Memorial Cup: Mooseheads, Blades, Knights, Winter Hawks

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Laan Yaa Mo
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Memorial Cup: Mooseheads, Blades, Knights, Winter Hawks

Post by Laan Yaa Mo » May 20, 2013, 3:38 am

Once again it is time for deciding junior ice-hockey supremacy. The Memorial Cup was first played in 1919. This year the games are in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The sentimental favourites are the Halifax Mooseheads; however, I favour the hometown Saskatoon Blades. Representing the Ontario Hockey League are the London Knights, and the Portland Winterhawks won the Western Hockey League. Saskatoon made it into the finals by virtue of having the hometown venue.

Friday night, the London Knights downed Saskatoon, 3-2; and last night, the Mooseheads dumped Portland, 7-4.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond, Switzerland plays Sweden for the World Ice-Hockey Championship tonight in Stockholm.



Blades hang tough, but fall in Memorial Cup opener

By Daniel Nugent-Bowman, The StarPhoenixMay 18, 2013

A shot by Saskatoon Blades right winger Josh Nicholls is stopped by the fallen stick of London Knights goaltender Anthony Stolarz during first period Memorial Cup action in Saskatoon, Sask., on Friday, May 17, 2013.

Photograph by: Liam Richards , The Canadian Press


Knights 3, Blades 2

After being idle for 51 days, the biggest concern for the Saskatoon Blades was figuring out how to step on the gas pedal and keep up with the speedy London Knights in their MasterCard Memorial Cup opener.

The Blades weathered a sluggish start and tried to match the Knights’ lightning fast pace, hanging tough with the OHL champions for long stretches of the game.

It just wasn’t enough.

Towering Russian defenceman Nikita Zadorov cashed in a rebound at the side of the net on the power play at 5:45 of the third period.

The marker proved to be the decisive goal as the Blades fell 3-2.

“Going into the third period 2-2, London outchanced us – there’s no question about that,” said head coach and general manager Lorne Molleken. “But we had a chance to steal a hockey game.

“We came up short. We have to work through this and get ready for our next challenge on Sunday.”

Playing in front of an electric crowd of 10,203 fans at Credit Union Centre, the Blades showed plenty of nervous energy early.

They were hemmed in their own end during the first few shifts, forcing goaltender Andrey Makarov to make a sliding right pad save on Knights’ Chris Tierney.

Makarov faced 33 shots, including 25 in the first two periods, and kept the Blades in the game.

That allowed winger Josh Nicholls to score the first of two beautiful goals – one a tap in off a great feed from new linemate Michael Ferland.

The Knights responded with goals by Brett Welychka and Seth Griffith to carry a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

But Nicholls found the back of the net again, this time showing great determination to beat Knights captain Scott Harrington to a loose puck off his initial breakaway chance.

Both goals were assisted by Ferland, giving each player more points than he did in the WHL Eastern Conference quarter-final sweep to Medicine Hat.

Skating alongside 20-year-old captain Brenden Walker, the trio was easily the Blades’ most dangerous unit.

Nicholls was plenty motivated.

“We’re almost too old for this league,” said the 21-year-old. “We really wanted to push each other and carry this team on our backs.

“We want to prove to everyone that we belong to be here,” Nicholls added. “We’re sick and tired of people talking about (Portland’s Seth) Jones, (Halifax forwards Nathan) MacKinnon and (Jonathan) Drouin. We want the media to focus some attention on us.”

The Blades’ penalty killing was solid. They allowed just the Zadorov goal on six opportunities against and killed off a 54-second 5-on-3.

However, being forced to thwart that many chances ruin their offensive flow.

“We can’t spend 14 minutes in the penalty box,” said Siemens. “There were a couple of maybe borderline calls, but we have to really bear down and make sure that we’re playing 5-on-5. That’s where our strength is going to be.”

“The penalties that were called tonight were all penalties,” added Molleken. “We just have to be better.”

Despite the loss – and being outshot 33-29 – the Blades were holding their heads high, especially after the long layoff.

“I think we did a good job of wearing them down,” said Nicholls. “You could see defeat in their eyes at the end of the game and they felt like they escaped with one.

“There’s a lot for us to look forward to for the rest of the tournament.”

The Blades return to action Sunday against the MacKinnon, Drouin and the QMJHL-winning Halifax Mooseheads.

BLADE BITS: RW Shane McColgan was rocked by Knights LW Max Domi early in the third period. He went to the bench, but stayed in the game... With C Erik Benoit returning to the lineup – he missed the playoff series against Medicine Hat – LW Jessey Astles was scratched.

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SP’s 3 STARS

1. Saskatoon Blades RW Josh Nicholls – Scored twice and played an inspired game.

2. London Knights RW Seth Griffith – Nice goal on 2-on-1 and was tough to contain.

3. Saskatoon Blades G Andrey Makarov – Kept his team in the contest.

The turning point

Nikita Zadorov’s power-play goal 5:45 into the final period broke a tie and gave the Knights a victory in the tournament opener.

