The first Memorial Cup hosted in the United States since the 1998 iteration hosted in Spokane began by pitting two teams that were gracing the tournament for the first time ever: The Moose Jaw Warriors earned their way by having captured their first Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions in their history, while the Saginaw Spirit qualified as the hosts but were a worthy team by way of quality, with this year’s OHL campaign being their most successful season yet. Saginaw seemed to prove their mettle rather emphatically in the opening phases of this game. In the first period, they forced the issue often by creating many turnovers (including a number in Moose Jaw’s zone, with D/captain/Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Denton Mateychuk especially having some trouble in the early proceedings) and, when not outright preventing zone entries, keeping Moose Jaw to the outside and often preventing them from even getting pucks anywhere near netminder/Michigan native Andrew Oke. By controlling the puck often, they were able to sustain a significant amount of pressure on Moose Jaw G Jackson Unger (2024 Draft eligible) and had a couple of high danger chances. One of the most noteworthy involved Saginaw controlling the pace of play and having a phenomenal look with Unger having to sprawl a significant amount while the Spirit were on the PK for a delay of game penalty committed by D Zayne Parekh (2024 Draft eligible), which Moose Jaw were able to counter on but could not quite create a lethal chance. This same course of events effectively played out when a great release resulted in Unger being beat, but striking the inside of the post and hitting Unger with the puck subsequently being cleared. However, with only 33 seconds remaining, Parekh would blast a shot from the point which RW Nic Sima would tip in perfectly behind Unger, with LW/C Michael Misa getting credited for the secondary assist. Shots would end up 17-7 in favor of Saginaw when all was said and done in the first period and they looked decidedly like the better team.

This trend would continue in the second period, with the second goal of the game being scored by Saginaw in somewhat ignominious fashion for Moose Jaw. A release by C Owen Beck (Montreal Canadiens) took some bounces, including one off of Mateychuk’s stick that sent the puck directly into the net, with Parekh getting credited with an assist for his second point of the night. This was just seconds after a very early hooking penalty committed by Moose Jaw C Brayden Yager (Pittsburgh Penguins) on Parekh had expired. Continuing to dominate the game, Saginaw would take a 3-0 lead on a phenomenal shot by Parekh, to make it a three-point night for the wunderkind prospect approximately five minutes after that sequence. One minute and 36 seconds later, Saginaw made it 4-0 when D Jorian Donovan (Ottawa Senators) had a rifle of a shot of his own, with the success by Saginaw having shifted into delivering on excellent releases after having succeeded with the bounce and establishing a net front presence before. While Saginaw did not continue to crush their opponents, they did seem to have everything going their way for the next nine minutes, until the game seemed to change. In a matter of 1:35, Moose Jaw scored three times as the middle frame approached its end. Yager scored two of these goals, including the first which was historic by marking the first ever Memorial Cup goal for Moose Jaw, on each end of this sequence by having the nose for finding and occupying the right spots while Matechuk tallied the second with a slick move to get in close and an even slicker release to beat Oke. The second stanza concluded with what looked like a shellacking having turned into a real hockey game. Shots ended up 13-11 in favor of Saginaw.

The Spirit were not to be deterred by this strong comeback effort by the Warriors and it showed in the early phases of the final frame, as LW Josh Bloom was the beneficiary of their hard play in front of the net that saw Beck staying with the play and getting it to Bloom after a shot by RW Alex Christopoulos was stopped and landed right on Beck’s blade. Bloom’s shot was a beauty, beating Unger five-hole and hitting the netting’s almost precise center with a lot of gusto. This grew the lead to 5-3 just under two minutes into the third. Subsequently, an intense effort (which included a bone-crunching hit by C/Buffalo Sabres prospect Matthew Savoie on Parekh) by Moose Jaw that had Saginaw trapped in their own zone seemingly resulted in a clutch goal by the CHL’s leading point scorer C Jagger Firkus (Seattle Kraken) to make the score 5-4; however, a review determined the zone entry was well offsides, and the goal was called back. The sequence with Unger pulled for the extra attacker was most certainly high stakes and it did not disappoint, providing us with some of the most entertaining hockey of the CHL postseason to this point in and of itself over those few minutes. Savoie successfully made it 5-4 in this time on a terrific one-timer, with assists going to Yager and Mateychuk with 2:47 left in regulation. The ensuing possessions saw Moose Jaw press hard and hold their own in puck battles, but Saginaw would win out, icing the puck a couple of times in attempts to hit the empty net to ice the game but ultimately winning in the war of attrition each time. Moose Jaw would ultimately fall back deep into their own zone with little time left and could not connect on a long pass attempt and time would expire, with Saginaw winning 5-4. Parekh was awarded Player of the Game for his 1g-2a, +2 performance. If he continues to play like this over the course of the tournament, he’ll make a phenomenal impression in pursuit of high positioning in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.

Tomorrow’s game pits the OHL champion London Knights against the QMJHL champion Drummondville Voltigeurs in the tournament’s only afternoon game. The Knights are stacked and are generally regarded as tournament favorites, but there may be a bit of a surprise in store if the arc if this game is any indication. Furthermore, Drummondville G Riley Mercer was outstanding in the Gilles-Courteau Trophy Final against a very talented Baie-Comeau Drakkar team and his team played well in front of him, too. It would be quite entertaining if Mercer and co. could stymie the stacked London roster a bit and make a game out of it. It cannot be ruled out that Drummondville will present a challenge to the Hunter dynasty’s latest outstanding squad.