Hot goaltender leads Titans

WHL champs, Pats, the host team, blanked 3-0 in final

REGINA (CP) — During the Acadie-Bathurst Titan’s first meeting of the year, head coach Mario Pouliot told his team that winning the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League wasn’t going to be enough.

The Titan made sure that was the case Sunday night by shutting out the host Regina Pats 3-0 to win their first Memorial Cup in franchise history.

“So now it’s enough,” Pouliot said after the victory. “Our goal at the start of the season was to win the last game we want to play and now that it’s done, we are happy and we just have to enjoy.”

Evan Fitzpatrick stopped 28 shots for the Titan, who became the first QMJHL team to capture the Canadian major junior championship since 2013.

Fitzpatrick said that winning the 100th edition of the tournament is all that matters.

“When you look back on it, nobody’s really going to realize it was a 3-0 win,” he said. “It’s that the Titan won the Memorial Cup.”

Adam Holwell, Samuel Asselin and Ethan Crossman, into an empty net, scored for the Titans.

Acadie-Bathurst captain Jeffrey Truchon-Viel brought veterans Olivier Galipeau and Holwell over to receive the trophy with him.

“I wanted to make sure that they lifted the cup first and I remember that last game forever,” Truchon-Viel said.

Regina’s leading scorer Sam Steel, who earned tournament MVP honours, said that Paddock was unbelievable.