Saint John beats Mississauga to win Memorial Cup
Posted May 29, 2011 11:35 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — The Saint John Sea Dogs captured the franchise’s first MasterCard Memorial Cup in just their sixth season of existence.
The Sea Dogs defeated the host Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors 3-1 in the championship final. It was the second time the Majors lost a championship on home ice, after losing Game 7 in overtime in the Ontario Hockey League final to the Owen Sound Attack.
Saint John was the hungrier team from the outset and came out strong, scoring the game’s first two goals. The Majors pressured in the second and third, but were unable to equalize the game.
It was a redemption story for goalie Jacob DeSerres, who lost 9-1 to the Windsor Spitfires as a member of the Brandon Wheat Kings in last year’s final.
Following Ryan Tesink’s roughing penalty, Simon Despres gave the Sea Dogs the lead with a beautiful shot. Despres stepped over the blue line and with Stuart Percy blocking his way to the net, Despres stepped to the left and shot back to the far side over Anderson’s shoulder and in the top corner.
The Sea Dogs were just harder on the puck than the Majors. Michael Kirkpatrick tracked down a loose puck behind Anderson’s net and fed it to Jonathan Huberdeau, who then passed out in front to a wide open Zack Phillips for an easy 2-0 lead.
Saint John nearly made it 3-0 late in the third period with a back door play that usually provides dividends. Huberdeau wasn’t able to control the puck quickly enough and by the time he got the shot away, Anderson had slid across to make the left toe save.
The Majors played with much more urgency in the second period. Maxim Kitsyn fired an uncontested shot from in close off the post to DeSerres’ left. Mississauga scored what may have been the goal of the tournament on a pretty passing play. Casey Cizikas passed the puck over to Justin Shugg who fed a streak and wide-open Rob Flick whose shot beat a diving DeSerres to the near post.
The Majors had plenty of momentum in the dying moments and nearly tied it at two. Flick let a backhand go in tight, but was robbed by DeSerres’ right foot to the far post on the shift after Mississauga scored.
While the Majors were pleased when the first period ended, the Sea Dogs breathed a similar sigh of relief at the conclusion of the second.
The last QMJHL champions are the 2006 Quebec Remparts. The QMJHL has the least amount of MasterCard Memorial Cup victories since 1972 when the tournament format was introduced with just seven.
The last OHL team to win the MasterCard Memorial Cup is the Windsor Spitfires, who repeated last year.
The last time a host team won the tournament was the Vancouver Giants in 2007. Host teams have now lost three of the previous four title games.
