Showing posts with label Portland Winterhawks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Portland Winterhawks. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

League finals set; Memorial Cup host out early again

OHL
Winning the Memorial Cup as the host team? That's hard. Winning your league as the Memorial Cup host team? That's proven to be even harder.

The Saginaw Spirit, the host of this year's Memorial Cup tournament, were eliminated from the Ontario Hockey League playoffs in the third round by the London Knights. The Spirit's last game was on May 5 and they won't play again until May 24 when they host the Western Hockey League champions.

Remarkably, Saginaw's elimination means no Memorial Cup host team has won their respective league since the 2008 Kitchener Rangers. No host team has won both the Memorial Cup and their respective league since the 2005 London Knights, considered one of the greatest junior teams of all-time.
Since 2008, three host teams have managed to lift the Memorial Cup on home ice: the 2012 Shawinigan Cataractes, the 2017 Windsor Spitfires and the 2022 Saint John Sea Dogs (the Sea Dogs were, oddly, involved in all three of those tournaments).

It's fair to say that this is officially a trend – and can the Rimouski Oceanic stop it by winning the Gilles Courteau Trophy next year?
With Saginaw out in the third round, all three league championships will have a berth in the Memorial Cup on the line.

Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Some Wednesday West Coast notes

PORTLAND, OR
- Greetings from sunny Portland (the Oregon one), where the Winterhawks are rolling.

The Winterhawks improved to 14-1-1-1 following a 4-1 victory over the Calgary Hitmen Tuesday night at the historic Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Portland sits first in the Western Hockey League's Western Conference, five points up on the Seattle Thunderbirds who are loading up for a big run.

The Winnipeg Ice still sit first in the WHL standings with an impressive 18-1-0-0 record.

Some other news and notes...

  • The Veterans Memorial Coliseum is quite a building. Really cool that a CHL team is the arena's main tenant. There was a small crowd on Tuesday (announced attendance was 2,220) with the NBA's Trail Blazers playing next door, which is presumably less than ideal for the Winterhawks.
  • Went to a Seattle Thunderbirds game on Saturday and was really impressed with the atmosphere. One of the better regular season junior games I've seen in a long time. The Hitmen won 2-1 in overtime in what was Luke Prokop's first home game as a Thunderbird.
  • The Quebec Remparts continue to sit first in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League standings with a 17-1-0-1 record. They'll face their biggest challenge of the season this week, facing the second-place Sherbrooke Phoenix on Wednesday and Sunday.
  • This week on The Hockey News On The Q podcast, we're joined by Victoriaville Tigres head coach Carl Mallette; we take a look at the Los Angeles Kings' QMJHL prospects; Moncton's Etienne Morin is in the 2023 NHL Draft spotlight; and we run through some league news.
  • The Drummondville Voltigeurs have fired head coach Steve Hartley. General manager Philippe Boucher will be the team's head coach on an interim basis. The Volts are 10-9-0-0 this season, which included a 4-1 loss in Saint John on Saturday.
  • The Sea Dogs return to action on Friday, visiting the Halifax Mooseheads. The Sea Dogs and Mooseheads meet again on Saturday afternoon at Scotiabank Centre. Note that Saturday's game is a 2 p.m. start.
  • Former Sea Dogs forward Josh Lawrence has been named to the QMJHL's Team of the Week. After being held pointless in his first six games with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, Lawrence has been held without a point just twice. He has goals in four straight games, scoring a total of nine times in that stretch.

Thursday, August 25, 2022

Notebook: Chantler returning to GOJHL

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs
HALIFAX - Jacob Chantler is returning to the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League.
Chantler, who appeared in 38 games with the Sea Dogs last season and recorded five goals and four assists, has appeared in 49 GOJHL games split over four seasons with the London Nationals and Strathroy Rockets. He'll now suit up for the St. Marys Lincolns.

The 20-year-old forward was not on Saint John's training camp roster. As an overager, he would have had a difficult road to making this year's team.

The Lincolns begin the regular season on Sept. 9.

UP NEXT
The Sea Dogs return to pre-season play on Friday night, taking on the Halifax Mooseheads in Dartmouth.

