The hype heading into Sunday’s Memorial Cup championship game will surround three players expected to be the top three selections in June’s National Hockey League Draft.
Portland Winterhawks defenseman Seth Jones and Halifax Mooseheads forwards Nathan McKinnon and Jonathan Drouin are projected as the top three skaters available for the draft.
And Portland’s Ty Rattie, the St. Louis Blues’ prospect who leads the tournament with five goals, is sure to get his share of attention.
But if the Winterhawks are going to claim the championship of North American major junior hockey, the player most likely to make the difference is 20-year-old Portland goalie Mac Carruth.
To his own admission, Carruth was not sharp in the tournament round-robin opener, when the Mooseheads beat the Winterhawks 7-3. The seven goals, including five consecutive in the second period after Portland led 3-1, was a season high against Portland.
Carruth has been strong since, stopping 88 of 94 shots in three consecutive wins — including several huge saves to close out Friday’s 2-1 semifinal.
“I had to make up for the first game of the tournament. I was a little suspect. We’ve been better every game as a team and I think we’re going to be better tomorrow.”
Halifax’s McKinnon is tied with Rattie for the tournament lead in points with eight, in three games while Portland has played four. He scored three goals in the first game against Portland — all during the Mooseheads run of five goals over a 15-minute stretch of the second period — and had one assist.
The Winterhawks have won both previous times they reached the Memorial Cup championship game. As the host team in 1983, they beat Oshawa 8-3. Fifteen years later, Portland beat Guelph 4-3 in overtime to win the 1998 title in Spokane. A win on Sunday would continue a string of Portland winning the Memorial Cup at 15-year intervals.
The Mooseheads have played 88 hockey games to get to this point, and won 76 of them. The Winterhawks have won 76 of 97.
NOTE — Jones was named the Canadian Hockey League’s top draft prospect, while Brendan Leipsic and Nic Petan shared the leading scorer award at the CHL’s annual awards presentation on Saturday in Saskatoon.
