Knights edge Huskies to win Memorial Cup

The London Knights win the 2016 #MemCup pic.twitter.com/YwQwMxLDPD

— Carlos Verde (@Carlos77Verde) May 29, 2016

The London Knights are Memorial Cup champions.

The Knights won their second national championship with a 3-2 overtime victory over the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies on Sunday in Red Deer. Matthew Tkachuk scored the winner at 7:49 of the extra frame.

Matthew Tkachuk scores the 2016 #MCMemorialCup OT goal. London wins 17th straight playoff game. https://t.co/ehmtfD26aw

— Kathryn Jean (@msconduct) May 29, 2016

Tkachuk opened the scoring in the second period but that was followed by goals from Francis Perron and Julien Nantel, giving the Huskies a 2-1 lead in the third period. With 4:11 to go, Christian Dvorak scored to tie things at 2-2 and send the match into overtime.

Both goaltenders had great games with Tyler Parsons 29 saves in the win and Chase Marchand making 30 in the loss.

London breezed through the preliminary round of this year’s Memorial Cup, going 3-0 with a +15 goal differential. This was the first game that proved to be much of a challenge for the star studded OHL champions.

The Knights hadn’t won the Memorial Cup since 2005 – despite making three straight appearances from 2012 to 2014. London lost in overtime in 2012 in Shawinigan.

This is the second straight year an OHL team has won the Memorial Cup in overtime following the Oshawa Generals’ win last year.

No QMJHL team has won the trophy since the Halifax Mooseheads in 2013.

Next year’s tournament will be hosted by the Windsor Spitfires.

Huskies to play Knights for Memorial Cup

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The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies will play in the 2016 Memorial Cup championship game.

The QMJHL champions advanced to the national final with a 3-1 victory over the host Red Deer Rebels last night. Francis Perron, Martins Dzierkals and Nikolas Brouillard scored for the Huskies while Chase Marchand made 36 saves in the win.

Rouyn-Noranda is 2-2 at this year’s tournament, dropping their final two games of the preliminary round. Their only win prior to Friday's was last Saturday against the Brandon Wheat Kings.

Not surprisingly, Timo Meier and Perron lead the Huskies in scoring. Meier has five goals and two assists while Perron has one goal and six assists.

The Huskies will face the OHL champion London Knights, a team that has breezed through this year’s tournament. The Knights, who are 3-0 with a +15 goal differential, haven’t played since Tuesday where they defeated Rouyn-Noranda 5-2.

London’s Mitch Marner leads the tournament in scoring with two goals and 11 assists in just three games.

The Huskies are playing in their first Memorial Cup. No QMJHL team has appeared in the final since 2013 in Saskatoon where the Halifax Mooseheads defeated the Portland Winterhawks.

The Knights, playing in their fifth Memorial Cup since 2005 and fourth since 2012, will be playing in their third ever final. They defeated Sidney Crosby’s Rimouski Oceanic on home ice in 2005 and fell to the Cataractes in Shawinigan in 2012.

Game time on Sunday is 5:30 p.m.

Rebels Will Play Huskies In Semifinal

The host Red Deer Rebels are off to the semifinal of the 2016 Memorial Cup.

Evan Polei scored at 3:50 of overtime to give the Rebels a 2-1 victory over the WHL champion Brandon Wheat Kings last night, earning the team a berth in Friday’s semifinal against the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.

The Rebels were eliminated by the Wheat Kings in the WHL’s Eastern Conference final.

Red Deer finished the round robin portion of the tournament with a 2-1 record and an even goal differential. After losing the event’s opener to London, the Rebels went on to beat the Huskies and Wheat Kings.

Meanwhile, after a solid opening win over Brandon, Rouyn-Noranda lost to Red Deer and London, giving the team a 1-2 record. They’ve struggled to stay disciplined over the past two games – although the officiating has been… something.

London, 3-0 with an incredible +15 goal differential, has already advanced to Sunday’s championship game. Brandon has been eliminated.

Huge Game For Huskies Tonight

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The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies face a huge test at the 2016 Memorial Cup tonight.

The Huskies, 1-1 in this year’s tournament, take on the OHL champion London Knights tonight at 11 p.m. in Red Deer. The Knights are 2-0 with 6-2 and 9-1 wins over Red Deer and Brandon, respectively.

Rouyn-Noranda is coming off a tough 5-2 loss to the host Rebels on Sunday night. The Huskies allowed five straight goals in the loss – including three power play markers – and lost their cool with the officiating as the game went along.

The Knights have lived up to expectations with 15 goals in two games. Mitch Marner leads the tournament in scoring with nine points.

Marner, Dvorak and Tkachuk have 20 points in two games.

— Ryan Pyette (@RyanatLFPress) May 24, 2016

Brandon, 0-2, and Red Deer, 1-1, face each other tomorrow night in the final game of the preliminary round.

Knights Win Memorial Cup Opener

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In the opening game of the 2016 Memorial Cup, the London Knights lived up to the hype.

Toronto Maple Leafs saviour Mitch Marner had an impressive two goals and three assists to lead the Knights to a 6-2 win over the host Red Deer Rebels.

The Rebels applied some strong pressure early in the game – but Knights goaltender Tyler Parsons shut the door. London scored three goals in the first and added another three in the second.

Tomorrow’s game will feature the QMJHL champion Rouyn-Noranda Huskies taking on the WHL champion Brandon Wheat Kings.

In other news…

• Felix Schutz and Germany had their 2016 IIHF World Championship come to an end in the quarterfinals on Thursday. According to the box score, Schutz did not play in Germany’s 4-1 loss to Russia. The former Sea Dogs forward had two goals and five assists in seven tournament games.
• In case you’ve forgotten, the QMJHL Entry Draft takes place two weeks from Saturday (June 4) in Charlottetown.

Wheat Kings Off To Memorial Cup

The four teams that will play in the 2016 Memorial Cup are now known.

The Brandon Wheat Kings punched their ticket to the tournament with a 8-4 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds in Game 5 of the WHL final last night. The Wheat Kings will join the host Red Deer Rebels, QMJHL champion Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and OHL champion London Knights.

The Wheat Kings last appeared in the Memorial Cup in 2010, when they hosted the tournament. Former Sea Dogs goaltender Jacob DeSerres was on that team.

The Memorial Cup begins next Friday with the Rebels taking on the Knights at 9 p.m. The following day, the Huskies face the Wheat Kings at 8 p.m.

All three league champions had tremendous seasons. Rouyn-Noranda (No. 1), London (No. 3) and Brandon (No. 7) were all listed in the final CHL Top 10 ranking. Here's a look at how each performed this year:

League	Team	Reg. Season	Playoffs
QMJHL	Rouyn-Noranda	54-9-3-2	16-4
OHL	London	51-14-2-1	16-2
WHL	Brandon	48-18-4-2	16-5
Host	Red Deer	45-24-1-2	9-8

The Oshawa Generals won last year's Memorial Cup in Quebec City, defeating Kelowna 2-1 in overtime in the championship game.