Hosts faring well at Memorial Cup
WINDSOR, Ont. Jeremiah Addison skated past his bench after scoring in the third period with a message for his teammates.
“Make the hats rain baby,” he told them.
Addison scored three times — his last coming in the third to give his team a sigh of relief — as the Windsor Spitfires beat the Erie Otters 4-2 on Wednesday to advance directly to the Memorial Cup final.
Gabriel Vilardi set up all three of Addison’s goals and earned a fourth assist on Mikhail Sergachev’s first of the tournament as well.
“I couldn’t do it without my linemates,” said Addison, Windsor’s 21-year-old captain. “I think I owe (Vilardi) a coffee.”
The Spitfires went 44 days between games after being eliminated in the first round of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. But they haven’t looked out of sync as tournament hosts, finishing roundrobin play undefeated at 3-0.
The championship tilt goes Sunday.
“Three days (rest) to us is nothing,” said Windsor coach Rocky Thompson. “It’s a welldeserved rest now. We’re excited about the opportunity to play for the Memorial Cup.”
OHL champion Erie (2-1) will play the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champion Saint John Sea Dogs (1-2) in Friday’s semifinal, with the winner grabbing the second spot in the championship.
The Otters hammered Saint John in record-setting fashion in the preliminary round, which played into their loss according to coach Kris Knoblauch.
“I think we felt really good about ourselves after the 12-5 game... I don’t think our work ethic was where it needed to be. We didn’t work as hard as we had been.”
Michael DiPietro made 33 saves for the win. His play has been a major contributor to Windsor’s success.