WHL champion Thunderbirds eliminated from Memorial Cup
Published 8:10 am Tuesday, May 23, 2017
The Saint John Sea Dogs eliminated the Seattle Thunderbirds from the Mastercard Memorial Cup with a 7-0 rout Tuesday at the WFCU Centre in Windsor, Ontario.
The T-Birds, Western Hockey League champions, finished 0-3 at the Memorial Cup with losses to the Otters, Spitfires and Sea Dogs.
The Sea Dogs, of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, advance to the semifinal of the four-team tournament on Friday against the loser of the Windsor Spitfires (2-0) vs. Erie Otters (2-0) game, which takes place Wednesday. The winner of the Spitfires-Otters game advances to the championship game on Sunday. The other semifinal winner will advance to the Cup final on Sunday.
The Sea Dogs scored six goals in the second period to take a 6-0 lead. Joe Veleno, Chase Stewart, Mathieu Joseph, Spencer Smallman, Cole Reginato and Bokondjii Imama had the Sea Dogs goals.
Veleno scored in the third period to get the Sea Dogs’ seventh goal.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – No scoring. Penalties – Volcan, Sea (slashing), 4:37. Zboril, StJ (hooking), 12:32. Bear, Sea (tripping), 12:49.
Second period – 1, Saint John, Veleno 1, 1:14. 2, Saint John, Stewart 1 (Zboril, Smallman), 14:04. 3, Saint John, Joseph 2 (Highmore, Imama), 14:19. 4, Saint John, Smallman 2 (Gauthier, Veleno), 14:57. 5, Saint John, Reginato 1 (Bourque, Noel), 16:29. 6, Saint John, Imama 1, 17:13. Penalties – No penalties.
Third period – 7, Saint John, Veleno 2 (Imama), 6:21. Penalties – Chabot, StJ (holding opponents stick), 3:45. Adams, Sea (elbowing), 19:11.
Shots on goal – Seattle 8-13-10 31, Saint John 6-14-8 28. Goalies – Seattle, Stankowski 14 shots-10 saves (0-3), Toth 14-11; Saint John, Booth 31-31 (1-2). Power plays – Seattle 0-2; Saint John 0-2. A – 5,062. Referees – Mike Campbell, Adam Griffiths. Linesmen – Nick Bilko, Trevor Shively.
