Oil Kings bring Memorial Cup back to WHL

Once again we are reminded why they play the games, and why there is nothing in reality television that can equal what happens on the field of play.
The WHL-champion Edmonton Oil Kings doubled up on the OHL-champion Guelph Storm, 6-3, in the championship game of the Memorial Cup tournament in London on Sunday.
(Of course, that would be London, Ont., as the CHL, unlike the NFL, doesn’t play neutral-site games on the other side of the pond.)
The Storm went into the game having won its first three games in the tournament, including a 5-2 victory over Edmonton on the second day of the 10-day event. In the tournament’s 43-year history, only 11 teams have gone 4-0; the Storm wasn’t able to make it an even dozen.
The Storm went into the final as the favourite. In some corners, including the pages of the Edmonton Sun, the Storm was a heavy favourite. “Edmonton Oil Kings face heavily favoured Guelph Storm in Memorial Cup final” blared the headline on a Terry Jones column that was posted on the newspaper’s website on Saturday night.
In the end, though, none of that mattered.
The Oil Kings got five points, including two goals, from F Henrik Samuelsson, and a goal and two assists from tournament MVP Edgars Kulda as they erased 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to win their third game of the tournament. They also lost twice -- in regulation time to the Storm and in OT to the Val-d’Or Foreurs.
“I could cry right now,” Edmonton head coach Derek Laxdal said in a story posted on the team’s website. “The emotional feelings for our players, to represent the Western Hockey League and bring that trophy back, where all you heard all week was ‘you haven’t won it for five years and Guelph’s this and this.’
“Our kids don’t care who we’re playing. They’re going to play a certain way, they’re going to grind out a win and what do you say about some of the efforts tonight? I thought everybody stepped up. They were focused and ready to put a Grade A effort forward."
The Storm got off to a great start, getting its first lead one minute into the game as F Robby Fabbri, taking advantage of a neutral zone turnover, finished a 3-on-1 break with an open-net tap-in.
Edmonton got that one back on a PP, as D Cody Corbett scored on a one-timer from the high slot at 9:38.
Still, the Storm took a 2-1 lead into the second period when F Stephen Pierog scored off a rebound, at 16:36, after G Tristan Jarry stopped F Pius Suter on a breakaway.
The Oil Kings took over in the second period, however, scoring three times to take a 4-2 lead into the final 20 minutes.
F Tyler Robertson, who scored once in the regular season and twice in the WHL playoffs, pounced on a loose puck off an offensive zone faceoff and beat G Justin Nichols to tie the game at 1:58.
Kulda scored his fourth of the tournament, on the PP, at 6:06, beating Nichols from the left side off the rush and the Oil Kings were feasting now.
F Mitch Moroz got his second of the tournament, from Kulda and Samuelsson, at 14:19, and you had a feeling that the Oil Kings weren’t going to cough up a two-goal lead in the last game of the season.
At the same time, the Storm’s body language indicated that it couldn’t quite believe, never mind try to understand, just what was happening.
Guelph tried to make it interesting as F Zack Mitchell beat Jarry at 3:23 of the third period, but Samuelsson scored 1:37 later and the Storm had been downgraded to a whimper.
It remained for Samuelsson to score into the empty net at 18:34.
Jarry, who saved his best game for last, finished with 32 saves, seven fewer than Nichols.
Edmonton was 2-for-2 on the PP; Guelph went 0-for-2.
How did the Oil Kings win?
“I thought we did a better job of reading their rims off the walls and not activating our defence,” Laxdal explained. “I thought we did a great job on special teams, with two power-play goals. And the belief that we could beat them. You know, they’re a very good hockey club. Great transition. But we knew we had to grind out their defencemen and hunt them.”
This was the first Memorial Cup championship in the modern history of the Oil Kings, who played their first WHL season in 2007-08. The original Oil Kings, a franchise that now is the Portland Winterhawks, won the Memorial Cup twice (1963 and 1966) during a run of seven straight appearances in what was then a best-of-seven East vs. West final.
The Oil Kings are the first WHL team to win the Memorial Cup since the Spokane Chiefs beat the host Rangers in Kitchener in 2008.
JUST NOTES: Samuelsson won the tournament scoring title, the Ed Chynoweth Trophy, with eight points. . . . F Tyler Bertuzzi of Guelph led in goals (5), one more than Samuelsson and Kulda. . . . Guelph D Nick Ebert and Edmonton D Cody Corbett were tops in assists, each with five. . . . Kulda took home the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as MVP. . . . Edmonton F Curtis Lazar got the George Parsons Trophy as most sportsmanlike player. . . . Antoine Bibeau of the Foreurs was named the outstanding goaltender and went home with the Hap Emms Memorial Trophy. . . . The tournament all-star team comprised Bibeau, defencemen Matt Finn of Guelph and Corbett, and forwards Kulda, Samuelsson and Guelph’s Kerby Rychel. . . . Laxdal now has two Memorial Cup titles to his credit. He was a player with Portland when it won the 1983 tournament as the host team. . . . The City of Edmonton will stage an Oil Kings celebration on Wednesday.
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1. The 2015 Memorial Cup tournament is scheduled to be held in Quebec City, with the QMJHL’s Remparts as the host team. The Remparts have twice won the trophy (2006, 1971). . . . The Remparts and Chicoutimi Sagueneens both bid on the 2015 tournament. . . . It’s worth noting that the 2015 tournament is to run from May 21 through May 31, meaning next season will end one week later than this one. . . . The WHL will be the host league for the 2016 tournament and the smart money is on Vancouver as the host city.

