Windsor, Erie in Cup showdown
OHL foes vie for underdog title as they meet to decide junior hockey’s biggest prize
On the eve of the 99th Memorial Cup, the Erie Otters and Windsor Spitfires were each staking their claim as the underdog for Sunday’s championship final.
Erie, which set a Canadian Hockey League record with its fourth straight season of 50 or more wins and won the Ontario Hockey League championship, is the visiting team after losing to Windsor in the round robin and having to win the semifinal to reach the title game.
“It’s impossible,” Spitfires head coach Rocky Thompson said of Erie’s claim to the underdog title. “How can (the Otters) be the underdog? You’ve been in first place all year. You won the league championship. “
Windsor is coming off a 44-day layoff after a first-round playoff exit, but reeled off three straight wins in the round robin, which included a 4-2 win over the Otters, to secure first place and a bye into the final.
“Right now, we’re the underdog,” Otters head coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Last time we played them, they were better. Last game we played them was the first time we played with a full lineup.”
In reality, this game could easily go either way depending on which team can implement its game plan. Erie has the tournament’s most dynamic offence and displayed it with a Memorial Cup record 12 goals in one game against Saint John. The Spitfires have been the stingiest team in the tournament, allowing just five goals in three games.
“I don’t know if a league champion’s an underdog,” Spitfires forward Jeremy Bracco said. “I don’t know if we’re an underdog. I think it’s two good teams and it’s going to be a battle.”
It’s been a long road to the final for the Otters and Knoblauch, who hinted that a few of his players might be playing under the weather. Sunday’s game will be their 95th since the OHL season began.
“I was asked, ‘Have you seen the best of the Erie Otters?’” Knoblauch said. “I think, when you’re reaching almost 100 games throughout the season, your best was probably the end of February or March.
“I think we want to be playing our best, but with the fatigue and wearing down, ideally we match up, but it’s just likely not going to happen. We still feel we’re a pretty good team.”
But in reality, many of Knoblauch’s players believe they simply missed an opportunity against the Spitfires in the round robin. Windsor jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first minute of the second period, but Erie outshot them by a three-to-one count down the stretch.
“We outshot them 30-10 in the second and third period,” Strome said earlier in the week.“If we didn’t have such a lapse in the first period, I think we would have been pretty successful.”
And then there’s the fact the Spitfires only got a second life as host of the tournament.
“They played well this tournament to get (to the final),” Strome said. “Fortunate for them they’re the host team and they’ve played extremely well to get to this point.”
Windsor’s success in the first meeting with Erie came from protecting the puck and not allowing the Otters to quickly implement their transition game off turnovers.
“It’s a one-game, sudden-death playoff for the Memorial Cup,” Erie centre Anthony Cirelli said. “I know no one’s going to be thinking about fatigue. We’ll be coming out hard. We’ve got to be ready off the bat. They came out flying and took it to us. We could never really recover. We have to find a way to score.”