Saint John will play back-to-back games against the Mooseheads - but the second contest won't be until Sept. 9 in Fredericton. The Sea Dogs will have their veteran players in camp at that time.

The Sea Dogs, now 2-2-0-0 this pre-season, have four pre-season games remaining. Along with the pair against the Mooseheads, the Sea Dogs will face the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Sept. 11 (in Fredericton) and Sept. 18 (in Lameque, NB).

Saint John's game on Wednesday was supposed to be held in Lameque but was moved to the KC Irving Regional Centre. The Sept. 18 contest will now be in the northeastern New Brunswick town.

Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Notebook: Some trade period updates

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs
As it usually does, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League trade period has quieted down after a busy opening few days. Here are a few updates.

  • If you missed it, the Vincent Sevigny deal is official. “Vincent brings valuable experience having won the President Cup” said Sea Dogs president and general manager Trevor Georgie in a news release Monday. “He played an integral role shutting down the other teams’ best players throughout the playoffs and in the President Cup Finals last season. Now he’ll have the opportunity to try and win another with us this season.” 
  • In the Telegraph-Journal (paywall), Georgie added that "I expect more moves to come to add to the team."
  • In an interview with RDS, Georgie was asked about Saint John's goaltending tandem of Jonathan Lemieux and Noah Patenaude. Georgie said that, as Memorial Cup hosts, they are evaluating every position on the team prior to the Jan. 6 trade deadline.
  • Charlottetown's blue line was already excellent and became even better with the acquisition of Jeremie Biakabutuka from Rimouski. The question for the Islanders, like it seems to be every year, is if they have the offense to get it done. They were eliminated in the bubble last year on a 2-0 loss to Victoriaville.
  • In the Cape Breton Post, Patrick McNeil writes about why, because of several factors, this may be a quieter trade period than originally anticipated across the league.
  • Craig Eagles shares his latest thoughts on the trade period.

INNISS SUSPENDED
Sea Dogs defenseman Christopher Inniss has been suspended two games for a high stick in Saturday's contest against the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

Inniss was handed a five-minute major and match penalty for the high stick at 7:48 of the opening frame. The Sea Dogs went on to lose the game 4-3.

Inniss has a goal and four assists in 30 games with Saint John this year.

COVID THINGS
Here's a quick look at all the COVID-19 related things you don't want to hear about:


Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Notes: Catching up on COVID


The Portland Winterhawks situation may not exactly be a sign of things to come, but it's not great news, either.

The Western Hockey League club made news this week with a surprising announcement, confirming its ownership had filed for bankruptcy, meaning the club would be put up for sale. The news is concerning given that the Winterhawks are one of junior hockey's most successful franchises both on and off the ice. Portland averaged 5,540 fans per game this past season.

"This bankruptcy has more to do with owner Bill Gallacher’s issues in the gas and oil industry and having to file Chapter 11 for his parent company than anything to do with the Winterhawks," TSN's Bob McKenzie reported on Insider Trading this week. While this may be a rare situation for the time being, there are still concerns about what the COVID-19 pandemic may do to some junior franchises.

"Junior hockey needs to put people in the stands for people to see the games and for junior hockey to be successful," said McKenzie. "If there’s no fans in the stands for 2021, there may not be any junior hockey to speak of and that could dramatically financially impact a lot of owners then. But, for now, it’s a one off."

CHL president Dan MacKenzie did a Q&A with Sportsnet this week and was asked about the possibility of teams playing games with no fans in attendance.

"We normally would not contemplate playing games without fans in our buildings as it would make the economics very hard for our teams," said MacKenzie. "Having said that, these are extraordinary times and we are going to explore all options and will re-examine whether playing with a limited number of fans is feasible."

The idea of playing in empty buildings continues to look like a non-starter for CHL clubs. MacKenzie's wording would seem to indicate that the idea of playing games with limited capacities is not an impossible idea, though. There's still tons of challenges with this concept - how do people get in/out of the building, how will the concourse work, etc. - but it's an idea that may be able to get junior hockey started again in the fall/winter if the coronavirus remains a threat.

Saturday, August 18, 2018

Notebook: Flynn joins Blue Jackets scouting staff

SAINT JOHN - Danny Flynn has found a new home.

