KITCHENER – Sunday’s game between the Spokane Chiefs and Kitchener Rangers will mark the unofficial start of the 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup.
For the first time since the Memorial Cup began on Friday, fans saw what two teams looked like when playing their game after the Rangers and Chiefs both squandered three-goal leads in the first two games.
The result was a second consecutive win for the Western Hockey League champion Chiefs with a spot in next Sunday’s final within grasp.
Both teams wanted to be better defensively and each improved in their own end. A low-scoring game worked into the Chiefs’ favour as goaltender Dustin Tokarski threw his hat in the race for tournament MVP. The Chiefs got back to the basics against the Rangers and looked like the team that swept the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the WHL final.
Spokane was up against one of the Canadian Hockey League’s top lines in Justin Azevedo, Matt Halischuk and Nick Spaling. The trio had a lot of difficulty creating offence against the defensively-sound Chiefs, who rarely allowed any second-chance opportunities.
"Whenever we get the puck they have two and three guys just smothering you," Azevedo said, adding they were the toughest defensive team he has seen this season.
The win means the Chiefs have a place in Friday’s semifinal with the possibility of earning the all-important bye to the final if the Belleville Bulls win Monday’s game against the Gatineau Olympiques.
Now that each team has played one game in the tournament, the nerves are clearly out the window and we’re seeing each team play to their true potential.
On another note, Chiefs defenceman Jared Cowen is turning the Memorial Cup into his coming out party. The 17-year-old defenceman has been fantastic for the Chiefs and is giving the rest of the country a first-hand glimpse at his immense potential.
Drafted first overall in the 2006 WHL Bantam Draft, Cowen has rarely looked out of place against the league’s elite. He was a big factor in the Chiefs’ win and is making his case to be considered as a lottery pick for next year’s National Hockey League draft.
