when year-round training started to come into vogue for both professional athletes and elite amateur athletes. On the professional side in leagues like the NHL, MLB, NBA and NFL, the million dollar contracts most of those athletes were seemingly making by the end of the 1990s seemed to put those athletes in a position where they don’t connect to the general public like they once did.

    In the current era of about the last 10 years, elite amateur athletes feel intense pressure to specialize in one sport. When they do that, it further shrinks their circle of friends and contacts.

Professional athletes and elite amateur athletes in the current day work at their sports like full-time professionals.

Saskatoon’s media outlets flocked to David Ayres’ press conference.

    The general public, at least in North America, can’t identify with those professional and elite amateur athletes, because most in the general public have never put that type of work into a sport. Most in the general public still view sports in one respect as children’s games.

    At the moment, that is the biggest problem sports in North America faces because the general public can’t truly identify with the highs and lows professional athletes and elite amateur athletes experience. A sizable disconnect is there resulting interest and attendance challenges for most sports.

    When a professional athlete or an elite amateur athlete equates winning a major championship to being a life highlight like a wedding day or the birth of a child, those in the general public can’t understand that.

Sarah Ayres has kept her husband, David, on schedule.

    People in the general public understand weddings or child births. Those are experiences most in the general public commonly share.

    People in the general public can’t identify with the significance of what it is like to win a major championship, because an extreme few have been in that position or have put in the work to be in that position.

    Most people in the general public have played some sort of sport at the recreational level, and they can identify with the story of Ayres. That is why Ayres’ story has taken off, and he is now making appearances seemingly everywhere.

    His wife, Sarah, is tasked with planning out her husband’s schedule.

    David Ayres went to Raleigh, North Carolina, where the Hurricanes are based. He was made an honourary citizen of the state and Feb. 25 was named “David Ayres Day” in Raleigh.

    On Friday and Saturday, Ayres appeared in Saskatoon to great fanfare.

    A Friday afternoon press conference event at Wendel Clark’s Classic Bar and Grill attracted representation of pretty much all the media outlets in Saskatoon. In the current budget cut era Canada’s mainstream media outlets are working under, that is an accomplishment.

    Ayres looked like a person who was in shape standing six-feet and a cut 201 pounds, so that spoiled the notion he might be a Homer Simpson like looking dude.

David Ayres waves to the SaskTel Centre crowd on Friday.

    Still, his following was there. When Ayres signed autographs at the Saskatoon Blades WHL game during the first intermission on Friday night, the lineup circled around a third of the concourse of the SaskTel Centre.

    The autograph seekers acted like they encountered Wayne Gretzky or Mark Messier when they played for the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers in the 1980s.

    On Saturday, Ayres took part in practice for the NLL’s Saskatchewan Rush stepping into the net to play goal.

    He proceeded to take part in festivities at the Rush game that night.

    Due to the fact he was the recipient of a kidney transplant, Ayres is trying to use his newfound fame to raise awareness of organ donation.

    It was fitting the Blades game on Friday was their Suits Up, which was used to raise proceeds to donate to Saskatoon’s Kidney Foundation Branch.

David Ayres, second from right, appears at Friday’s ceremonial faceoff.

    Among the newfound fame that is seeing book and movie deals come his way, Ayres continues to hold down the stereotypically image of being the well-mannered and polite Canadian.

    At some point, the excitement over Ayres story will run its course, but it should still serve as a lesson for current professional and elite amateur athletes.

    That lesson is you still need to be connected to the general public in order to make your sport grow. The fans, ticket buyers and merchandise buyers from the general public ultimately make it possible for you to do what you do.

Jack of all trades pic.twitter.com/vWPhsytZh3

— 🇨🇦Sarah Ayres🇨🇦 (@35Ayres) March 7, 2020

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.