Spokane is Chief in the CHL

The 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup concluded almost two weeks ago with the Spokane Chiefs, winners of the Western Hockey League, defeating the host Kitchener Rangers, winners of the Ontario Hockey League, 4-1 at the Memorial Auditorium. After a decent first period where both teams traded goals, Kitchener came out a little flat for the second period and fell behind 3-1 after two goals minutes apart. In the third period Kitchener returned to their offensive ways, peppering the Chiefs netminder with shots but the tournament's most valuable player, Dustin Tokarski, shut the door and held off the attack. An empty net goal by Jared Cowan late in the third period iced the victory for the Chiefs and the second straight Memorial Cup for the WHL.

The tournament all-star team consisted solely of players from the Rangers and Chiefs. Justin Azevedo, the winner of the Ed Chynoweth Trophy for the leading scorer in the tournament, and defenceman Ben Shutron were selected to the team from Kitchener while goaltender Tokarski, forwards Drayson Bowman and Mitch Wahl, and defenceman Justin Falk were named from the champion Spokane team. The Rangers Matt Halischuk was awarded the George Parsons Memorial Trophy for being the most sportsmanlike of the tournament.

Next years tournament will be held in Rimouski, Quebec.