Tigers finish off Hurricanes, take WHL’s Eastern Conference title

For the first time since the era of Kris Russell, Derek Dorsett, Darren Helm and Matt Keetley, the Medicine Hat Tigers will play for a WHL championship.

On Wednesday in Game 4 of the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series, the Tigers built a 4-1 lead over the host Lethbridge Hurricanes at VisitLethbridge.com Arena. Medicine Hat held off a Lethbridge rally in the third period to prevail 5-3 before 5,024 spectators.

The win allowed the Tigers to sweep the best-of-seven set 4-0 and advance to the WHL Championship Series for the first time since 2007. Back in 2007, the Tigers captured their fifth WHL title with stars like Russell, Dorsett, Helm and Keetley on their roster.

Medicine Hat won that WHL crown in one of the most epic games in league history. That championship played against the Vancouver Giants went to a series-deciding Game 7 at the Tigers old legendary home rink – The Arena. Playing before a sellout crowd of 4,006 spectators, Brennan Bosch scored the winning goal in double overtime to give the Tigers a 3-2 victory.

In Wednesday’s clash in Lethbridge, the host Hurricanes got the quick jump. Just 2:32 into the opening frame, 19-year-old star left-winger Logan Wormald deked around Tigers star 20-year-old netminder Harrison Meneghin and put a backhand shot home to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead. Wormald’s goal came off an offensive rush into the Medicine Hat zone.

Just over seven minutes later, the Tigers evened the score 1-1 on a short-handed goal by star overage centre Mathew Ward. Ward received a pass from star left-winger Hunter St. Martin to get a good chance to score on the Hurricanes net.

After receiving the puck, Ward put a toe drag on a Hurricanes back checker, went backhand to forehand and tucked home the equalizer past Hurricanes star netminder Jackson Unger.

With 5:50 remaining in the first and working on the power play, Tigers superstar left-winger Gavin McKenna got the puck to offensive-defenceman Bryce Pickford. Pickford skated to the top of the right faceoff dot and roofed a shot to the top left corner of the Lethbridge net to put the Tigers up 2-1.

At the 12:20 mark of the second, Tigers 19-year-old defensive centre Misha Volotovskii potted this third of the post-season to push Medicine Hat’s advantage out to 3-1. Tigers right-winger Ethan Neutens took a shot from the left side of the Lethbridge net that hit the crossbar and shot out to Volotovskii at the right side of the goal. Volotovskii quickly potted the puck into an empty cage to give the visitors a two-goal edge.

With 2:08 remaining in the second, Ward scored on the power play for his second tally of the night to give the Tigers a 4-1 lead. Ward knocked home the rebound of a shot taken by Tigers star right-winger Ryder Ritchie.

Mathew Ward scored twice for the Tigers on Wednesday.

The Hurricanes didn’t go away without a fight. Just 92 seconds into the third period, 17-year-old centre Kash Andresen fired home a shot from the front of the Medicine Hat net to trim the Tigers edge to 4-2.

At the 6:17 mark of the third, Hurricanes right-winger Anthony Wilson, who just turned 20-years-old, tipped home a point shot from star defenceman Caden Price to cut the Tigers lead to 4-3.

The comeback for the Hurricanes was not to be.

With 37.7 seconds remaining in the third, Tigers overage captain Oasiz Wiesblatt cleared the puck out of his own zone to an open area of the ice down the left wing. McKenna jetted on to the loose puck and dumped it into an empty net to seal the 5-3 victory.

The 17-year-old Whitehorse, Yukon, product extended his consecutive games points streak between the regular season and post-season to 53 games collecting one goal and one assist on Wednesday. His streak extends back to November 6, 2024.

During the 53 games of the streak, McKenna has recorded 135 points coming off 40 goals and 95 assists. McKenna’s consecutive games points streak is the longest in the CHL since 2000 when you include play in both the regular season and post-season.

Pickford also finished Wednesday’s game with one goal and one assist. St. Martin and star defenceman Tanner Molendyk each collected two assists in the victory.

Meneghin stopped 18 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Tigers. In 11 appearances in the WHL Playoffs, Meneghin has posted a 10-0 record, a 2.43 goals against average, a .889 save percentage and two shutouts.

Unger turned away 34-of-38 shots to take the campaign ending setback in goal for the Hurricanes.

During the regular season, the Tigers topped the Eastern Conference and finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season with a 47-17-3-1 mark. In their last 47 games between the regular season and playoffs, the Tigers are an impressive 40-4-2-1. Medicine Hat has also won 10 straight games.

The Hurricanes finished sixth overall in the WHL with a 42-21-3-2 mark. Lethbridge entered the Eastern Conference final after getting past the Calgary Hitmen in a grueling Eastern Conference semifinal series that went seven games.

Gavin McKenna has points in 53 straight games.

The Tigers will have home ice advantage in the best-of-seven WHL Championship Series. They will face the winner of the Western Conference Championship Series being played by the Spokane Chiefs and the Portland Winterhawks. Spokane finished fourth overall in the WHL during the regular season with a 45-20-1-2 mark, while Portland was 12^th overall with a 36-28-3-1 record.

The Chiefs lead that best-of-seven set 3-0 after taking Game 3 on Wednesday at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland 8-5. Spokane will try to close out that series in Game 4 on Thursday set for 7 p.m. local time at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Going into the WHL final, it can be argued the Tigers are playing as good as they ever had. It will not be a surprise if they add more accolades to the rich history of their legacy franchise.

Raiders’ Hildebrand named WHL’s goaltender of the year

Max Hildebrand was named the WHL’s goaltender of the year.

Max Hildebrand continues to pile up the accolades.

On Wednesday, the 20-year-old netminder of the Prince Albert Raiders was named the winner of the Del Wilson Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s goaltender of the year. Hildebrand had a spectacular final campaign in the WHL posting a 33-16-5 record, a 2.87 goals against average, a .918 save percentage and three shutouts in 55 regular season contests.

The Martensville, Sask., product ranked second in save percentage among all qualified WHL goalies while tying for fourth in shutouts and finishing 10^th in GAA. He faced the most shots of any netminder (1,865) and made the most saves (1,713). Hildebrand was one of three goaltenders to play more than 3,000 minutes.

An Eastern Conference first team all-star, he played an enormous role in helping the Raiders finish first in the East Division with a 39-23-5-1 mark.

Hildebrand has also been named a finalist for the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy given to the WHL’s player of the year and the Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy given to the WHL’s humanitarian of the year.

He was a career member of the Raiders joining the club full time part way through the 2021-22 campaign. During his WHL career, Hildebrand appeared in 143 regular season games posting a 69-53-12 record, a 3.06 goals against average, a .905 save percentage and five shutouts.

