RIMOUSKI – Finally, the 2008-09 Canadian Hockey League season gets down to business with the final four making their way to the 2009 MasterCard Memorial Cup in Rimouski, Quebec. After 2,312 regular season and playoff games, four teams remain in the hunt for the CHL’s national championship. The Memorial Cup will be begin on Friday night when the host team, the Rimouski Oceanic, go up against the WHL champion Kelowna Rockets while the OHL champion Windsor Spitfires and QMJHL champion Drummondville Voltigeurs hook up on Saturday. All four teams will play each other once in the round robin style tournament before the semi-finals take place on Friday, May 22. If a tie-breaker game is needed to decide the top three teams, it will be held on Thursday May 21 with the championship game on Sunday, May 24. Today we take a look at the match-up between Drummondville and Windsor Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL Champions) The Voltigeurs swept their way through the first three rounds of the QMJHL playoffs by eliminating the Lewiston MAINEiacs, Montreal Juniors, and the Rimouski Oceanic. After jumping out to a 3-1 sereis lead in the QMJHL finals against the Shawinigan Cataractes, the Voltigeurs needed a 3-2 win in Game 7 on home ice. The Voltigeurs will be playing in the Memorial Cup for only the third time in franchise history. They played in the tournament in 1989 and 1991 where they advanced to the final game before losing to the Spokane Chiefs. QMJHL scoring champion Yannick Riendeau (29-23-52 in 19 games) continues to lead the way offensively for the Voltigeurs in the playoffs. Dany Masse (15-21-36 in 19 games) and Mike Hoffman (21-13-34 in 19 games) were also point getters in the playoffs. Chris DiDomenico (4-31-35 in 15 games) was having a solid playoff run before suffering a leg injury that will keep him out of the tournament. In net, Marco Cousineau went 13-3 with a 2.47 goals against average and .904 save percentage in 16 games. Guy Boucher is in his third season behind the bench in Drummondville. He helped Team Canada’s Under-18 team win the gold medal at the World Championships last April, and also helped the World Junior Team win the gold in Ottawa at Christmas. Boucher was an assistant coach with Rimouski when they won the QMJHL championship and also played in the 2005 Memorial Cup. Regular Season Record: 54-10-0-4 Playoff Record: 16-3 Windsor Spitfires (OHL Champions) After putting together a franchise record 57-10-0-1 during the regular season, the Windsor Spitfires claimed the J. Ross Robertson Cup for the second time in team history. They started the OHL playoffs with a four-game sweep of the Owen Sound Attack and advanced to the semi-finals winning in six games over the Plymouth Whalers. They knocked off the London Knights in a thrilling five-game series where every game was settled in overtime. The Spitfires than defeated the Brampton Battalion in five games in the Rogers OHL Championship Series. The Spitfires won the OHL championship for the first time since 1988 and despite going 3-0 in the Memorial Cup, the Spitfires lost to the Medicine Hat Tigers in the championship game. Super sophomore Taylor Hall (16-20-36 in 20 games) was the top scorer in the post-season and won the Wayne Gretzky “99” Award as the leagues most valuable player in the OHL playoffs. Andrei Loktionov (11-22-33 in 20 games) and Dale Mitchell (14-15-29 in 20 games) also had good offensive numbers while defenseman Ryan Ellis (8-23-31 in 20 games) contributed as well. In net, Andrew Engelage experienced some criticism along the way this season but responded with an outstanding playoff effort. He may have had his best game in a Spitfires’ uniform in the championship series finale where the Spitfires won 2-1 in overtime. Behind the bench, former OHL and NHL player Bob Boughner is the Head Coach and is a part owner of the team, along with general manager Warren Rychel. Regular Season Record: 57-10-0-1 Playoff Record: 16-4 As much as we love what Drummondville did during their playoff run in the QMJHL, look for Windsor to not only win their game against the Voltigeurs, but we predict the Spitfires will win the Memorial Cup championship with Taylor Hall as the tournament MVP. 2009 MasterCard Memorial Cup Schedule Friday May 15 – Kelowna vs. Rimouski, 7:00 p.m. Saturday May 16 – Drummondville vs. Windsor, 4:40 p.m. Sunday May 17 – Rimouski vs. Windsor, 4:30 p.m. Monday May 18 – Drummondville vs. Kelowna, 7:00 p.m. Tuesday May 19 – Windsor vs. Kelowna, 7:00 p.m. Wednesday May 20 – Rimouski vs. Drummondville, 7:00 p.m. Thursday May 21 – Tie-Breaker Game (if necessary), 7:00 p.m. Friday May 22 – Semi-Final, 7:00 p.m. Sunday May 24 – Championship Game, 4:40 p.m. Source: http://www.chl.ca/
Contact the author at Brian.jennings@prohockeynews.com
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