Spitfires won’t be gracious hosts
WINDSOR, ONT.— It will be an all-Ontario Hockey League matchup on Sunday in the Memorial Cup final when the Windsor Spitfires host the Erie Otters.
The Spitfires (3-0) haven’t played since locking up a berth in the final with a 4-2 round-robin win over Erie on Wednesday. The OHL champion Otters (3-1) knocked off the Quebec league champion Saint John Sea Dogs 6-3 in Friday’s semifinal for their spot.
“By far the best two best teams we’ve seen this year,” Sea Dogs coach Danny Flynn said.
This is the first time that two OHL teams will compete in the final since 1993 when Sault Ste. Marie beat Peterborough.
Here are four things to know about the championship game.
THE GRACIOUS HOST
Eight of the last nine Memorial Cup champions have won their league titles, with 2012 host Shawinigan being the last club to lift the trophy after bowing out in their league playoffs. The Spitfires are trying to buck that trend after being eliminated in the first round of the OHL playoffs by London. Windsor went 44 days between games while waiting for the tournament to begin.
THE GAME-WINNER
Anthony Cirelli has been making a name for himself in junior by scoring big goals. He potted the overtime winner in the 2015 Memorial Cup final to lift Oshawa over Kelowna. Acquired by Erie in a mid-season trade, Cirelli also scored in extra time in this year’s OHL championship, pushing the Otters past Mississauga.
He has eight points in his last four games.
“With Anthony, his experience winning a championship creates a lot of comments on the team,” said Otters coach Kris Knoblauch.
BIG ON THE BLUE LINE
Windsor has allowed just five goals against in the tournament.
Goalie Michael DiPietro has been huge for the Spitfires, but he also has four NHL prospects on the blue line in front of him making it difficult for the opposition, including Logan Stanley (Winnipeg), Mikhail Sergachev (Montreal), Sean Day (New York Rangers) and Jalen Chatfield (Vancouver).
“With those guys out there, there’s a lot of confidence,” DiPietro said. “But it’s the full six (defencemen), full 20 (players) in front.”
SEEKING REVENGE
The Otters could have gone directly to the championship if they had beaten Windsor in the last roundrobin game, but they fell behind early and couldn’t catch up. Erie was forced to go through Saint John in the semifinal.
DiPietro was the difference maker in that game, and Erie captain Dylan Strome knows that. “We outshot them 30-10 in the second and third period,” Strome said. “If we didn’t have such a lapse in the first I think we would have been successful, but that game means nothing now.”