In the 2025 WHL Playoffs, Hildebrand backstopped the Raiders into an Eastern Conference semifinals series, where they were swept by the Medicine Hat Tigers. Hildebrand played in all of the Raiders 11 post-season contests posting a 4-7 record, a 3.05 goals against average, a .919 save percentage and one shutout.

Also on Wednesday, Tri-City Americans centre Max Curran was named the winner of the Daryl K. (Doc) Seaman Memorial Trophy at the WHL’s scholastic player of the year.

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

-------

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.

Unger reprises role as Blades frustrating nemesis

Hurricanes lock down playoff berth with 2-0 win

Jackson Unger made 30 saves for a shutout victory on Tuesday.

The Saskatoon Blades are likely looking forward to the day Jackson Unger graduates from the WHL.

The star netminder played a big part in derailing the Blades most memorable season in 30 years. Unger, who turned 20-years-old in January, backstopped the Moose Jaw Warriors to a seven game series win over the Blades in last year’s WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series, which saw a record six games go to overtime.

With the Blades holding a 3-2 lead in the series, Unger stopped 30 shots to push the Warriors to a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 6 at the Moose Jaw Events Centre on May 5, 2024 to even the series 3-3. In the series deciding Game 7 played two days later at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, Unger turned away 37 shots to backstop the Warriors to a 3-2 overtime victory. Unger proceeded to backstop the Warriors to a four game sweep of the Portland Winterhawks to deliver a first WHL championship to the Moose Jaw franchise.

Jackson Unger has two shutout wins over the Blades this season.

For the Blades, the Game 7 loss to the Warriors was a heartbreaking end to the 2023-24 campaign that saw them finish first overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 50-13-2-3 record.

On Tuesday at the SaskTel Centre, Unger was up to his old tricks playing for the Lethbridge Hurricanes. He stopped all 30 shots fired his way to power the Hurricanes to a 2-0 victory over the Blades to the disappointment of most of the 3,478 spectators in attendance.

The win allowed the Hurricanes to improve to 36-19-2-1 and officially clinch a berth in the WHL Playoffs.

Unger and superstar centre Brayden Yager were acquired by the Hurricanes in a blockbuster trade with the Warriors on December 2, 2024. Tuesday’s shutout win was Unger’s first shutout victory as a member of the Hurricanes and his second of the 2024-25 campaign.

Jackson Unger makes a third period stop for the Hurricanes.

The Calgary, Alta., product’s first shutout of the season came when he was still a member of the Warriors on November 21, 2024. In that contest played at the Moose Jaw Events Centre, Unger stopped all 32 shots sent his way in a 4-0 victory over – guess who – the Blades.

With both the Warriors and Hurricanes, Unger has faced the Blades five times this season posting three wins and turning away 129-of-135 shots fired his way. The Blades had to claw and scratch to get the two wins they did against Unger.

While the Hurricanes have loaded up in an attempt to make a long post-season run this year, Tuesday’s win over the Blades as a gritty one. Blades netminder Ethan McCallum came up with a big night making 25 saves and giving up just two goals in the setback.

Ethan McCallum made 25 saves in goal for the Blades on Tuesday.

The Hurricanes opened the game’s scoring at the 12:35 mark of the opening frame with a gritty goal. Hurricanes overage defenceman Logan McCutcheon fired a shot from the point that rebounded to the left side of the Blades net.

Lethbridge 16-year-old rookie centre Chase Petersen got to the rebound at the left side of the Saskatoon net and quickly potted his second of the season for a 1-0 lead.

The Hurricanes controlled play in the first period outshooting the Blades 14-5 in the frame. In the final seconds of the first, the Blades nearly got a traction moment. A puck game out to rookie centre Cooper Williams, who turned 17-year-olds on February 18, and Williams just missed getting his stick on the puck to deflect it into the Lethbridge net.

The Hurricanes celebrate a goal from Chase Petersen (#20).

On the Blades second power-play chance early in the second period, the Hurricanes pushed their lead out to 2-0 scoring short-handed. Hurricanes 20-year-old centre Brayden Edwards got the puck at his own blue-line and passed the puck to right-winger Luke Cozens jetting down the left wing to spark a two-on-one break.

Edwards entered the Saskatoon zone and passed the puck across the face of the Saskatoon net to McCutcheon. McCutcheon covered the backdoor feed to give the Hurricanes a two-goal edge.

The Blades had their opportunities to break on to the scoreboard including getting the first four power-play chances of the contest occurring before the eight-minute mark of the second period. Saskatoon never got a lot quality scoring chances on those first four power plays due to the Hurricanes defensive play and Unger’s stellar positioning in net.

Logan McCutcheon had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes.

Near the end of the fourth power play, Williams wired a puck off the post of the Lethbridge net for the Blades best scoring chance. The Blades, who have the seventh best power play in the WHL at 25.3 per cent, finished the contest 0-for-6 with the man advantage. The Hurricanes have the sixth best penalty kill in the WHL with an 81 per cent success rate.

Lethbridge failed to score on two power-play opportunities in the contest.

During the second half of the second period, the Blades started to pepper the Lethbridge net and finished with a 14-4 edge in shots on goal for the frame. Unger slammed the door to protect the two-goal edge.

Tyler Parr (#20) spins away from Caden Price (#22).

McCallum had to be sharp too in the second half of the second to keep the Blades in the game making a pad save on a breakaway chance from veteran Hurricanes right-winger Shane Smith.

In the third, the Blades two best scoring chances resulted in one misfire and one unfortunate break. With just over 10 minutes remaining in the third, Blades rookie defenceman Jordan Martin, who turned 18-years-old in January, missed an open net with a shot from the right side of the Hurricanes goal.

With about six minutes remaining in the third, Blades star left-winger Rowan Calvert received the puck at the right side of the Lethbridge net after a Hurricanes turnover. Calvert’s shot deflected off a stick wide of the Lethbridge net.

Jordan Martin missed an open net for the Blades.

Unger would make a key stop off Blades 18-year-old right-winger William James, who knocked the puck off the stick of Hurricanes star defenceman Caden Price towards the Lethbridge net.

In the final seconds of the third, the Blades were attacking with McCallum pulled for an extra attacker. 

During a scramble situation, the Hurricanes skaters collapsed around their net to ensure Unger picked up the shutout.

The Hurricanes sit third overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and are trying to finish as high in the standings as they can. They return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Prince Albert to take on the 33-19-3-1 Raiders (7 p.m., Art Hauser Centre).

Cooper Williams had two big scoring chances for the Blades.

The Blades fell to 30-19-3-4 with the setback to sit along with the Brandon Wheat Kings (30-18-4-3) three points back of the Raiders for first in the East Division. The Wheat Kings have a game in hand on both the Blades and Raiders. Brandon holds the standings tiebreaker against the Blades posting three wins and two overtime setbacks in six head-to-head encounters.

