Host Blazers ready to begin pursuit of Memorial Cup
Kamloops will take on Quebec to open CHL championship tournament today
Lifting the Memorial Cup in front of his hometown fans would be a dream come true for Kamloops Blazers star Logan Stankoven.
The 20-year-old centre leads his Blazers into the four-team Canadian Hockey League championship today. Kamloops fell in the Western Hockey League's Western Conference final to the eventual champion Seattle Thunderbirds in six games on May 8, but as Memorial Cup hosts, the Blazers get a second chance to win it all.
“Would be pretty surreal,” Stankoven said. “It would be a nice way to kind of cap things off.
“Probably my last year here, so to do it in front of friends and family and the fans are the best in the league. We've been getting really good crowds all playoffs and all season long, so it'd be nice to win that for them and for the city, it'd be quite the buzz around here.”
Kamloops opens the Memorial Cup against the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champion Quebec Remparts today. Along with Seattle, the Ontario Hockey League champion Peterborough Petes round out the group eyeing the June 4 final.
Stankoven, a second-round pick of the NHL's Dallas Stars in 2021, was first in WHL post-season points with 30 (10 goals, 20 assists) in 14 games and is used to performing on big stages.
The five-foot-eight, 170-pound forward had 10 points (four goals, six assists) in seven games in Canada's gold-medal run at the 2022 world junior championship. He followed that with 11 points (three goals, eight assists) at the 2023 tournament, another gold for Canada.
The Blazers, who had the thirdbest regular-season record behind Seattle and the Winnipeg Ice in the WHL, haven't won a Memorial Cup since 1995.
While last season's WHL and CHL player of the year doesn't feel he has anything to prove on an individual basis, he wants to show he can lead a team to victory.
“It's great to have individual success and win individual awards, but people want players that can win and that's what NHL owners and GMs want,” Stankoven said.
Ending Kamloops' Memorial Cup drought won't put extra stress on the team, said goalie Dylan Ernst.
“I don't think any of us are feeling pressure with it,” said Ernst, the 26th-ranked North American goaltender on the NHL Central Scouting's final ranking. “I think we've just got to believe in our abilities and the rest will handle itself.”
The six-foot-two, 190-pound Ernst led all WHL goaltenders in post-season play with three shutouts and was third with 10 wins and a 2.57 goals-against average across 14 games (10-3-1). He sees the Memorial Cup as a golden chance to prove himself after getting passed over in last year's NHL draft.
“It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he said.
PARTICIPATING TEAMS: WHL, Seattle Thunderbirds (54-11-1-2)
The Thunderbirds made the tournament for just the third time in franchise history after winning their second-ever WHL title on May 19. Seattle swiftly put away Eastern Conference power Winnipeg Ice in five games.
WHL, Kamloops Blazers (48-13-4-3)
Kamloops presented Seattle its toughest challenge, pushing the Thunderbirds to six games in the Western Conference championship. And they have the most recovery time entering the tournament, having last played May 8.
QMJHL, Quebec Remparts (53-12-1-2)
The Remparts showed no signs of slowing down from their regular-season dominance in the QMJHL playoffs.
Quebec, which had the best regular-season record in the QMJHL, went 16-2 en route to the Gilles Courteau Trophy, with the two defeats coming in the championship series.
OHL, Peterborough Petes (35-29-2-2)
The Petes have arguably had the least likely run to the Cup of the four teams. Peterborough entered the OHL playoffs with the ninthbest record in the regular season.
After sweeping the Sudbury Wolves, the Petes upset the OHLbest Ottawa 67's in six games. Peterborough followed that with a seven-game elimination of the North Bay Battalion before taking out the London Knights in six to claim its first J. Ross Robertson Cup in 17 years.