2. Derek Laxdal has completed four seasons as head coach of the Edmonton Oil Kings. His teams have won one Memorial Cup, two WHL championships and three Eastern Conference titles. The Oil Kings have won 50, 51 and 50 games in each of the last three regular seasons. He has never been named the WHL’s coach of the year.

3. It is believed that at least two WHL teams, the Vancouver Giants and Saskatoon Blades, are wanting to chat with Oil Kings assistant coach Steve Hamilton. . . . The Giants are looking for a head coach; the Blades need a general manager and a head coach.

4. The last time the Oil Kings won a Memorial Cup was 1966. Al Hamilton was a defenceman on that team. Yes, he is Steve’s father. . . . Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal spoke with the proud father and that piece is right here.

5. Some things shouldn’t have a price tag on them and the Memorial Cup is one of them. First awarded in 1919, it was established to honour those Canadians who lost their lives in the First World War. During the 2010 tournament in Brandon, the Memorial Cup was rededicated to honour all of Canada’s war dead, no matter the conflict. . . . As such, it should be the Memorial Cup and should not have a sponsor’s name attached to it.

6. Could it be that the Oil Kings and Winterhawks, who have met in each of the last three WHL championship series, will be in the WHL’s final four from now until eternity? These are clearly the two best organizations in the league. Money is no object and both teams have all the resources needed by championship teams. . . . At the same time, it strikes me that the gulf between the big- and small-market WHL teams never has been wider.

7. Edmonton and Portland each had 11 playoff home games. The Winterhawks drew 107,522 fans to those games; the Oil Kings brought in 80,913 fans. That two-team total of 188,435 accounted for 44.7 per of the WHL’s total playoff attendance.

8. Former Vancouver Giants assistant coach Glen Hanlon has resigned as the head coach of the Belarusian national team. Hanlon made the announcement Sunday as the IIHF world championship wrapped up in Minsk. . . . Belarus reached the tournament’s quarterfinal round for the first time since 2009. . . . It is expected that Hanlon will be named the head coach of the Swiss national team program.

9. Following their weekend prospects camp, the Regina Pats announced they have signed G Jordan Hollett, who was the 13th overall selection in the WHL’s 2014 bantam draft. . . . Hollett, from Langley, B.C., played last season at the Okanagan Hockey Academy, going 23-4-0, 1.75. . . . He is the first goaltender to be taken by the Pats in the first round since the draft’s inception in 1990.