© Copyright (c) The StarPhoenix


Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/sports/Bl ... z2TlzxETWN


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Memorial Cup: Mooseheads, Blades, Knights, Winter Hawks

Post by Laan Yaa Mo » May 21, 2013, 2:13 am

Last night, in a thoroughly enjoyable game, the Saskatoon Blades upset the Halifax Mooseheads, 5-2.

In International Ice-Hockey competition, Sweden destroyed Switzerland 5-1 to win the gold medal.
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Memorial Cup: Mooseheads, Blades, Knights, Winter Hawks

Post by SkyyWalker » May 21, 2013, 2:46 am

Go Red Wings!! Oooopsie...wrong competition. :confused:

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Memorial Cup: Mooseheads, Blades, Knights, Winter Hawks

Post by Laan Yaa Mo » May 21, 2013, 3:31 am

As a longtime Red Wing fan, I echo your sentiments. It would be great to see Hockeytown U.S.A. win Lord Stanley's mug again.

In Junior Hockey, the Hamilton Red Wings folded many moons ago, and the Weyburn (Saskatchewan) Red Wings, if they still exist, play in Tier 2 Junior Hockey.
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Memorial Cup: Mooseheads, Blades, Knights, Winter Hawks

Post by Laan Yaa Mo » May 21, 2013, 7:07 pm

In last night's encounter, the London Knights romped to a 6-3 victory over the Portland Winterhawks. This means all teams have a 1-1 record. Next up, the host Saskatoon Blades take on Portland, and the Halifax Mooseheads will be playing the London Knights.

In other ice-hockey news of importance, the Detroit Red Wings clipped the Chicago Blackhawks to take a 2-1 lead in that series.
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Memorial Cup: Mooseheads, Blades, Knights, Winter Hawks

Post by Laan Yaa Mo » May 22, 2013, 7:09 pm

I was wrong. Last night Halifax played London and the Mooseheads destroyed the London Knights by a 9-2 tally.
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Memorial Cup: Mooseheads, Blades, Knights, Winter Hawks

Post by Laan Yaa Mo » May 23, 2013, 6:50 pm

The Saskatoon Blades were nipped by the Portland Winterhawks 4-2 in Wednesday nights encounter.
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Memorial Cup: Mooseheads, Blades, Knights, Winter Hawks

Post by Shado » May 23, 2013, 7:38 pm

Are the Portland Winterhawks from the U.S. Khun Laan Yaa Mo?


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Memorial Cup: Mooseheads, Blades, Knights, Winter Hawks

Post by Laan Yaa Mo » May 24, 2013, 12:31 am

Yes, they are centred in Portland, Oregon. I believe Spokane has a team in the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League too as does Erie, Penn., Saginaw, Michigan and one or two other places.

They have a whole division...yikes:
1 Portland Winterhawks 21 16 5 0 0 32 0.762 82 36 4-0-1-0 7-2-1-0 265
2 Spokane Chiefs 9 4 5 0 0 8 0.444 24 32 0-4-0-0 4-4-1-0 155
3 Seattle Thunderbirds 7 3 4 0 0 6 0.429 18 22 0-2-2-0 3-2-2-0 86
4 Everett Silvertips 6 2 4 0 0 4 0.333 16 32 0-1-0-0 2-4-0-0 115
5 Tri-City Americans 5 1 4 0 0 2 0.200 14 21 0-1-1-0 1-3-1-0 70
http://whl.ca/standings/show

Plymouth, Michigan is the other U.S. team in the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League.
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Memorial Cup: Mooseheads, Blades, Knights, Winter Hawks

Post by Shado » May 24, 2013, 7:37 am

During the late 70s and early 80s we lived in Ludington, Michigan and would go to Muskegon to watch the Mohawks play. International Hockey League I believe. Good fun and lots of great young players.

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Memorial Cup: Mooseheads, Blades, Knights, Winter Hawks

Post by Laan Yaa Mo » May 24, 2013, 7:21 pm

Khun Shado, good memories of an interesting league.

Last night, the hometown Saskatoon Blades were dumped 6-1 by the London Knights, and are now eliminated from the competition. London and Portland will play tonight for the right to play Halifax in the final.
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Memorial Cup: Mooseheads, Blades, Knights, Winter Hawks

Post by Laan Yaa Mo » May 25, 2013, 9:45 pm

It will be the Halifax Mooseheads vs. the Portland Winterhawks for the Memorial Cup on Sunday after the Oregon-based team beat the London Knights 2-1 last night.
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Memorial Cup: Mooseheads, Blades, Knights, Winter Hawks

Post by Laan Yaa Mo » May 27, 2013, 7:10 pm

The Halifax Mooseheads are the Memorial Cup Champions after an exciting finale. The Mooseheads bumped the Portland Winterhawks 6-4 with an empty-netter with less than a minute left in the game. This is the first every championship won by the Mooseheads.
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