Saint John Sea Dogs skate past Hamilton Bulldogs 6-3 to win Memorial Cup
Global News
The host Saint John Sea Dogs defeated the Hamilton Bulldogs in front of sold-out crowd at TD Station to win the franchise's second Memorial Cup trophy.
The Saint John Sea Dogs are Memorial Cup champions once again.
Considered a long shot at the beginning of the Canadian Hockey League championship due to a first-round loss in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoffs, the host Sea Dogs downed the Hamilton Bulldogs 6-3 in Wednesday’s championship game.
Saint John scored twice in the first six minutes of both the first and second periods and rode the emotion of a wildly enthusiastic sellout crowd to win the championship for the second time in its 17-year history.
William Dufour, captain Vincent Sevigny, Cam MacDonald, Josh Lawrence, Peter Reynolds and Riley Bezeau scored for the Sea Dogs. Mason McTavish, with two goals, and Jan Mysak answered for the Bulldogs, who advanced to the final with a 4-3 overtime victory over Shawinigan in Monday’s semifinal.
Saint John goaltender Nikolas Hurtubise, acquired by the Sea Dogs at the QMJHL trade deadline, posted his third victory of thetournament with 25 saves. Hamilton’s Marco Costantini stopped 21 of 26 shots in the loss.
The Sea Dogs also won the Memorial Cup in 2011 and their win on Wednesday marks the sixth time a QMJHL team has won the Memorial Cup in the last 10 tournaments.
The 2020 and 2021 Memorial Cup events were cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hamilton was making its second Memorial Cup appearance after advancing to the 2018 semifinals where they fell to the Regina Pats.
