Seattle clinches Memorial Cup berth

The 2017 Memorial Cup field is set.

The Seattle Thunderbirds became the fourth and final team to clinch their spot, winning the Western Hockey League championship with a 4-3 overtime win over the Regina Pats on Sunday night. The Thunderbirds won the series in six games.

Here's the goal, which came from Alexander True at 12:36 of overtime.

WHL Championship winning goal.#WinTheCup pic.twitter.com/3mKJxJ8btY

— Seattle Thunderbirds (@SeattleTbirds) May 15, 2017

It's the first WHL title for the Thunderbirds. They'll now join the Windsor Spitfires (host), Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL champion) and Erie Otters (OHL champion) at this year's Memorial Cup tournament in Windsor.

Seattle finished the regular season fourth overall in the WHL standings with a record of 46-20-4-2 for 98 points. They were not included in the final CHL Top 10 ranking.

Seattle swept their first two playoff series before beating the Kelowna Rockets in six games in the conference final. They then defeated the Pats, the No. 1 ranked team in the CHL for much of the regular season, in six games to win the WHL title.

The most notable player on Seattle's roster is Matthew Barzal, the New York Islanders prospect who played with Team Canada at this year's World Junior Hockey Championships. Barzal was named the WHL's playoff MVP with seven goals and 18 assists in 16 games.

The Thunderbirds' victory means there will be two American teams in the Memorial Cup tournament for the first time since 2007 when Lewiston (RIP) and Plymouth (RIP) were involved. Ironically, this year's tournament will take place a short drive from the US (Detroit) border.

The Memorial Cup begins on Friday with the host the Spitfires taking on the Sea Dogs. The Thunderbirds will face the Otters the following day.

Comparing the three championship years

There were plenty of similarities between this year's President Cup win and the Saint John Sea Dogs' previous two.

Like 2011 and 2012, the Sea Dogs suffered very few loses, playing well at both home and away. The team was also strong defensively this year, sporting the league's best penalty kill just as they did in 2011 and 2012. This year though, the team allowed just 31 goals compared to 39 in past championship seasons.

Here's a statistical look at each President Cup winning playoff run:

	2011	2012	2017
Overall	16-3	16-1	16-2
Home	6-3	9-0	8-1
Away	10-0	7-1	8-1
GF	84	103	83
GA	39	39	31
PP	27.4 (3rd)	28.2 (2nd)	17.6 (8th)
PK	92.6 (1st)	88.2 (1st)	89.7 (1st)
Points	Huberdeau - 30	Galiev - 34; Coyle - 34	Joseph - 32
Goals	Huberdeau - 16	Galiev - 16	Joseph - 13
Assists	Galiev - 17	Phillips - 23	Joseph - 19

Looking back now, some of those offensive numbers in 2012 seem absurd (an average of 5.75 goals per game!). Some of those numbers got a boost from Saint John's very lopsided first round series with Cape Breton.

It's also interesting that the Sea Dogs' biggest challenge in this year's playoffs came in the third round against the Chicoutimi Sagueneens - just like in 2012. The Sea Dogs lost just once to the Sags in 2012 (an overtime defeat) but twice this year (one being in overtime and the other on a late third period goal).

It'll be interesting to debate in the coming years how these three teams should be ranked. No doubt the team's performance in Windsor this week and next will have an impact on that.

The Sea Dogs begin Memorial Cup play on Friday against the host Spitfires.

NOTES: Sea Dogs send off on Wednesday

The Saint John Sea Dogs will have a send off on Wednesday before leaving for the 2017 Memorial Cup tournament.

From the Sea Dogs' Facebook:

Join us for a Memorial Cup send off on Wednesday, May 17th at 11am in the Market Square Atrium. Cheer on the entire Saint John Sea Dogs team before they head to Windsor, ON for the 2017 Mastercard Memorial Cup. The President Cup will be front and center, as we hear from Mayor Don Darling, Coach Danny Flynn, Captain Spencer Smallman and more! 

We can't wait to see the best fans in the CHL!

The Memorial Cup begins on Friday for the Sea Dogs when they face the host Windsor Spitfires at 8 p.m.

Here are a few other links...

