Memorial Cup Update: Knockout Round Starts Tonight

The round robin portion of the Memorial Cup Tournament concluded with a 4-2 win by the Portland Winterhawks over the Saskatoon Blades.  The win puts the Winterhawks in the semi-finals, where they will await the winner of tonight's game between the London Knights and the Saskatoon Blades.  The Halifax Mooseheads will play again on Sunday, where they will await the winner of the Portland-London/Sasktoon game on Friday.

Derrick Pouliot opened the scoring for the Winterhawks in the second period, but Shane McColgan tied it for the Blades in the period.  The third period proved kind to the Winterhawks, as Chase De Leo, Brendan Leipsic, and Ty Rattie all scored.  The Blades made it 4-2 with a Josh Nicholls goal, but that was all they could muster.

As for tonight's game, the Blades will need to keep up the physicality, as they don't have nearly enough offense to keep up with the Knights.  Andrey Makarov played fairly well for the first two periods, but he will need to rediscover that consistency he had for the first two games if the Blades are to advance.  The Knights have all the talent, but goaltending has been an issue.  Anthony Stolarz has struggled in net, dating back to the OHL finals against Barrie, and Jake Patterson, while good in relief, was exposed in the game against Halifax.