So the 2007 Memorial Cup is over and the host Vancouver Giants are the victors — and Vancouver deserved every bit of it. Unlike in their round-robin game against Medicine Hat, an uninspired 1-0 loss, the real Giants showed up Sunday and took it to the Tigers. Michal Repik’s goal with 4:55 remaining in regulation broke a 1-1 tie, but it was just a matter of time before Vancouver won. The Giants outshot the Tigers 40-15 and punished them physically.
Unsurprisingly, the main punisher was Milan Lucic. Lucic, who was not selected in the bantam draft, has developed into a devastating player. A big body who absolutely destroys opponents with hits — as he did Sunday by blowing up three Tigers in the game’s first five minutes — he’s also added a scoring touch. He was named the tournament’s MVP, and I would have voted for him even if he hadn’t scored a single point (he scored seven in five games to finish as the tournament’s joint leader).
Kudos also to Vancouver goaltender Tyson Sexsmith. The conventional wisdom was that a goaltender in his 17-year-old year was too green to carry a team to the Memorial Cup title. Although he didn’t have a lot to do in the championship game, he still gave the Giants what they needed.
Here’s some other random thoughts and tidbits:
– Talk about surreal. How unlikely was it for me to end up standing on the dot at center ice as the Giants skated the Memorial Cup around the rink, 16,000-plus fans all on their feet cheering and waiving towels. As someone who just writes about sports rather than participates, it was a pretty cool experience.
– A tanned Everett general manager Doug Soetaert was spotted in the media lounge before the game, “checking out what we missed,” he said with a wink.
– Interestingly, they didn’t use the no-change icing rule at the Memorial Cup. The WHL teams, accustomed to being punished when icing the puck from their own zone, didn’t do a very good job taking advantage of that.
– By all accounts it was a rather dull Memorial Cup from a playing standpoint. Yes, there were four games decided by one goal. However, having personally witnessed two of those during the round robin, they weren’t exactly thrillers, and I haven’t heard anything special about the others. There’s also been a few blowouts, punctuated by Vancouver’s 8-1 laugher over Plymouth in the semifinal. It didn’t help that the QMJHL, which is generally considered the most offensive of the three leagues, sent its most defensive team (Lewiston) to the Memorial Cup this year. At least the championship game was absorbing.
– That being said, it was an enjoyable event to attend. In each of my three trips up here I heard suggestions that Everett would make a good Memorial Cup host, mainly because of the quality of the Everett Events Center and the vociferousness of tips fans. It’s my understanding that the Silvertips aren’t all that interested, given the hassle that accompanies hosting the event. However, it’ll be another six years before Everett has its next chance (the Memorial Cup rotates between the three leagues, and in the WHL it swaps between the Western Conference and Eastern Conference when its time arrives), so maybe opinions will have changed by then.
Anyway, that’s all from Vancouver. I’m off to catch Loverboy.
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