The Blades get back at it on Saturday when they travel to Moose Jaw to take on the Warriors (7 p.m., Moose Jaw Events Centre). Saskatoon’s magic number of standings points needed to lock up a playoff berth is seven.

While the Blades have no more head-to-head meeting with the Hurricanes in the regular season, it is possible the two sides could meet in the first round of the post-season. If that materializes, the Blades will face their frustrating nemesis in Unger once again.

The Hurricanes celebrate their win on Tuesday night.

NOTES – The Hurricanes ensured that five of their six players from Saskatoon and the nearby area were in the starting lineup on Tuesday. Trae Johnson, who is from Martensville, lined up at right wing. Yager, who lives just outside Saskatoon, took up his regular centre spot. A trio of defencemen in McCutcheon, Noah Chadwick and Price, who are all from Saskatoon, were out for the opening faceoff and first shift. Price lined up at left wing, while McCutcheon and Chadwick patrolled the blue-line.

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

-------

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.

Warriors fly to new heights in memorable 2023-24 campaign

The Warriors raise the Ed Chynoweth Cup on May 15 at their home rink.

Jagger Firkus and Brayden Yager got to add an epilogue to a season to remember for the Moose Jaw Warriors.

On Saturday, the two Warriors stars took home some big hardware at the CHL Awards ceremony held at Uptown North Main in Frankenmuth, Michigan. Firkus, who is a skilled right-winger, was named the winner of the David Branch Player of the Year Award along with officially being handed the Top Scorer Award. Yager, who is a gifted centre, took home the Sportsman Player of the Year Award.

Firkus, who turned 20-years-old in late April, topped the entire CHL in regular season scoring with 126 points coming off 61 goals and 65 assists to go with a plus-31 rating in 63 games with the Warriors. The Irma, Alta., product became the first member of the Warriors to ever take the CHL’s player of the year award.

He was the second player from the Warriors to capture the Top Scorer Award, which was first presented in 1994. Jayden Halbgewachs took that honour in the 2017-18 campaign.

Brayden Yager is the CHL’s Sportsman Player of the Year.

Yager, who turned 19-years-old in early January, had a stellar campaign setting career highs in the regular season in goals (35), assists (60), points (95) and plus-minus (plus-19) in 57 games. He collected only 20 penalty minutes on the campaign.

The Saskatoon area product became the third Warriors player to capture the Sportsman Player of the Year Award. Jason Bast first took that honour back in the 2009-10 campaign, and Justin Almeida took home that award in the 2018-19 campaign.

Both Firkus and Yager were members of Canada’s world junior team this past season too.

The award wins came one day after the Warriors saw their historic for the franchise campaign come to an end. On Friday, the Warriors fell 7-1 in the semifinal contest the Memorial Cup tournament being held at the DOW Event Centre in Saginaw, Michigan, to the host Spirit from the OHL.

The Spirit will face the OHL champion London Knights for the CHL title in the Memorial Cup championship game on Sunday (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).

In 2023-24, the Warriors hit the ice with one of the most talented and deepest teams they’ve ever had. They finished fifth overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 44-21-0-3 mark.

Jagger Firkus is the CHL’s player of the year.

The Warriors went on an inspired post-season run posting a 16-4 record in the WHL Playoffs to capture the Ed Chynoweth Cup and become WHL champions for the first time in team history. They became the first team from Moose Jaw to capture the WHL title since the Moose Jaw Canucks claimed the league crown in the circuit’s inaugural campaign in 1966-67.

On the way to getting to the WHL Championship Series, the Warriors took an epic Eastern Conference Championship Series against the Saskatoon Blades in seven games. A total of six of the seven games in that set were decided in overtime, which is a WHL record for a seven-game series.

The Blades topped the WHL’s regular season standings with a 50-13-2-3 record and led the series with the Warriors 3-2. The Warriors claimed the series thanks to a 4-3 overtime win in Game 6 in Moose Jaw and 3-2 overtime triumph in Game 7 at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon.

Warriors 17-year-old sophomore right-winger Lynden Lakovic had the extra time winner in both of those contests. The 13,240 spectators that attended Game 7 in Saskatoon of that series included five fan busses of Warriors supporters who made the trip to the contest from Moose Jaw.

Moose Jaw proceeded to sweep the Portland Winterhawks in the WHL final. The Warriors series clinching victory in Game 4 of that set on May 15 at the Moose Jaw Events Centre played out in almost perfect fashion for the team and fans.

Atley Calvert was a star with his hometown Warriors.

The Warriors and Winterhawks were locked in a 2-2 tie until veteran centre Brayden Schuurman scored for the Moose Jaw side with 5:53 remaining in the third period. Warriors standout overage import left-winger Martin Rysavy sealed victory and the 4-2 final score in his squad’s favour potting a long distance empty-net goal from deep in his own zone with 2:27 remaining in the third.

Over the final 2:27 of the third, the victory was able to sink in for the Warriors and the 4,732 spectators jammed into the team’s home rink. The noise in “The Hangar” after the third period clock hit zero would rival the loudest noise levels ever heard in the club’s raucous old home arena the Moose Jaw Civic Centre, which was best known as “The Crushed Can.”

The impossible dream came true with the Warriors becoming WHL champions. Warriors captain and star defenceman Denton Mateychuk was named the MVP of the WHL Playoffs. In the Warriors 20 outings in the WHL Playoffs, Mateychuk collected 30 points coming off 11 goals and 19 assists to go with a plus-19 rating.

He followed up on an impressive regular season where he recorded 75 points on 17 goals and 58 assists to go with a plus-35 rating. Mateychuk was also a member of Canada’s world junior team this past season too.

Martin Rysavy (#19) had some key goals for the Warriors.

Playing at the Memorial Cup for the first time in team history, the Warriors dropped their first round robin game to the Spirit and second round robin contest to the Knights by respective 5-4 scores in both outings.

The Warriors picked up their first ever win at the Memorial Cup tournament in their third round robin game downing the QMJHL champion Drummondville Voltigeurs 5-3. That win allowed Moose Jaw to earn a berth in the event’s semifinal game.

With how close Moose Jaw’s first two games were against OHL foes, there was pretty good optimism going into the semifinal clash with the Spirit. No one could have seen the Spirit’s fourth line that included centre Ethan Hay, right-winger Lincoln Moore and left-winger Sebastien Gervais going out and having their best games of their major junior careers.

In Saginaw’s 7-1 win, Hay, Moore and Gervais combined to collect four goals and six assists. They each posted a plus-four rating. They were also all pointless at the Memorial Cup tournament going into that semifinal encounter. 

Hay, Moore and Gervais should rightfully get full credit to raising their respective games in one of the biggest contests you can play in as a major junior player.

