Memorial Cup Update: Hometown Madness

Photo courtesy of CHL/WHL/Derek Mortensen

The Saskatoon Blades accomplished something that has happened only 11 other times this season: they defeated the Halifax Mooseheads.  Behind a two goal effort from Matej Stransky and sterling goaltending from Andrey Makarov, the Blades handled the Mooseheads a 5-2 defeat, thus evening their record in round robin play of the Memorial Cup Tournament.  Stephen MacAuley and Nathan MacKinnon scored for Halifax.

The Blades don't have the offensive talent the other three teams possess, but there was a reason they had an 18-game winning streak towards the end of the regular season, and that was defense.  The Blades rely on a physical game to win their games, and playing to that strength has helped in their quest for the Memorial Cup, particularly when the Blades saw the likes of Edmonton, Swift Current, Calgary, and Red Deer (all defensively strong teams) on a regular basis.  The Mooseheads close out round robin play against London tomorrow while the Blades will take on Portland on Wednesday.