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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