The former Saint John Sea Dogs head coach has joined the Columbus Blue Jackets as an eastern amateur scout. Flynn will be based in Ontario.

Flynn, a Dartmouth native, spent last season working with fellow Dartmouth native Mike Johnston behind the WHL's Portland Winterhawks bench.

“I have taken a job with the Columbus Blue Jackets and will be based in Ontario. Leaving Portland was a hard choice, I really enjoyed working with the organization, staff and players,” Flynn said in a Winterhawks news release.

Flynn was head coach of the Sea Dogs in 2015-16 and 2016-17, guiding the team to a QMJHL championship in 2017. He was named QMJHL coach of the year that season. He left the Sea Dogs later that off-season and joined the Winterhawks.

Flynn will turn 61 next month, and you have to think his time behind junior hockey benches may have come to an end.

BEHIND THE BENCH
Speaking of coaches, the Sea Dogs will have a new face behind the bench this season in Stefan Legein. The Sea Dogs announced the hiring of Legein a couple weeks ago.

Legein, a former star with Canada's world junior team, spent last season as an assistant and video coach with the OHL's Mississauga Steelheads. His hockey career has had plenty of ups and downs, as the Canadian Press wrote about last year.

Legein has been running the Team Blue bench at Sea Dogs training camp. Brian Fleming has been working with Team Black and Jeff Cowan with Team White.

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Flynn joins Winterhawks staff

Danny Flynn has found a new home.

Just a few weeks after leaving his role as head coach of the Saint John Sea Dogs, the Western Hockey League's Portland Winterhawks have named Flynn an assistant coach.

The Winterhawks also added Paul Gaustad as assistant coach/player development.

“We are excited to add both Danny and Paul to our staff,” said Portland head coach and Dartmouth native Mike Johnston. “I have known Danny for a long time and consider him to be one of the best junior coaches in Canada. We are very fortunate to add him to our staff. Paul is a Winterhawks alumni who has an impressive resume as a player and is now transitioning into coaching. This year he will work with our forwards while organizing a development plan for each player on our protected list.”

Flynn surprisingly announced he was leaving the Sea Dogs on July 28 to pursue other opportunities. The 59-year-old coached the Sea Dogs for two seasons, leading the club to a President Cup title last year.

Both Flynn and Johnston are Dartmouth natives and both have coached Atlantic University Sport hockey. Johnston is a former head coach of the UNB Varsity Reds while Flynn previously led the StFX X-Men.

Flynn joins one of the top organizations in junior hockey. The Winterhawks are essentially the London Knights of the WHL. They are consistently among the league's best and are able to attract top talent.

This will be Flynn's first coaching position in the WHL. He has spent time in both the OHL and QMJHL.

Monday, May 27, 2013

MacAulay And Moose Win Memorial Cup

The Halifax Mooseheads are 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup Champions.

The Mooseheads won their first national championship with a very entertaining 6-4 victory over the Portland Winterhawks on Sunday night in Saskatoon.

The win keeps the Memorial Cup in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for a third straight year. It’s also just the second time a team from Atlantic Canada has won the historic trophy following the Saint John Sea Dogs’ win in 2011.

There are a few Sea Dogs connections on this year’s Mooseheads. Most notably is forward Stephen MacAulay who capped off one of the greatest junior hockey careers ever. MacAulay became the first player to ever play in four President Finals, win three President Cups, and win two Memorial Cups in his career.

Mooseheads assistant general manager Bob ‘Tipper’ Leblanc, a former Sea Dogs GM, and assistant coach Jim Midgley, a former Dogs assistant, are the other connections.

Nathan MacKinnon had a hat trick and two assists in the game. Konrad Abeltshauser had two goals and Martin Frk one. Jonathan Drouin had five assists. Zach Fucale made 40 stops in the victory.

The game itself was a good one. As usual, it didn’t start until 8:30 Atlantic time due to Sportsnet’s “analysis” and the pre-game stuff at the rink. After a successfully sung American and Canadian national anthem, the game began.

