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Sunday, June 25, 2023

One year since The DuFOUR Game

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs
QUISPAMSIS, NB - Friday's Saint John Sea Dogs Hall of Fame ceremony was a reminder that the franchise has had quite a few memorable championship runs.

With those championship runs come great games — and perhaps the greatest game in Sea Dogs franchise history was played on this day one year ago.

It's been one year since The DuFOUR Game, which saw the Sea Dogs erase a three-goal first period deficit and defeat the rival Shawinigan Cataractes 5-3 to earn a bye straight through to the 2022 Memorial Cup final.


William Dufour had one of the greatest performances in Memorial Cup history, scoring four goals — which included a natural hat trick in the second period to tie the game. Dufour, the Memorial Cup MVP and leading scorer, had a remarkable 15 shots in the game.

"After the first period we just talked to ourselves in the locker room," Dufour said after the game. "After killing the penalty, the breakaway, I said no, I won't miss more chances like that. I can't. I buried one right after, almost on the penalty kill, and then right after on a faceoff. It was just amazing with the crowd and everything it was just, wow."
"It's pretty special wasn't it," Sea Dogs head coach Gardiner MacDougall said of Dufour's performance.

"You go with your horses and he's a big horse. A magic second period for him. That was outstanding. When your top guys buy in - look at shot blocks or penalty kills - he's grown as a player and he's grown as a teammate because he's becoming a real leader for our team. We had a lot of top players tonight, but when your lead horse is in the front of the group, everyone is following. It was special to see that's for sure and I'm sure his mom will be very, very proud tonight."
This was also the game that featured MacDougall's infamous "Lady Mo" quote after the game, which the Sea Dogs honoured this past season.

"We all have special ladies in our lives, our grandmothers, our mothers, our wives, I have a daughter, I have sisters, but the key to success tonight was a lady called Lady Mo. Ms. Lady Momentum. Sometimes she’s hard to find and you don’t know how long she’s going to stay with you. We’re lucky tonight that we found her and she stayed with us for a while."
In attendance for Friday's Hall of Fame ceremony, MacDougall spoke a bit about this game, noting that, during the first intermission, he called out the team's defense and goaltender Nikolas Hurtubise for the third goal they allowed. MacDougall opted to keep Hurtubise in for a chance to redeem himself — and the netminder stopped all 14 shots he faced in the final two periods.

This would have been an all-time great Sea Dogs game no matter where it was played or who was it against. But the fact that it came on home ice and against Shawinigan made it all the more memorable.
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1 comment:

  1. AnonymousJune 25, 2023 at 2:04 PM

    What can be said .... the most electrifying week ever at TD Station including when Darren Schoville scored at the end of the second period vs Wilkes Barrie and the Flames held on and won the Calder Cup.....now theres history :)

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