MISSISSAUGA, ON-The Saint John Sea Dogs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League never trailed tonight on their way to claiming the 93rd edition of the MasterCard Memorial Cup. They beat the tournament hosts the Mississauga St. Michaels Majors of the Ontario Hockey League 3-1 at the Hershey Centre, the Major’s home ice. The win gave the Sea Dogs in their sixth year of existence the organization’s first Memorial Cup win.
The Master Card Memorial Cup is emblematic of junior hockey supremacy in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The CHL is made up of the top three junior leagues in Canada. The Majors who were the host team for this year’s Cup won a Saturday night matchup against the Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey League to earn the right to face the Sea Dogs. Saint John qualified for the finale by virtue of their record in the preliminary round.
The Sea Dogs used a short-handed goal at 2:24 of the opening period to take q 1-0 lead. Defenseman Simon Despres picked up the unassisted goal and the St. John lead. He beat the Majors’ goalie J.P. Anderson high to the right side after going left to draw Anderson slightly to the other side of the net. This was first of two goals for the Sea Dogs in the period.
Next up Zack Phillips scored as he was setup by Jonathan Huberdeau and Michael Kirkpatrick. The Phillips’ marker turned out to be the game winner. Kirkpatrick beat a Majors’ defenseman to the puck in deep behind the net, shoveled it to Huberdeau also behind the net who in turn set up Phillips in front of the goal tender. Bingo it was 2-0 at the 13:47 mark.
Meanwhile the Sea Dogs’ net minder Jacob DeSerres shut out the Majors for the first 34:41 of the game. He stopped 34 of the 35 shots in the game overall and put in sterling performance. He was pressed hard especially in the second and third periods. His counterpart J.P. Anderson allowed the three Sea Dogs’ goals on 25 shots in absorbing the loss. The win for DeSerres came after he lost in last year’s Cup final by a big 9-1 score as a member of the Brandon Wheat Kings.
The Majors finally broke through in the second period as Riley Brace got the lone goal of the night for his team. The Brace goal came on assists from Justin Shugg and Casey Cizikas at the 14:41 mark of the stanza. The 5,419 in the sellout audience came alive as the Majors turned up the heat for the balance of the period but the 2-1 lead held as the teams went to their dressing rooms for the second intermission.
Unfortunately for the Majors and the largely partisan crowd DeSerres was unbeatable in the last period on his way to earning the game’s number one star. Mississauga continued to press in a tight and tense game until Huberdeau picked up his second point of the game this time a goal. His goal ensured the Saint John win via the 3-1 score. It came at 16:17 while the teams were at even strength. Phillips got the primary assist to go with his first period goal while Stephen MacAulay picked up the secondary assist on the final goal of 2011 Cup action.
The Sea Dogs are the first team from the QMJHL to win the Cup since the 2006 tournament won by the Quebec Ramparts. Saint John was the number one ranked team in the CHL coming into the tournament and lived up to their billing.
C ontact the author at Phil.Brand@prohockeynews.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.