The Mooseheads led 3-0 after one thanks to goals from Abeltshauser, MacKinnon and Frk. But Portland stormed back in the second period with Nicolas Petan and Seth Jones scoring. The ‘Hawks, who also had a goal disallowed in the frame, outshot the Moose 18-6 in the middle stanza.

After the annual "Shoot for a Million" thing and an incredibly long intermission, the third period started. MacKinnon scored a huge goal at 7:36 to make it 4-2 Moose. Abeltshauser scored his second at 11:11 to make it 5-2. But Portland would come back and it was a one-goal game heading into the final minute. MacKinnon would seal the deal at 19:37 with an empty netter.

MacKinnon finished the tournament with seven goals and six assists in four games. He was named tournament MVP.

What a year for the Mooseheads. Without question one of the best seasons this league has ever seen.

And so ends the 2012-13 Canadian Hockey League season. Is it September yet?

Sunday, May 26, 2013

The Memorial Cup Final Is Tonight

The Halifax Mooseheads look to become the second Maritime team to win the MasterCard Memorial Cup tonight.

The Mooseheads take on the Portland Winterhawks in the Memorial Cup Championship Game tonight at 8pm on Sportsnet. The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champs defeated the Western Hockey League champs 7-4 earlier in the tournament.

The 2011 Saint John Sea Dogs are the only previous team from Atlantic Canada to win the historic trophy. Halifax will look to join the Sea Dogs in that exclusive club and also bring the Memorial Cup to the QMJHL for a third consecutive year.

There are a ton of comparisons between this year’s Mooseheads and the 2011 Sea Dogs. Like Saint John did two years, Halifax got the bye straight through to the final and has had several days to prepare for this game.

The biggest connection between the Dogs and Moose is Stephen MacAulay who was part of the 2011 Saint John squad. MacAulay, playing in the final game of his unreal junior career, will look to become the first player to ever appear in four President Cup finals, win three President Cups, and win two Memorial Cups.

So that’s that. Good luck, Mooseheads.

Some other stuff…
  • Former Sea Dogs captain Alex Grant had two goals, three shots, and a +1 rating as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defeated the Syracuse Crunch 4-2 in the opening game of the AHL’s Eastern Conference Final. Game 2 is tonight.
  • The Oklahoma City Barons evened up the AHL Western Conference Final at 1-1 with a 4-2 win over the Grand Rapids Griffins last night. Tomas Jurco had two shots for the Griffins.
  • Some more pictures from the Reading Royals’ Kelly Cup win last night can be found over at Sweetest Hockey on Earth.
  • In less than 24 hours, the PEI Rocket will no longer exist. Details about the team’s rebranding, new name of the team, image of the new logo, 2013-14 season ticket campaign, and the latest additions to the recently announced ownership group (upon final sale of the team) will be released tomorrow at a 10am press conference.
  • QMJHL winners at last night’s CHL Awards: Dominique Ducharme (Halifax Mooseheads) was named the Old Dutch Brian Kilrea Coach of the Year, Valentin Zykov (Baie-Comeau Drakkar) was named the BMO Rookie of the Year, and Jonathan Drouin (Halifax Mooseheads) was named the CCM Player of the Year.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Sea Dogs Notebook

Via the very cool website Frozen Faceoff, here’s what centre ice at Harbour Station looks like. Check out their site to see centre ice logos from all over the QMJHL and other leagues.

CHL AWARDS
The Canadian Hockey League Awards Showcase will be held later today in Saskatoon. A full list of nominees can be found here.

No current Sea Dog is nominated for an award, but former Dog Kevin Gagne is up for the Post Defenceman of the Year Award. He was named the QMJHL Defenceman of the Year a few months ago.

Gagne played four-and-a-half seasons with Saint John before being traded to the Rimouski Oceanic in December. In 62 games split between the Sea Dogs and Oceanic, the 21-year old registered 17 goals and 54 assists.

The Anaheim Ducks prospect played in five games with the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals after the Oceanic were eliminated from the post-season. He had one assist.

MACAULAY
Stephen MacAulay’s junior hockey career comes to an end tomorrow night as the Halifax Mooseheads take on the Portland Winterhawks in the 2013 Memorial Cup Final. Game time is 8pm on Sportsnet.




