SASKATOON, Sask. – It was the heavyweight bout everyone wanted to see.
The Halifax Mooseheads and Portland Winterhawks locked horns in the MasterCard Memorial Cup championship game and it went three long, hard-fought rounds. In the end, the Mooseheads scored the decisive blow, an empty-netter from their prize fighter, Nathan MacKinnon, and took home the Canadian Hockey League’s top prize.
They hype surrounding this matchup began months ago, as the two constantly jockeyed atop the BMO CHL Top 10 rankings. Each held the crown at various points in the season, and it soon became obvious the championship would be decided between these two legendary combatants.
Perhaps, in another year, the Winterhawks would have been champions, and perhaps the Mooseheads would have been a clear cut favourite had their opponent not presented them with such a difficult task.
The matchup not only produced the consensus top three prospects for next month’s National Hockey League draft — a storyline that will surely stand the test of time — but a memorable game that will find itself in the annals of tournament lore.
It wasn’t simply MacKinnon versus Seth Jones, and both surely reminded media of that throughout the week. It was Goliath versus Goliath — David need not apply.
“It was the heavyweight battle everyone wanted to see,” Mooseheads general manager Cam Russell said. “I think it was a thrilling fight right to the end.”
There were some tense moments, to be sure. Like any prize fighter worth his salt, the Winterhawks picked themselves up, dusted themselves off, and came back swinging after the Mooseheads took a 3-0 lead. Portland scored twice in an entertaining second period, including a pretty goal from Jones, who did his best to answer MacKinnon’s might.
The only reservation junior hockey lovers may have is that this fight ended too soon.
Once upon a time, the MasterCard Memorial Cup was determined through a best-of-seven series. The tournament format was adopted in 1972, and a one-game, winner-take-all championship game ensued. It was for the best, considering the way the tournament evolved.
Every once in a while, one can’t help but wonder what a best-of-seven series between two tournament participants would have looked like in yesteryear.
“I think it would have been really entertaining,” Mooseheads co-captain Trey Lewis imagined. “Portland’s an incredible team and they’ve got amazing players, an amazing defence and it would have been an amazing series — I know that for sure.”
Fans in Saskatoon were treated instead to a two-game duel. Both times the Mooseheads emerged victorious.
Their first meeting, on Saturday, May 18, was billed by many as a finals preview. The Winterhawks began that game strong, playing what head coach Travis Green described as his team’s best 25 minutes of the tournament before the momentum shifted and the Mooseheads scored five-straight en route to a 7-4 victory.
It was a small sampling of what fans at the Credit Union Centre would see again on Sunday — a wildly unpredictable, highly entertaining game featuring some of the best junior-aged prospects in the world trading chances and filling the highlight reels.
As thrilling as they were, the Mooseheads are happy the format only called for two meetings, rather than what would have been a series for the ages.
“We’ll take the two games against them,” MacKinnon beamed moments after winning the MasterCard Memorial Cup. “They’re a very good team. I think every game could have went either way. But at the end of the day, I thought the way the guys battled, we definitely deserved to win this one.”
“That would have been a great series,” Mooseheads head coach Dominique Ducharme mused. “Because we look at our first game, and that game tonight, I think that was pretty high intensity, high-level hockey.”
Prior to the final, Green was asked about his feelings regarding a one-game showdown.
“It’s just such a good tradition,” Green said. “You can’t do a seven-game series or anything like that, I don’t think.”
Maybe so, but we can all dream of what it could have been.
Cam Russell knows one thing for sure: “I think you would have sold a lot of tickets (with) a best-of-seven with these two teams. The first- and second-best team in the country and both teams were ranked in the top 10 all season. It was just a fitting end for us. I do feel bad, because (the Winterhawks) worked so hard and they have such a great team. But that’s just a fantastic final.”
A true knockout.