Lucas Brenon was a steady defenceman for the Warriors.

Still, the memories were plentiful in Moose Jaw. Netminder Jackson Unger took over as the team’s starter in his third major junior campaign, and he grew into a star performer.

Star right-winger Atley Calvert, who has now exhausted his major junior eligibility, will be remembered as one of the best hometown products to ever play for the Warriors. Star centre Matthew Savoie came to the Warriors in a trade with the Wenatchee Wild and played to his billing as one of the WHL’s top players.

The Warriors third line of Schuurman, left-winger Ethan Semeniuk and right-winger Rilen Kovacevic became difference makers in the post-season.

Rysavy and defenceman Lucas Brenton took their final bows before exhausting their major junior ability. Offensive-defenceman Kalem Parker came in a trade early in the campaign with the Victoria Royals and formed a dynamic back end pairing with Mateychuk. 

Blue-liners Aiden Ziprick, import Vojtech Port and Cosmo Wilson added contributions at key moments.

Warriors fans enjoy their team’s WHL title win on May 15.

Head coach Mark O’Leary and general manager Jason Ripplinger did an outstanding job ensuring the Warriors were steered in the right direction.

For the Warriors faithful, they got a season they deserved. When the Warriors arrived in Moose Jaw at the start of the 1984-85 campaign after spending four seasons in Winnipeg, they only had four winning records in their first 16 seasons in Moose Jaw.

The small Saskatchewan city of 34,000 would always keep the faith in supporting their team. This past season, that elusive first WHL championship finally came.

Looking to the future, the folks in Moose Jaw can continue to keep dreaming big dreams for their Warriors. You have to have faith that one day that elusive first Memorial Cup title will come too.

WHL in its longest Memorial Cup drought ever, other notes

The QMJHL’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan enjoy a Memorial Cup win in 2018.

The WHL’s drought when it comes to winning the Memorial Cup just keeps growing and growing.

It is now the undisputed longest drought the circuit has ever had when it comes to capturing major junior hockey’s top prize that goes to the championship team of the CHL. The CHL is the umbrella the WHL, OHL and QMJHL major junior circuits play under.

On Friday at the Memorial Cup tournament being held at the DOW Event Center in Saginaw, Michigan, the WHL champion Moose Jaw Warriors were eliminated from the event with a 7-1 loss in the tournament’s semifinal game against the host Saginaw Spirit from the OHL. The Spirit advanced to play the OHL champion London Knights for the CHL title in the Memorial Cup championship game on Sunday (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).

Moose Jaw’s elimination means the WHL has now gone eight straight Memorial Cup tournaments without being able to win the Memorial Cup. That stretch includes the tournaments played from 2015 to 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The Memorial Cup tournament wasn’t contested in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The WHL’s previous longest drought of not winning the Memorial Cup spanned seven seasons starting with the inaugural campaign the circuit came into existence in the 1966-67 campaign. That stretch included seasons when the WHL 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’s 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 Edmonton Oil Kings are 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 10 years since a WHL team last captured the Memorial Cup.

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.

Next year, Rimouski, Quebec, will host the Memorial Cup tournament with the QMJHL’s Rimouski Oceanic taking the ice as the host squad. Will that be the time the WHL’s Memorial Cup comes to an end?

When it comes to winning the Memorial Cup, the WHL as a league has fallen into the habit of being in next year country.

• The QMJHL once went through a drought of 14 seasons of not winning the Memorial Cup as a league. In 1981, the Cornwall Royals won their second straight Memorial Cup playing out of the QMJHL. The next QMJHL club to win the Memorial Cup would be the Granby Predateurs in 1996.
• On Saturday, Medicine Hat Tigers left-winger Gavin McKenna captured the CHL Rookie of the Year award. Tigers centre Cayden Lindstrom was feted as the winner of the CHL Top Draft Prospect award. Defenceman Noah Chadwick of the Lethbridge Hurricanes claimed CHL Scholastic Player of the Year award.
• Moose Jaw Warriors captain Denton Mateychuk was up for the CHL’s Defenceman of the Year award. When the CHL handed out its major awards on Saturday, the Defenceman of the Year award went to Zayne Parekh of the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit.

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

-------

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.

Thud! – Warriors fall 7-1 to Spirit in Memorial Cup semifinal

Atley Calvert’s major junior career came to an end on Friday.

The Moose Jaw Warriors dreams of a Memorial Cup title crashed and burned.

On Friday night at the DOW Event Center in Saginaw, Michigan, the WHL champion Warriors faced the host Spirit from the OHL in the semifinal game of the Memorial Cup tournament. The two sides opened the event in a round robin clash on May 24 that saw the Spirit take a 4-0 lead and hold on for a 5-4 victory.

The semifinal meeting didn’t have the same drama between the two sides who were making their respective first appearances at the Memorial Cup tournament. The Warriors and Spirit exited the first period locked in a 1-1 tie.

The Spirit erupted for five goals in the second period to take a 6-1 lead. They added one more goal in the third to round out a 7-1 victory to the delight of most of the 4,978 spectators in attendance outside of a healthy contingent of Warriors supporters.

With the win, the Spirit improve their tournament record to 3-1, and they advance to face the OHL champion London Knights in the Memorial Cup championship game on Sunday (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN). The Knights are 3-0 at the tournament and have won their last eight straight games including the finish of their run in the OHL Playoffs.

The Knights downed the Spirit 4-2 in the tournament’s final round robin game on Wednesday and took the OHL’s Western Conference Championship Series against the Spirit in six games. London’s losses to Saginaw in that series have been their only two setbacks in the 2024 post-season. The Knights are searching for their third Memorial Cup championship in team history having claimed the CHL title in 2005 and 2016.

The Warriors closed out play at the Memorial Cup tournament with a 1-3 record. Their previous two setbacks at the event were both by one goal.

The drought for the WHL as a league at the Memorial Cup continued to grow as the Edmonton Oil Kings in 2014 stand as the last team from the circuit to claim the CHL title.

Lucas Brenton had a goal taken away by video review.

In Friday’s loss against Saginaw, the Warriors might have been stunned by the fact that the Spirit’s fourth line including centre Ethan Hay, right-winger Lincoln Moore and left-winger Sebastien Gervais powered their side’s victory with four goals. Hay had two goals and two assists, and both Moore and Gervais each finished with one goal and two assists. All three players were a plus-four in the plus-minus department.

Hay, Moore and Gervais were all pointless in Saginaw’s first three games at the Memorial Cup.

Spirit import star offensive-defenceman Rodwin Dionicio, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Anaheim Ducks, also had a big night on Friday recording one goal, three assists and a plus-five rating.

The Spirit fourth line got things going scoring the first goal of the semifinal just 3:03 in the opening frame. Gervais and Moore were battling for the puck in the left corner of the Moose Jaw zone against a Warriors import defenceman Vojtech Port.