Some articles on the former Sea Dog:
  • The Star Phoenix - MacAulay hopes for Cup win in tribute to his mom
  • The Chronicle Herald - Moose mission: Bring title home
  • Yahoo! Sports - Memorial Cup 2013: Stephen MacAulay parlays passion, poise into helping Halifax Mooseheads reach final 

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Forward vs Defenceman

By Andrew McGilligan
SN Staff

As the Memorial Cup has unfolded, fans have seen flashes of brilliance – some more sustained than others – from the potential top two picks in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft.

Portland Winterhawks defenceman Seth Jones and Halifax Mooseheads forward Nathan MacKinnon have had very solid showings thus far with MacKinnon and the Mooseheads coming out on top in the round-robin meeting between the two.

The Colorado Avalanche are no doubt watching the pair closely as they hold the top pick and many believe Jones to have the inside track. When you have the first overall pick, you’re looking for the face of a franchise, a transcendent talent, a player who will be the cornerstone of a championship team.

With this in mind, drafting a defenceman first overall is a very risky proposition. This has nothing to do with Jones, but rather the historical impact blue-liners selected first overall have had on the game.

The first indication of how risky picking a rearguard first overall can be is how seldom it happens. A defenceman has been taken with the top slot just six times since 1980 and there’s not one sure fire Hall of Famer among them. Here’s the list:
1982 – Gord Kluzak
1992 – Roman Hamrlik
1994 – Ed Jovanovski
1995 – Bryan Berard
1996 – Chris Phillips
2006 – Erik Johnson
The second factor pointing toward taking MacKinnon over Jones is impact. Struggling teams – namely the ones that pick high in the drafts – need immediate help. Forwards tend to make an impact sooner in the NHL. For instance, there were two forwards selected in the top 10 of the 2012 draft. Coincidentally, those two players – Nail Yakupov of the Edmonton Oilers and Alex Galchenyuk of the Montreal Canadiens – were the only ones to play in any NHL games.

A third reason is when there’s some debate about whether or not to pick a forward or blue-liner at the top, recent history favours the forward. In 2009, the New York Islanders selected John Tavares over Victor Hedman who went second overall to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tavares is a Hart trophy finalist this season while Hedman is still trying to find his game in Tampa.

Pens Make History; Moose Off To Final

Alex Grant and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins made some history on Wednesday night.

The Penguins advanced to the American Hockey League’s Eastern Conference Final with a 5-0 Game 7 victory over the Providence Bruins. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton lost the first three games of the second-round series but won the next four, becoming the third team in the 77-year history of the AHL to come back from a 3-0 series deficit and win.

The Pens will play the Syracuse Crunch in the in the Eastern Conference Final. In the West, Tomas Jurco and the Grand Rapids Griffins will take on the Oklahoma City Barons. The winners advance to the Calder Cup Final.

The Penguins finished fifth in the AHL’s Eastern Conference with a 42-30-2-2 record. The Bruins had the AHL’s best regular season record at 50-21-0-5.

Grant was a +1 with two penalty minutes in this game. Providence defenseman and former Sea Dog David MacDonald was a -1 with two penalty minutes.

Elsewhere on Wednesday night…
  • The Halifax Mooseheads will play in the MasterCard Memorial Cup Final on Sunday, meaning that the national championship game will feature a QMJHL team for a third straight year. The Moose advanced straight to the final thanks to a 4-2 Portland Winterhawks win over the Saskatoon Blades. The Blades will now play the London Knights in tomorrow’s tie-breaker with the winner moving on to play in Friday’s semi-final against the Winterhawks.
  • Also, via Buzzing The Net, Wednesday’s game featured this hit.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Memorial Cup Begins Friday

The four teams that will play in the 2013 Memorial Cup are set.

The London Knights were the final team to book their ticket. Last night, Bo Horvat scored with 0.1 seconds remaining in regulation to give the Knights a 3-2 victory over the Barrie Colts in Game 7 and their second straight Ontario Hockey League Championship.

London is the only team returning from last year’s tournament that also featured Saint John, Shawinigan, and Edmonton. The Oil Kings made it to the Western Hockey League final but could not repeat.

