Slow start leads to history books in Rimouski

The Windsor Spitfires started the Memorial Cup going 0-2 with a game to play against the perfect 2-0 Kelowna Rockets last Tuesday. It has been suggested that Kelowna took it easy in that game leading to a Windsor win that forced a tiebreaker game. Obviously, this will never been proven but this game gave the Spits the confidence they were in desperate need of.

In the tie-breaker the OHL champion defeated the host Rimouski Oceanic 6-4 and then went on to defeat the QMJHL champion Drummondville Voltigeurs 3-2 in overtime. That led to a rematch of Kelowna versus Windsor in the final game. Windsor did not allow for any doubt as they scored on their first three shots to take a 3-0 early first period lead. They traded singles between the next two periods and the game ended 4-1 Windsor. In winning the Cup, Windsor became the first team to ever win the Memorial Cup after losing the first two games.

Despite losing some players for next year, the Spitfires could be even better. But we will let them all enjoy the win for the next couple months.

As for the tournament awards, Taylor Hall, Windsor Spitfires, was named tournament MVP, Jamie Benn, Kelowna Rockets, was the tournaments Top Scorer, Yannick Riendeau, Drummondville Voltigeurs, was the Most Sportsmanlike and Marco Cousineau, Drummondville Voltigeurs, was the Most Outstanding Goaltender. Finally, the all-star team is as follows:

Forward – Taylor Hall, Windsor Spitfires
Forward – Jamie Benn, Kelowna Rockets
Forward – Patrice Cormier, Rimouski Oceanic
Defence – Ryan Ellis, Windsor Spitfires
Defence – Tyler Myers, Kelowna Rockets
Goaltender – Marco Cousineau, Drummondville Voltigeurs

2009 Champion's Cup final

Well it is finally here, the 2009 Champion’s Cup final. The top team from the West (and the league overall) will host the top team from the East in a one game showdown. The mighty Titans from New York will make the long trek to Calgary to face off against the home town Roughnecks. Many expected to see a rematch from the 2004 Champion’s Cup but an almost flawless defensive effort by the Titans last weekend crushed the hopes of a repeat for Banditland.

Allowing just three goals against the star-studded Bandits surely has the Titans entering the game as favourite's right? They not only defeated the defending champs but embarrassed them. Lead by Casey Powell on offense and Matt Vinc on defense, with a hard working supporting cast, these Titans really live up to their team name but are still considered underdogs for tonight’s game. Do they care? Not at all. They will play a full 60 minutes and give the Roughnecks all they can handle. Will that be enough to hoist their first cup? I personally don’t think they will be able to contain all the offensive threats Calgary has.

Calgary has been the top team in the league since game one. They easily handled their two playoff opponents so far and look to do the same to the Titans. Coming in as favourites, Calgary is looking to Matt King to continue his stellar play between the pipes. Even with their many offensive threats (Sanderson, Kelusky, Toth…), the Roughnecks will also need to put in a solid 60 minutes if they plan on raising a second banner to the rafters. They will also be out to prove a point as not a single player from the Roughnecks earned any end of year hardware (except their coach) despite being the top team all year. They only had one player named to the all-pro teams and that was Josh Sanderson for the second team.

Along with Casey Powell, I think containing Brendan Mundorf and Jordan Hall will be key to Calgary’s victory. Calgary plays as a team and will come back hard if they get down early. In the end Calgary will prevail in a close game. The score at the end may not reflect how close this game will be.

Big night for sports

Not only is today a Friday before a long weekend but it is also a big day for sports. The 2009 MasterCard Memorial Cup gets underway tonight in Rimouski when the Kelowna Rockets take on the host Oceanic. The 2009 season of Major League Lacrosse also begins tonight in Annapolis as the Toronto Nationals take on the Washington Bayhawks in Toronto’s first MLL game. Perhaps the biggest game of the night will be the National Lacrosse League’s Champion’s Cup final in Calgary between the Roughnecks and the visiting New York Titans. As an added bonus for those in the Durham region, Rogers TV will be broadcasting the Clarington Green Gaels at Newmarket Saints lacrosse game this evening starting at 8:00 PM.

2009 Memorial Cup teams are set

The Calgary Hitmen got through the first three rounds of the Western Hockey League playoffs without losing a single game. Then they met up with the Kelowna Rockets in the Ed Chynoweth Cup final series and lost the first three games. The Rockets couldn’t complete the sweep in game four but finally won the series in overtime in game 6 in front of their home fans. Kelowna swept the first round before winning both the next two series four games to two.

The Ontario Hockey League was a showdown between the top team in the league, the Windsor Spitfires, and the second place team from the East division, the Brampton Battalion. It took Brampton until the second period of game two to wake up and play well but they were simply over matched in this series. Windsor won game five in overtime to win the J Ross Robertson Cup. Windsor defeated the Owen Sound Attack, Plymouth Whalers and London Knights to reach the final series while Brampton downed Peterborough, Mississauga Majors, and Belleville Bulls before losing to Windsor.

Over in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the Drummondville Voltigeurs swept the first three series before meeting a challenge in the final series against the Shawinigan Cataractes. In game two of the finals, Drummondville suffered their first loss in the playoffs but managed to rebound and win the series and the President Cup in seven games. Drummondville will now head to the Memorial Cup just one year after finishing in last place in the league.

The 2009 MasterCard Memorial Cup begins this Friday night as the Kelowna Rockets take on the host Rimouski Oceanic. The full schedule is as follows (times in EDT):

Friday, May 15 – WHL vs HOST, 7:00 pm
Saturday, May 16 – QMJHL vs OHL, 4:30 pm
Sunday, May 17 – HOST vs OHL, 4:30 pm
Monday, May 18 – QMJHL vs WHL, 7:00 pm
Tuesday, May 19 – OHL vs WHL, 7:00 pm
Wednesday, May 20 – HOST vs QMJHL, 7:00 pm
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Thursday, May 21 – Tie-breaker (if necessary), 7:00 pm
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Friday, May 22 – SEMI-FINAL, 7:00 pm
Sunday, May 24 – CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL, 4:30 pm

Tonight is the season!

For any Toronto Blue Jays fan, tonight is the season for the Jays. A win tonight and the fans will think this season was a success. Tonight the Jays not only face the Yankees for the first time this season but their ace, Roy Halladay, takes to the mound against the villified A.J. Burnett. The same Burnett who left the Jays nest in the off season in search of more money. It has the making of a great game. Let's hope the idiots stay home so the real fans can enjoy this encounter.

NLL division finals

Since I got one of my first round predictions wrong, I figure I should revise my comments on the rest of the playoffs. Well, actually, all comments are still relevant except for the one series. Rochester was unable to finish the upset and in the last five minutes allowed New York (or should I say Casey Powell) to come back to tie the game and eventually lose it in overtime.

So with Rochester loss, New York Titans advance to the East division final to host the Buffalo Bandits. Buffalo lost both meetings against New York this year, which is why the Titans get to host this game and not Buffalo, all else being equal. In my opinion, Buffalo is the better team in this game although New York has played more consistently this year. I think Buffalo is going to avenge their two regular season losses in a big way. Bandits by a few, let’s say four.

I would like to see San Jose defeat Calgary so I can attend another game live but I think Calgary will pull out the win in the West final. Still backing the Bandits in the Cup final too, in overtime. With luck the Bandits will have the East final well in hand early so I can flip to the West final at the start. Otherwise, it’s split screen for me.