• The Journal Pioneer has a story on Sea Dogs captain Spencer Smallman.
• The Cape Breton Post has a story on Cole Reginato. This is an interesting note: "Reginato becomes the first Cape Breton player to win a President Cup title since 2011 when Michael Kirkpatrick of North Sydney won the league title, also with the Sea Dogs."
• Local Express has a story on Sea Dogs head coach Danny Flynn.
• An interesting story in the Bangor Daily News on Sea Dogs draft pick Derek Fournier, who is a catcher with the Bangor High School baseball team.
• You may have the Chabot stick sign at Harbour Station last week. Country 94 has a story on it.

Otters advance to Memorial Cup

Embed from Getty Images

Anthony Cirelli has done it again.

The man who scored the overtime winner for the Oshawa Generals in the 2015 Memorial Cup final scored another championship-clinching goal on Friday, winning the Erie Otters the 2017 OHL title.

Cirelli scored on a power play at 2:41 of the first overtime frame, giving the Otters a 4-3 win and 4-1 series win over the Mississauga Steelheads in the OHL final.

WATCH THIS: @TBLightning prospect @acirelli22 is the OT hero!

His goal at 2:41 gives @ErieOtters their first #OHLPlayoffs title in 15 years pic.twitter.com/nfckbRRt4p

— OntarioHockeyLeague (@OHLHockey) May 13, 2017

The Otters join the Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL champions) and Windsor Spitfires (host) as teams who have clinched berths for the 2017 Memorial Cup tournament. The WHL championship between the Seattle Thunderbirds and Regina Pats was tied 2-2 at the time of this writing.

This is the tail end of an incredible run for the Erie franchise, who set a CHL record with a fourth straight 50-win season this year. The Otters finished first overall in the OHL regular season standings with a record of 50-15-2-1.

The Otters have had a challenging playoff run, needing seven games to defeat the powerhouse London Knights in the Western Conference semifinal and then six games to eliminate the dark house Owen Sound Attack in the conference final. The Steelheads put up a good fight in the league final, but as expected, the Otters were simply too powerful.

Erie has a stacked lineup, headlined by Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Strome, Warren Foegele, and the Raddyshs.

The Otters begin Memorial Cup play on Saturday, May 20 against the WHL champions. They will play the Sea Dogs on Monday, May 22.

Dubois played Final with separated shoulder

Embed from Getty Images

A reason for the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada's offensive struggles in the President Cup Final may have been the health of one of their top forwards.

It was revealed yesterday that Armada forward Pierre-Luc Dubois had been playing with a separated shoulder, which he suffered during Game 1 of the series.

Tobie Paquette-Bisson et Pierre-Luc Dubois ont joué en dépit d'une séparation de l'épaule depuis CHA et 1er match vs SNB. #LHJMQ

— Anthony Marcotte (@anthonymarcotte) May 11, 2017

Dubois finished the series with just one point - a goal - which came in Wednesday's Game 4.

Blainville-Boisbriand scored just four goals in the four-game series loss to the Saint John Sea Dogs, which set a league record.

Wow pic.twitter.com/eBunwVHjJS

— Jamie Tozer (@station_nation) May 11, 2017

The 18-year-old finished the playoffs with nine goals and 13 assists in 19 games. He had 15 goals and 22 assists in 28 games with the Armada in the regular season, who he joined following a trade after playing with Team Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championships.

Dubois was selected third overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in last year's NHL Draft, two spots after Auston Matthews and one after Patrik Laine.

NOTES: Sea Dogs dominant on defence

We all knew heading into the President Cup Final the Saint John Sea Dogs were dominant on defence and the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada were not built on offence. But even knowing that, this stat Sportsnet showed following last night's game is really something.

Wow pic.twitter.com/eBunwVHjJS

— Jamie Tozer (@station_nation) May 11, 2017

Three of the Armada's four goals in the series came in Game 1. The other was in last night's Game 4.

Saint John simply shutdown the Armada's offence, which, although certainly not as high powered as the Sea Dogs', had been decent in the playoffs up until this point.

Blainville-Boisbriand scored just one power play goal in the entire series, finishing 1/16. Alex Barre-Boulet, who entered the final as the league's leading scorer, recorded just two points (both assists) while Pierre-Luc Dubois had just one goal (which came last night).

Best D core ever?
We'll wait and see how the Memorial Cup goes, but there is certainly an argument to be made that this is the best defence core the Sea Dogs have ever had.

Saint John allowed just 31 goals in 18 games this post-season for an average of 1.67. They allowed 21.79 shots against per game.

In 2011, the team allowed 39 goals in 19 games while giving up an average of 25.53 shots against per game. In 2012, the Dogs allowed 39 goals in 17 games and allowed an average of 26.11 shots against.