Gervais came up with the puck and passed it into the left slot of Hay. Hay one-timed a blast home to give the Spirit a 1-0 lead on the host side’s fourth shot on goal of the contest.

The Warriors did put up a fight in the opening 20 minutes. Just 75 seconds after Hay’s goal, Warriors overage defenceman Lucas Brenton got alone in front of the Saginaw got and pushed what appeared to be the equalizer into the Spirit net.

The Spirit coaching staff challenged for goaltender interference. The officials ruled there was incidental contact goaltender interference as Brenton pushed the left leg of Spirit netminder Andrew Oke into the net, when the puck was frozen under Oke’s appendage.

Moose Jaw wasn’t deterred. At the 7:08 mark of the opening frame, Warriors star right-winger Jagger Firkus sped down the left wing into the Saginaw zone on a two-on-one break. Firkus kept the puck, drove in on net and put a backhand shot home to even the score at 1-1.

Matthew Savoie was robbed of a sure goal early in the second.

After 20 minutes, the two squads were locked in a 1-1 draw, while the Spirit had a 9-6 edge in shots on goal.

Just 48 seconds into the second, the Warriors had a glorious chance to go ahead on the scoreboard. Firkus had the puck on the right faceoff dot and he put a pass across to the left slot to star centre Matthew Savoie. Savoie put a shot on net only to be denied by a sprawling right pad save by Oke.

A short time later at the 1:53 mark of the second, Spirit captain and defensive-defenceman Braden Hache roofed a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle in the Moose Jaw zone to the top left corner of the Moose Jaw net to put the Spirit up 2-1.

Just under two minutes later on an offensive rush into the Moose Jaw zone, Spirit star centre Owen Beck got the puck in the right slot and roofed a shot to the top left corner of the Warriors net to push the host side’s lead out to 3-1.

Shortly after the Spirit went ahead by two goals, the Warriors almost had a traction moment. Warriors veteran centre Brayden Schuurman hit the post of the Saginaw net with a tough angle shot from the right side of the goal.

At that point, things went downhill for the Warriors as the Spirit’s fourth line scored the next three straight goals to give Saginaw a 6-1 advantage heading into the second intermission.

The surge started at the 9:05 mark of the second with Hay holding the puck at the right point. Hay passed the puck to Moore by the low left boards on the Moose Jaw zone. From that bad angle, Moore one-timed home a shot to put the Spirit up 4-1.

With each Spirit goal at that point, more and more energy seemed the leave the legs of the Warriors players. Hay added his second of the contest at the 11:22 mark of the second and Gervais completed the surge with a tally at the 14:24 mark of the frame.

Jagger Firkus had the Warriors lone goal on Friday.

The only bump the Spirit faced came inside the final five minutes of the second when Oke had to leave the Saginaw net for 89 seconds to have an equipment problem fixed. 

Backup netminder Nolan Lalonde stopped the only shot he faced in his cameo appearance before Oke returned.

Dionicio concluded the game’s scoring with a single 70 seconds into the third period to round out the 7-1 score in Saginaw’s favour.

Oke stopped 23 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Spirit. Star netminder Jackson Unger turned away 30 shots to take the setback in net for the Warriors.

Warriors overage players in star right-winger Atley Calvert, Brenton and standout import left-winger Martin Rysavy all exhausted their major junior eligibility with Friday’s loss.

The Spirit finished second overall in the OHL regular season standings with a 50-16-1-1 record, and they were rated third in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. In the grand scheme of things, it comes as little surprise that they would face the Knights in the Memorial Cup title game.

The Knights topped the OHL regular season standings with a 50-14-1-3 record and were ranked second in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Warriors finished fifth overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 44-21-0-3 mark and improved steadily as the campaign motored on. They marched through the WHL Playoffs with a 16-4 record to capture the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions for the first time in team history.

Brayden Schuurman had bad luck in hitting a post.

When the sting of the lopsided semifinal game loss at the Memorial Cup tournament subsides, the Warriors 2023-24 campaign will be remembered for the WHL title win. In the immediate aftermath, there is disbelief that a special season had to end with a thud.

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

-------

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.

Warriors’ Firkus due for breakout at Memorial Cup

Jagger Firkus led the CHL in regular season scoring with 126 points.

“The Firkus Circus” needs a four leaf clover at the Memorial Cup.

Moose Jaw Warriors star right-winger Jagger Firkus has put in the effort at the CHL championship tournament but has been snakebitten around the net. In the Warriors three games at the Memorial Cup, Firkus has recorded one goal, two assists and a minus-two rating in the plus-minus department.

For most players taking a field that contains the top teams in the CHL, they would likely be fine with those totals. For Firkus, those numbers are a little more pedestrian, especially considering the campaign he has had in 2023-24.

The Irma, Alta., product topped the entire CHL in regular season scoring with 126 points coming off 61 goals and 65 assists to go with a plus-31 rating in 63 games with the Warriors. Due to his spectacular season, Firkus was named the winner of the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s player of the year.

Firkus proceeded to top the scoring race in the WHL Playoffs with 32 points coming off 14 goals and 18 assists to go with a plus-nine rating. He played a key role in helping the Warriors capture the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions posting a 16-4 mark.

At the Memorial Cup tournament going on in Saginaw, Michigan, it feels like Firkus, who turned 20-years-old in late April, is due for a big breakout game where he records three or four points. That type of development might be enough to put the Warriors on top when they playing in the event’s semifinal contest on Friday at the DOW Event Center against the host squad in the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).

The two sides opened the tournament with a round robin contest that the Spirit claimed 5-4 this past Friday. That contest was the spot where Firkus’s foul luck came to the forefront.

With the Warriors trailing 5-3, Firkus appeared to have scored at the 8:04 mark of the third to cut the Spirit lead to 5-4. That goal was taken off the board when it was determined by video review the Warriors were offside on the play.

Jagger Firkus topped the WHL Playoffs in scoring with 32 points.

After the Warriors pulled to within 5-4, Firkus had a shot attempt in front of the Saginaw goal with 17 seconds remaining in the frame to tie the contest up. He roofed a shot over top of the net and the Spirit hung on for the one-goal victory.

In the Warriors second round robin game this past Monday against the OHL champion London Knights, Firkus was stopped on a breakaway 27 seconds into the contest by a right pad save from Knights star netminder Michael Simpson.

With the Warriors down 5-4 inside the final 71 seconds of the third, Firkus had a chance at a one-timer to tie the game, but he was once again thwarted by Simpson. The Knights proceeded to hang on for the one-goal win.

Moose Jaw closed round robin play this past Tuesday against the QMJHL champion Drummondville Voltigeurs. The winner of that contest would advance to the tournament’s semifinal contest.