10. D Seth Jones, who played one season (2012-13) with the Portland Winterhawks, was named the best defenceman at the IIHF world championship tournament that concluded Sunday in Minsk, Belarus. Jones, who just completed his first NHL season with the Nashville Predators, was the only player off Team USA to be named to the tournament’s all-star team. Pretty heady stuff for a guy who won’t celebrate his 20th birthday until Oct. 3.
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2014 MEMORIAL CUP
(at London, Ont.)
Friday: Val-d’Or 1, London 0 (8,863)
Saturday: Guelph 5, Edmonton 2 (8,842)
Sunday: Edmonton 5, London 2 (8,863)
Monday: Guelph 6, Val-d’Or 3 (8,796)
Tuesday: Val-d’Or 4, Edmonton 3 (2OT) (8,745)
Wednesday: Guelph 7, London 2 (8,863)
Thursday: No game scheduled.
Friday’s semifinal: Edmonton 4, Val-d’Or 3 (3OT) (8,776)
Saturday: No game scheduled.
Sunday’s final: Edmonton 6, Guelph 3 (8,863)
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From Regina Pats assistant coach Billy McGuigan (@BillyMcGuigan12): “@EdmOilKings Head Coach Derek Laxdal now has an ECHL championship, 1 Memcup, 2 WHL championships, and 5 league finals appearances #welldone”


