PLAYOFF NOTES:
Friday night leftovers:
Geoffrey Brandow (@GeoffreyBrandow): “I will open the floor for anyone to respond if I am wrong or can verify this statement, but I believe this is the first time that an American team has won the Ed Chynoweth Cup on American soil since Portland in 1982 (outlasted Regina in five games).” . . .
Brandow, again: “Thomas Milic is full marks adding another 30 saves to the total and becomes 12th goaltender to win Playoff MVP. Improves to 30-12-2 in 44 career postseason games and has played all but 17 empty-net minutes combined over past two postseasons. 13-1-0-1 this year blocking 30+.” . . .
Brandow, in reference to Seattle F Nico Myatovic scoring on a penalty shot: “Other penalty shots in WHL championship (since 1996): 2006, Game 2 — Dustin Boyd (MJ) scores on Dustin Slade (VAN), 1:25/3rd; 2011, Game 2 — Sven Bartschi (POR) misses on Nathan Lieuwen (KTN), 2:42/2nd; 2017, Game 3 — Sam Steel (REG) misses on Carl Stankowski (SEA), 12:45/3rd .” . . .
Thunderbirds radio voice Thom Beuning (@ThomBeuning): “The Thunderbirds allowed zero goals to Matthew Savoie and Conor Geekie in the five games. The pair had combined for 17 through the first three rounds.” . . .
Beuning, again: “Luke Prokop joined the Seattle Thunderbirds in early November. He would play 22 home games at the ShoWare Center. Did you know all four of his goals this season were scored on home ice (4g, 8a)? He added 3 assists in 10 home playoff games, including an assist on the Game 4 winner.” . . .
One more from Beuning: “Kyle Crnkovic only called the ShoWare Center home for one season. In 33 home games he put up 33 points (18g, 15a). In 10 home playoff games he contributed 9 points (3g, 6a), including the final home game goal to secure the Cup!” . . .
The field has been set for the four-team 2023 Memorial Cup tournament. . . . It will open in Kamloops on Friday with the host Blazers meeting the QMJHL-champion Quebec Remparts and continue Saturday as the WHL-championship Seattle Thunderbirds meet the OHL-champion Peterborough Petes. . . . The Remparts and Petes both wrapped up league titles on Sunday, winning best-of-seven series in six games. . . .
The Remparts scored two goals in the last 2:08 of the third period to beat the host Halifax Mooseheads, 5-4, and win the best-of-seven series, 4-2. . . . F Zachary L’Heureux (11) have the Mooseheads a 4-3 lead at 16:47 of the third period. . . . F Kassim Gaudet (5) pulled the Remparts even at 17:52 and F Pier-Olivier Roy (6) got the eventual winner at 19:01. . . .
Patrick Roy, the former NHL star goaltender who is the Remparts’ general manager and head coach, will be looking for his second Memorial Cup title. In 2006, the Moncton Wildcats beat the Remparts, with Roy in his first season as their head coach, in the QMJHL final. However, the Wildcats were the host team for the Memorial Cup, so the Remparts got the QMJHL’s berth and went on to win the tournament. It was the first time in Memorial Cup history that the winner was neither a league champion nor the host team. . . . At that point, Roy was an owner as well as GM and head coach. He joined the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche as vice-president of hockey operations and head coach in 2013-14 and stayed through 2015-16. He returned to the Remparts for the 2018-19 season, by which time the franchise had been sold to Quebecor. Now he is simply the GM and head coach. . . . These days, there is ample speculation that this will be Roy’s last season as the Remparts’ head coach. Former NHLer Simon Gagné, now completing his first season as a Remparts’ assistant coach, is the likely successor. . . .
In the OHL, the host Peterborough Petes won their 10th OHL title, but their first in 17 years, with a 2-1 victory over the London Knights to win that series, 4-2. . . . F Tucker Robertson (9) broke a 1-1 tie at 11:10 of the third period. Robertson had drawn the primary assist on the game’s first goal, by F Avery Hayes (12), at 14:33 of the second period. . . . F Max McCue (4) got London into a 1-1 tie at 7:59 of the third period. . . . Petes G Michael Simpson, who made 36 saves, was named the playoff MVP. . . . Peterborouh was without F Owen Beck who drew a two-game suspension for a slew-footing match penalty he incurred late in Game 5. One supposes, then, that he will sit out the Petes’ game against Seattle on Saturday in Kamloops to complete the suspension.
Check out Geoffrey Brandow on Twitter (@GeoffreyBrandow) for even more information after each CHL game.
JUNIOR JOTTINGS:
The NHL’s Buffalo Sabres have assigned F Matt Savoie of the WHL’s Winnipeg Ice to the Rochester Americans, their AHL affiliate. Rochester is to open the Eastern Conference final against the Hershey Bears on Tuesday. . . . Savoie, 19, had 95 points, including 38 goals, in 62 regular-season games with the Ice this season, then added 11 goals and 18 assists in 19 playoff games. . . . The Sabres selected him ninth overall in the NHL’s 2022 draft. . . .
The AJHL’s Brooks Bandits won their third consecutive Centennial Cup title on Sunday, beating the SJHL’s Battlefords North Stars, 4-0, in the one-game final in Portage la Prairie, Man. . . . The Bandits allowed only four goals in six games during the 10-team tournament that features a host team and champions from the nine leagues that play under the CJHL umbrella. That, of course, doesn’t include the BCHL. . . . The Bandits won the Centennial Cup in 2019, 2022 and 2023, with the pandemic having prevented tournaments in 2020 and 2021.
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The 2023 Kamloops Kidney Walk is scheduled for June 4, which means that Dorothy’s fund-raising efforts are running out of time. Her 10th anniversary as a kidney-transplant recipient arrives in September, and this is her 10th straight year of participating in the Kidney Walk. All of the money raised goes directly to the Kidney Foundation. . . . Among the latest hockey people to join her team is the head coach of the defending Memorial Cup champions and — my oh my — she was thrilled to have him back for another go-round. . . . If you would like to join people like that in supporting Dorothy, you may do so right here.
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If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:
Living Kidney Donor Program
St. Paul’s Hospital
6A Providence Building
1081 Burrard Street
Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6
Tel: 604-806-9027
Toll free: 1-877-922-9822
Fax: 604-806-9873
Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca
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Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney
Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre
Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street
Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9
604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182
kidneydonornurse@vch.ca
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Or, for more information, visit right here.
TAKING NOTE 