Firkus finally broke through in the goal department one-timing home a power-play marker in the opening frame to put the Warriors up 2-0. That tally on the Warriors only power-play chance of the contest allowed the WHL champs to ultimately pull out a 5-3 victory and eliminate the Voltigeurs from the event after they finished winless in their three round robin games.

While Firkus was fighting some bad luck, the Warriors didn’t lack offence. Captain and star offensive defenceman Denton Mateychuk leads the scoring race at the Memorial Cup with seven points coming off three goals and four assists to go with a plus-six rating.

Firkus’s linemate in star centre Brayden Yager has also had a big tournament. He sits second in the event’s scoring race with six points coming off three goals and three assists to go with a plus-one rating.

Warriors star centre Matthew Savoie has put up four points coming off one goal and three assists to go with a plus-two rating.

Jagger Firkus and the Warriors are in pursuit of the Memorial Cup.

Moose Jaw has also gotten depth scoring as defencemen Vojtech Port and Aiden Ziprick had goals in the win over the Voltigeurs. Ziprick netted the winner short-handed in that contest with 94 seconds remaining in the third period. At the moment, Ziprick’s tally is the only short-handed marker of the Memorial Cup tournament.

The Warriors also benefitted from a spectacular 49-save performance from star netminder Jackson Unger.

Still, the Warriors are in the tournament semifinal without having a monster game from Firkus. If “the Firkus Circus” has a special night on Friday, that might be the main ingredient that pushes the Warriors into the Memorial Cup championship game on Sunday.

Knights winning streak at Memorial Cup hits seven, other notes

If the London Knights want to use it, they can employ a style of motivation that was utilized a time or two by the NFL’s New England Patriots in the era of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.

With Brady crafting a career at quarterback to become arguably football’s greatest player and Belichick guiding the ship as one of the all-time great head coaches, the Patriots won six Super Bowls coming in the 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016 and 2018 NFL campaigns. After the Patriots third Super Bowl win, a healthy resentment developed from the fans of the league’s other teams.

Since the start of the 2004-05 campaign, the Knights have won five OHL titles and two Memorial Cups to become CHL champions. They captured both the OHL and CHL titles in 2004-05 and again in 2015-16. The Knights three other OHL championships have come in the 2011-12, 2012-13 and the current campaigns.

Due to the Knights success, there has been some resentment built up from fans of the other CHL teams that includes the WHL, OHL and QMJHL circuits.

During games at the Memorial Cup tournament in Saginaw, Michigan, some of the Knights fans have been spotted in the crowd holding up signs that basically say, “Knights versus everyone.”

That mantra was used frequently by Patriots fans in the NFL, especially when the Patriots won their last three Super Bowls.

On Wednesday, the Knights downed the host Spirit 4-2 in the final round robin game at the DOW Event Centre that was played before a tournament high crowd of 5,306 spectators.  The victory was the seventh in a row for the Knights at the Memorial Cup.

They won the 2016 tournament in Red Deer, Alta., posting a 4-0 record. In the Memorial Cup title game in that year, winger Matthew Tkachuk scored the winner in overtime to deliver the Knights to a 3-2 victory over the QMJHL champion Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.

London topped the round robin standings with a 3-0 record at this year’s tournament. The Knights got a bye straight into the Memorial Cup championship game on Sunday (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).

They will play the winner of Friday’s semifinal between the WHL champion Moose Jaw Warriors and the Spirit (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).

Going back to the OHL Playoffs, the Knights are riding and eight-game winning streak. Their only two losses in the OHL Playoffs came in the Western Conference Championship Series that went six games against the Spirit.

In Wednesday’s win over the Spirit, Knights star right-winger Easton Cowan broke out with a monster outing recording two goals, one assist and a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department. Cowan had two assists in London’s first two round robin games.

Knights star left-winger Denver Barkey had one goal and one assist and a plus-one rating. He has two assists in London’s first two games.

Star netminder Michael Simpson made 28 saves to earn the win in goal for the Knights. Simpson has played every minute in goal for the Knights at the Memorial Cup posting a 2.00 goals against average, a .933 save percentage and one shutout.

The Knights posted their win on Wednesday over the Spirit after they found out on Tuesday that right-winger Sawyer Boulton was suspended one game by the Memorial Cup Games Committee for a violation in warm-ups before the OHL champs down the Warriors 5-4. Boulton was suspended for making unnecessary contact with a Moose Jaw player, and the Knight were also fined $1,000.

Boulton went pointless playing the Knights first two games at the tournament.

Overall, that episode was minor hiccup for the Knights. Now their fans are looking forward to seeing their team win the Memorial Cup on Sunday, because to Knights fans, that result is inevitable.  Along the way for Knights fans will also come the pleasure of making the fans of all the other CHL teams feel sad.

• When the QMJHL champion Drummondville Voltigeurs failed to make the playoff round of the Memorial Cup tournament posting an 0-3 record in round robin play, it ended a run where QMJHL teams won the last four straight Memorial Cups. The OHL’s Windsor Spitfires are the last non-QMJHL club to win the Memorial Cup capturing major junior hockey’s biggest prize in 2017 as the host squad. The Spitfires downed the OHL champion Erie Otters 4-3 in that year’s title game.
• The Regina Pats are the last Saskatchewan based team to make the championship game of the Memorial Cup tournament. As the host squad of the event, the Pats fell in the 2018 title game 3-0 to the QMJHL champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan.
• The Swift Current Broncos are the last Saskatchewan based team to win the Memorial Cup. The WHL champion Broncos took the tournament’s title game in 1989 over the host Saskatoon Blades 4-3 in overtime. Tim Tisdale scored the winner in extra time for the Broncos.
• London Knights standout right-winger Kasper Halttunen leads this year’s Memorial Cup tournament with two power-play goals.
• On Thursday, the Prince Albert Raiders announced 26-year-old Conor Yawney as a new assistant coach. Yawney spent last season as an assistant coach with the Amarillo Wranglers of the North American Hockey League. Yawney’s father, Trent, was a longtime defenceman in the NHL starting in the 1987-88 campaign and finishing out in the 1998-99 campaign. The Raiders also announced on Thursday that former NHL defenceman Keaton Ellerby wouldn’t be returning to the club as an assistant coach for the 2024-25 campaign. The 35-year-old had been a Raiders assistant coach since 2022.

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

-------

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.

Unger steals Warriors spot in Memorial Cup semifinal

Netminder stops 49 shots in win over Voltigeurs

Jackson Unger was a wall in goal for the Warriors on Tuesday.

Jackson Unger made a statement that he is a championship caliber goalie.

While the Moose Jaw Warriors and their fans know how good their third-year puck stopper is, Unger turned in a masterful performance in his club’s final round robin game of the Memorial Cup tournament, which crowns a CHL champion. With his play in that final round robin game, Unger showed a national audience on TSN just how good he can be.