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1966 Memorial Cup

1966 MEMORIAL CUP
Edmonton Oil Kings vs. Oshawa Generals
at Toronto (Maple Leaf Gardens)

The Edmonton Oil Kings made it seven Memorial Cup finals in a row when they eliminated the Estevan Bruins from the Abbott Cup final in six games.
This was the last Abbott Cup final before major junior hockey came to the Prairies in the form of the Western Canada Junior Hockey League.
The Abbott Cup final was a clash of hockey legends, what with the Bruins managed by Scotty Munro and coached by Ernie (Punch) McLean, and the Oil Kings coached by Ray Kinasewich and managed by Bill Hunter.
Following the series, the Oil Kings, featuring the likes of Garnet (Ace) Bailey, Al Hamilton, Bob Falkenberg and goaltender Don (Smokey) McLeod, announced they would add three Bruins to their roster for the national final – forwards Jim Harrison, Ross Lonsberry and Ted Hodgson. Hunter also said he would take Weyburn Red Wings goaltender Don Caley as a replacement for Pete Neukomm who had suffered a fractured cheekbone in a western semifinal game against the Fort William Canadians.
Edmonton had spent the season playing in the Alberta Senior Hockey League, there being no junior league in Alberta. In fact, the Oil Kings tied the Drumheller Miners for the provincial senior championship.
The Oil Kings' opposition this time around was provided by the Oshawa Generals, featuring 15-year-old defenceman Bobby Orr, Wayne Cashman, Danny O'Shea, goaltender Ian Young, Billy Heindl, Barry Wilkins and Nick Beverley. The Generals were coached by Bep Guidolin and managed by Wren Blair.
Oshawa, which finished fourth in the Ontario Junior Hockey League, had eliminated the Shawinigan Falls Bruins in the eastern final, winning the best-of-five affair in four games.
All games in this national final series were scheduled for Maple Leaf Gardens – the last Memorial Cup series to be played there.
The politicking began early as Blair announced he would protest (1) the presence of the Oil Kings because they didn't play in a junior league; and, (2) the inclusion of three Estevan players on Edmonton's roster.
Blair admitted he didn't expect success but "I'm going to file them anyway.''
Edmonton, which had lost five of the last six Memorial Cup finals, opened the series on May 4 by thrashing Oshawa 7-2, outshooting the Generals 52-20 in the process. Attendance was 4,310.
Centre Ross Perkins scored two shorthanded goals for Edmonton. And you can bet Blair was livid as the three Estevan players all figured in the scoring – Harrison had a goal and two assists, Lonsberry had a goal, and Hodgson had two assists. Galen Head, Hamilton and Bailey added singles. Hamilton also had two assists.
Orr, who dazzled with his rink-length dashes and had at least 10 shots on goal, and Chris Hayes scored for Oshawa, which trailed 4-1 and 5-2 at the period breaks.
Six players picked up fighting majors six minutes into the third period, the altercation starting when Harrison crashed into Orr, after which he was immediately confronted by Oshawa's Bill White. One of the ensuing fights featured Orr, who scored an easy decision over Dave Rochefort.
Kinasewich was upset and accused the Generals of head-hunting.
"I like a rough, hard-checking game,” Kinasewich said, "and if they can't take it, then let them go home.”
Guidolin countered: "We didn't see one good check all night, and you can tell them to stop sending bushers after Orr.”
Oshawa tied the series on May 6, riding a three-goal performance from O'Shea to a 7-1 victory before 7,210 fans, most of them apparently from the Oshawa area.
O'Shea and Cashman had gone into the final with 21 playoff goals apiece.
Cashman, Hayes, Heindl and Ron Dussiaume also scored for the Generals. Cashman also set up three goals as the Generals took period leads of 2-0 and 5-0.
Defenceman Doug Barrie scored Edmonton's lone goal.
Orr was used sparingly. He was on the limp with a groin injury he said he suffered during practice the previous week. Hamilton, Edmonton's top defenceman, was nursing a sore tailbone and hardly played in the third period.
When this one was over, Hunter pointed a finger at referee Frank Daigneault of Montreal.
When a Maple Leaf Gardens publicist said "we'll get a crowd of 14,000 here (for Game 3),” Hunter added: "Yeah, and we'll get a new referee.”
"He's going to lose control,” Kinasewich added, "and that won't be good for the players or the fans.”
After Game 2, Hunter announced the Oil Kings would use Caley in Game 3 only to be informed by the CAHA that he was ineligible.
After the Generals won Game 3 by a 6-2 count on May 8 before 7,365 fans, Hunter was again all over Daigneault.
"Daigneault must have signed a contract with Oshawa before the series,” Hunter said. "Generals' defencemen were stopping shots and pulling the puck into their bodies as they fell, and Daigneault, only five feet away, wasn't calling them.”
The Generals, with Orr playing only on the power play, got two goals from O'Shea and singles from Cashman, George Babcock, Bill Little and Dussiaume. Perkins and Ron Walters scored for the Oil Kings.
Kinasewich yanked McLeod and sent in Jim Knox after the first period with Oshawa leading 4-0.
"You don't expect that a fellow who's played well all season will choke up all of a sudden,” Kinasewich said. "But that's what he's done.
"Oshawa's not that good. We've played better teams than that all season. And this is the first time we've played two bad games in a row this year.”
Guidolin fired back: "You can tell 'em we've got a few surprises for (Game 4). We got the same team.”
The Oil Kings held a team meeting on the off day.
"We've just had a revival meeting,” Hunter said. "And we've given our lads the message – God help Oshawa in the next game.”
McLeod was back at his best in Game 4 as he backstopped the Oil Kings to a 5-3 victory on May 11 before 5,761 fans. That tied the series 2-2.
Trailing 3-2 going into the third period, the Oil Kings exploded for three goals, the winner coming at 16:46 when Hamilton went coast-to-coast and set up Head. Perkins followed with an empty-net goal to wrap it up.
Lonsberry, Ron Anderson and Rochefort also scored for the Oil Kings. Hayes, Cashman and O'Shea scored for Oshawa.
Orr took a regular shift for two periods, but took his gear off after that. He aggravated his groin injury when checked into the boards by Perkins.
"We blew it,” Guidolin said. "We didn't skate. You gotta skate. If you don't, you're dead.”
Kinasewich thought it was Edmonton's turn.
"Don't you think we were due?” he said. "We couldn't get much worse than in the second and third games.”
The Oil Kings wrapped up the Memorial Cup posting two victories in two days – 7-4 on May 14 and 2-1 on May 15.
Craig Cameron had three goals and an assist to lead Edmonton in Game 5. Perkins added two goals and four helpers, with Falkenberg and Hodgson also scoring. Heindl, Dussiaume, Cashman and Hayes scored for Oshawa.
In Game 6, it was two of the Estevan players – Harrison and Hodgson – who provided the victory.
For starters, Harrison put two players – Heindl and Paul Cadieux – out of the game with injuries after hard checks.
Heindl opened the scoring on a power play at 9:10 of the first period. Harrison tied it on a 30-footer at 17:02 of the second period and Hodgson won it with a blistering slap shot at 6:47 of the third.
Both goaltenders – Young and McLeod – stopped 37 shots in front of 5,018 fans.
The hero in the end was McLeod, the goaltender who had been so severely criticized in the early going.
"You are looking at the finest goalie in junior hockey,” Kinasewich said.
"When he gets that look in his eye,” Hunter said, "you just know that nobody's gonna beat him.”
Guidolin offered: "They owe it all to the goalie, who they said choked. What are they saying about him now?”
They were saying they had been misquoted earlier in the series.
This was the first time a western team had won the championship while playing in an eastern rink since the Port Arthur West End Bruins did it in 1948.
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