The Knights are joined by the host Saskatoon Blades, WHL Champion Portland Winterhawks, and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Champion Halifax Mooseheads.

The tournament begins on Friday with the Blades taking on the Knights. The Mooseheads play their first game on Saturday as Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin take on Seth Jones and the Winterhawks.

As always, every game of the tournament will be broadcast on Sportsnet.

It was also announced today that London will host the 2014 Memorial Cup, meaning the Knights will play in the tournament for three straight years. London hosted previously in 2005.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Oil Kings Advance To Memorial Cup

The Edmonton Oil Kings are heading to Shawinigan.

The Oil Kings booked their ticket to the 2012 MasterCard Memorial Cup with a 4-1 victory over the Portland Winterhawks in Game 7 of the Western Hockey League Championship Series on Sunday night. They’ll join the Saint John Sea Dogs, London Knights, and the Shawinigan Cataractes at the Canadian Hockey League’s championship tournament.

Edmonton led 2-0 after one and 4-1 after two. They outshot Portland 32-20 in the game. T-J Foster, Michael St. Croix, Rhett Rachinski, and Tyler Maxwell had the goals for the winners while Laurent Brossoit picked up the win in net.

The Kings had a relatively smooth ride through the playoffs until they hit the league final. They swept Kootenay in the first round and Brandon in the second before needing five games to eliminate Moose Jaw in the semifinals. They went 16-4 through the post-season.

Edmonton had the best record in the WHL’s regular season, finishing with a 50-15-3-4 record for 107 points. They outscored opponents 310-193. In the all-important BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 rankings, the Oil Kings finished fourth behind Saint John, Tri-City, and London.

Edmonton’s first Memorial Cup game is on Friday against the Shawinigan Cataractes. The Cataractes haven’t played a legit game in a like a month. This should be interesting.

The Sea Dogs will play the Oil Kings on May 21. It will be the second game of the tournament for both teams.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

WHL Final Heading To Game 7

The Western Hockey League Championship Series is heading to Game 7.

The Portland Winterhawks staved off elimination with a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oil Kings in Game 6 on Saturday night. Game 7 of the WHL final is tonight back in Edmonton.

The game was tied 1-1 heading into the third. The teams exchanged goals in the final stanza before Oliver Gabriel scored his second of the game at 17:21 which proved to be the game winner.

The winner of Sunday’s Game 7 will represent the WHL at the MasterCard Memorial Cup. Their first game is on Friday against the host the Shawinigan Cataractes meaning it will be a battle of the least rested versus the most rested.

Saint John will play the WHL champion on Monday, May 21. It will be the second game of the tournament for both teams.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Elsewhere In The CHL

While the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League final doesn’t begin until tomorrow, the other Canadian Hockey League finals begin tonight.

Out west, the Edmonton Oil Kings host the Portland Winterhawks in Game 1 of the Western Hockey League final tonight. The Oil Kings finished first overall in the Eastern Conference with a record of 50-15-3-4 for 107 points while the Winterhawks finished third in the Western Conference with a record of 49-19-3-1 for 102 points.

Like the Sea Dogs, the Oil Kings have just one playoff loss this post-season. They swept Kootenay and Brandon before finally losing a game to Moose Jaw in the semifinals. Edmonton won that series 4-1 to advance to the league final.

Portland swept Kelowna in the first round, beat Kamloops in seven games in the quarterfinals, and then swept Tri-City to move on to the final.

Buzzing The Net has a solid preview of the WHL Championship Series.

In the Ontario Hockey League, the London Knights will take on the Niagara IceDogs. The IceDogs finished first in the Eastern Conference with a record of 47-18-0-3 for 97 points while the Knights finished first in the Western Conference with a record 49-18-0-1 for 99 points.

London swept Windsor in the first round, beat Saginaw in six games in the second round, and then swept Kitchener in the third round to advance to the league final.

Niagara beat Oshawa in six games in the first round, swept Brampton in the second round, and then defeated Ottawa in five games in the third round to advance to the OHL Championship Series.


Sportsnet’s Fan Fuel has a preview of all three CHL Championships.

The winner of the OHL, WHL, and QMJHL final will all join the Shawinigan Cataractes at the 2012 MasterCard Memorial Cup.