On Tuesday playing before 4,444 spectators at the DOW Event Centre in Saginaw, Michigan, the Warriors, who are the champions of the WHL, faced the Drummondville Voltigeurs, who are the champions of the QMJHL, in a contest where the winner advanced to the tournament’s semifinal. The losing squad would be eliminated from the event.

Unger stopped an incredible 49 shots including making 25 saves in the third period to backstop the Warriors to a 5-3 victory. With the win, the Warriors, who are 1-2 in the tournament, advance to Friday’s semifinal contest (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).

They will face the squad that falls in the tournament’s final round robin game to be played on Wednesday between the OHL champion London Knights and the host squad in the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN). Both the Knights and Spirit have 2-0 records. The winner of that clash advances to the event’s championship game set for Sunday (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).

The Voltigeurs closed out play at the Memorial Cup with an 0-3 record after their loss to Moose Jaw.

For his effort in the Warriors win on Tuesday, Unger was named the player of the game.

“Throughout the game, you get in a groove,” said Unger in a post-game scrum. “Seeing how many shots, even past like a 25-shot mark, you just know your game, and you feel good in the crease.”

During the regular season, Unger, who turned 19-years-old in January, appeared in 54 games for the Warriors posting a 35-15-2 record, a 3.08 goals against average, a .908 save percentage and three shutouts. He led the WHL in goaltending wins and was second in minutes played (3,133) and third in shots faced (1,754).

In the WHL Playoffs, Unger appeared in all 20 games the Warriors played posting a 16-3 record, a 2.90 goals against average and a .910 save percentage.

“Sometimes, the more workload he (Unger) gets the better he gets,” said Warriors head coach Mark O’Leary in a post-game scrum. “That’s just competitiveness.

Denton Mateychuk had one goal and two assists on Tuesday.

“Tonight, we certainly needed him, over 50 shots, whatever it was. If anybody wants to talk fatigue, it’s Jackson Unger. He’s played a lot of hockey games this year and saw a lot of pucks, but he found another gear when it got hard, and (I’m) just real proud of the effort.”

For a moment, it appeared the Warriors wouldn’t necessarily need a super-human effort from Unger. The Warriors got the only goal in a fairly evenly played first period, when import defenceman Vojtech Port completed a tick-tack-toe passing play firing home a shot from a sharp angle from the left side of the Drummondville net at the 13:04 mark of the frame.

Warriors star 20-year-old right-winger Atley Calvert and clutch 17-year-old left-winger Lynden Lakovic picked up assists on that play.

When the opening 20 minutes came to a close, the Warriors held a 1-0 lead, while the Voltigeurs held a slim 11-9 edge in shots on goal.

At the 5:10 mark of the second, Warriors star right-winger and the WHL’s player of the year award winner Jagger Firkus blasted home a power-play goal from the left side of the Drummondville net to put the WHL champs up 2-0. Firkus one-timed a beauty cross-ice pass from Warriors star centre Brayden Yager for the power-play marker.

Warriors captain and star offensive-defenceman Denton Mateychuk would net his third goal of the tournament at the 12:43 mark of the second to push the Warriors advantage out to 3-0. Mateychuk found a loose puck at the left side of the Drummondville net and potted it past fallen Voltigeurs netminder Riley Mercer to give Moose Jaw a three-goal edge.

At that point, the Voltigeurs came with a monster push back. With 5:14 remaining in the second, 19-year-old right-winger Justin Cote one-timed home a goal from the right wing for the Voltigeurs to trim the Warriors lead to 3-1. Cote converted a sweet cross-ice pass from Voltigeurs captain Luke Woodworth.

Just 57 seconds after that tally, Cote picked up an assist when Voltigeurs star import centre Peter Repcik ripped home a shot from the left wing to further cut the Warriors lead to 3-2.

The Voltigeurs evened the score at 3-3 at the 3:13 mark of the third, when left-winger Alexis Gendron snapped home a midrange shot from the front of the Moose Jaw net.

With the QMJHL champs having pulled even on the scoreboard, they poured on the pressure searching for the go-ahead goal. Unger kept them at bay.

The situation looked like it could really go downhill for the Warriors, when Firkus was sent to the penalty box for a roughing minor with 3:23 remaining in the third.

Jagger Firkus scored the Warriors second goal on Tuesday.

Seemingly out of nowhere, the Warriors would make the plays to take the contest. Near the tail end of the minor to Firkus, the Warriors got the puck into the Drummondville zone.

Mateychuk had the puck near right-wing boards and put a pass to 18-year-old sophomore defenceman Aiden Ziprick at the point facing straight out from the centre of the Drummondville net. Ziprick, wired home a short-handed goal to the right side of the Drummondville net with 94 seconds remaining in the third to put the Warriors up 4-3.

Yager sealed the win with an empty-net goal with 9.3 seconds remaining in the third to round out the 5-3 final in favour of the Warriors.

Mercer turned away 23-of-27 shots fired his way to take the setback in net for the Voltigeurs.

Mateychuk finished the contest recording one goal, two assists and a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department for the Warriors. Yager completed the game recording one goal, two assists and a plus-one rating for Moose Jaw.

The Voltigeurs finished second overall in the QMJHL in the regular season with a 48-14-5-1 mark and were rated eighth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. They marched through the QMJHL Playoffs with a 16-3 record.

The Warriors placed fifth overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 44-21-0-3 mark. They marched through the WHL Playoffs with a 16-4 mark.

Ziprick’s winner was just his second career goal in the major junior ranks including play in the WHL regular season, the WHL Playoffs and the Memorial Cup tournament. Both his goals have been game-winners, but his tally on Tuesday was more meaningful as his previous winner came in the regular season. His winner on Tuesday also delivered the Warriors their first win at the Memorial Cup tournament in franchise history.

“It’s pretty special,” said Ziprick in a post-game scrum. “It’s a big tournament right now.

“Close game, and we needed a goal. So to get one for the guys is just huge for me. I’ll definitely remember that for the rest of my life.”

Tuesday’s victory marked the third time in the 2024 post-season the Warriors have won an elimination game. Ziprick loves the resiliency of his club.

“The whole year, when we’re against the wall, we know that’s when we’re at our best,” said Ziprick. “So I think tonight we just showed up.

Brayden Yager had one goal and two assists on Tuesday.

“We don’t want to go home yet, and we’re still here for the win.”

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

-------

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.

Warriors down to last life at Memorial Cup tourney

Moose Jaw drops 5-4 decision to Knights to fall to 0-2

Ethan Semeniuk scored twice for the Warriors on Monday.

The Moose Jaw Warriors are finding out life can come at you fast at the Memorial Cup.

On Monday, the WHL champions played their second round robin game at the tournament that crowns a CHL champion taking on the London Knights, who are the champions of the OHL. Once again, the Warriors supplied their share of thrills at the DOW Event Centre in Saginaw, Michigan, but fell 5-4 in a contest played before 4,768 spectators.

The Warriors also came up short by a 5-4 final score in their first round robin contest on Friday against the host Saginaw Spirit from the OHL.

Sitting at 0-2, the Warriors are down to their last life at the Memorial Cup tournament. On Tuesday, Moose Jaw takes on the QMJHL champion Drummondville Voltigeurs (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).

The Voltigeurs are also 0-2 at the tournament. Tuesday’s clash between the Warriors and Voltigeurs will be the final round robin game for both clubs at the tourney. The winner moves on to play in a semifinal contest on Friday, while the losing squad is eliminated from the event.

The Knights improved to 2-0 at the Memorial Cup. They close the round robin portion of the event taking on the host Spirit, who are also 2-0, on Wednesday (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).

That clash between the Knights and Spirit will be a rematch of the OHL’s Western Conference Championship series, which London claimed 4-2. 

The winner of Wednesday’s encounter between the two OHL clubs advances to the Memorial Cup championship game slated for this coming Sunday (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN).

Denton Mateychuk had the Warriors first goal on Monday.

The squad that falls in Wednesday’s battle will play in Friday’s semifinal contest (5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN) against the winner of Tuesday’s game between the Warriors and Voltigeurs.

In Monday’s encounter between the Warriors and Knights, the WHL champs got out to a fast start. Just 27 seconds into the contest, Warriors star right-winger Jagger Firkus broke into the London zone on a breakaway. Firkus put a backhand shot on net that was turned away by a right pad save from Knights star netminder Michael Simpson.

Moose Jaw would break through on the scoreboard first a short time later. At the 3:39 mark of the first, Warriors captain and star defenceman Denton Mateychuk received a drop pass from Warriors star 20-year-old right-winger Atley Calvert in position for a midrange shot straight out from the left post of the London net.

Mateychuk rocketed a shot to the top left corner of the London net to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead. That marked the first time the Warriors held a lead at any time in the Memorial Cup tournament. Moose Jaw is making its debut in the CHL championship event.

The Knights would answer back in the second half of the opening frame. After causing a turnover off the forecheck in the Moose Jaw zone, Knights centre Jacob Julien made a backhand pass from below the icing line to the right side of the Warriors goal across the face of the net to import right-winger Ruslan Gazizov. 

Gazizov popped the puck into an empty left side of the Moose Jaw net to even the score at 1-1.

With 2:10 remaining in the first, Knights star offensive-defenceman Sam Dickinson wired a midrange shot from the front of the Moose Jaw net through screen home to the left side of the goal to give the Knights a 2-1 lead.

Moose Jaw would even the score at 2-2 at the 7:01 mark of the second. Warriors defenceman Aiden Ziprick fired a shot from the left side of the London net that rebounded out to Warriors left-winger Ethan Semeniuk at the right side of the goal. Semeniuk quickly fired the rebound into an empty right side of the London net past a fallen Simpson for the equalizer.

Atley Calvert set up the Warriors first goal on Monday.

At that point, the Knights shot out on a surge scoring three straight goals to take a 5-2 lead. At the 9:02 mark of the second, standout rookie centre Sam O’Reilly scored a beauty for the Knights. He made a puck drag move to get around Warriors defenceman Cosmo Wilson on a rush down the left wing and roofed a close in shot to the top right corner of the Moose Jaw net to put the Knights up 3-2.

With 7:13 remaining in the second, O’Reilly found himself breaking into the Moose Jaw zone jetting down the right wing on a two-on-one rush with veteran left-winger Landon Sim speeding down the left win. O’Reilly made a pass across the front of the Moose Jaw net to Sim, who buried a shot to put the Knights up 4-2.

The Knights completed the surge with 3:46 remaining in the second, when import winger Kasper Halttunen one-timed home a midrange shot from just off to the left of the Moose Jaw to give the OHL champs their 5-2 advantage. Halttunen converted a beauty setup pass from star right-winger Easton Cowan.

Moose Jaw got a big traction moment just six second later, when Semeniuk netted his second of the contest putting home a shot from just outside the London blue-line that cut the Knights advantage to 5-3.

Things got a bit rough with 2:30 remaining in the second as Warriors offensive-defenceman Kalem Parker took on Knights power forward Max McCue in a fight. McCue got the better of Parker in the bout.

When the second period came to a close, the Knights held their 5-3 advantage holding a 24-20 edge in shots on goal. While the Knights have skill, they built their lead by playing heavy in a style similar to that of some of the skilled and physical squads that traditionally have been more usual in coming out of the WHL.

The Knights players often dumped the puck into the Moose Jaw zone, and the London forwards got some big hits on Warriors defencemen working on the forecheck.

Jagger Firkus has been snake bitten around the net.

In the third, the Warriors came with a big push holding a 10-4 edge in shots on goal. Moose Jaw elected to first pull star netminder Jackson Unger for an extra attacker with about 4:36 remaining in the third.

During a scramble around the London net with 3:55 remaining in the third, Warriors standout overage import left-winger Martin Rysavy banged the puck home into the OHL champs’ goal to trim the Knights lead to 5-4.

Unger returned to the Warriors net and was pulled once again for an extra attacker with 79 seconds remaining in the third. The Warriors proceeded to get an offensive zone faceoff with 71 seconds left in the frame.

Off the draw, Warriors star centre Brayden Yager got the puck at the right side boards of the London zone and passed it to Firkus, who was in position for a midrange one-timer just off to the left of the London net. Firkus one-timed Yager’s setup pass but the shot was corralled by Simpson.

The Knights clamped things down defensively from there to hold on to their 5-4 victory.

Unger turned away 23 shots to take the setback in net for the Warriors. Simpson stopped 26 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Knights.

Cowan and Denver Barkey each had a pair of helpers for the Knights. London has now won six straight games at the Memorial Cup tournament, which includes going 4-0 to win the 2016 edition of the tournament held in Red Deer, Alta.

In the WHL Playoffs, the Warriors won two elimination games taking their epic seven game WHL Eastern Conference title series win over the Saskatoon Blades. The Warriors claimed a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 6 of that series at home in Moose Jaw and posted a 3-2 overtime victory in a series-deciding Game 7 in Saskatoon.

On Tuesday, the Warriors take on a Voltigeurs side that is facing elimination for the first time in the 2024 post-season.

Brayden Yager nearly set up a late equalizer for the Warriors.

Moose Jaw has battled and lost two games that could have gone either way at the Memorial Cup. In the department of Captain Obvious, now would be a great time for the Warriors to get their first win at the CHL championship tourney.

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

-------

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.