Last-minute goal lifts Saginaw Spirit over London Knights in Memorial Cup final (2024)

SAGINAW, Mich. – This one will hurt for a long time.

The London Knights have played in four Memorial Cup finals and this was the second where they had their hearts broken by the host team.

The first was in overtime against Shawinigan 12 years ago. On Sunday, they were just 21.7 seconds from the end of regulation before Saginaw over-ager Josh Bloom banged home a loose puck after a failed clearing attempt for a bitter 4-3 Knights defeat before 5,373 at the Dow Event Center.

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“You’re devastated,” London assistant coach Dylan Hunter said. “It’s not the ending you want. We didn’t play our best game for the first 45 minutes. We came on there (with a three-goal rally). They went right to the bitter end.

“A little bounce here, that’s the game. You watch enough hockey, that’s how it goes.”

The comeback was admirable, but the OHL champs likely would have won if they weren’t smothered in the first half of the game. London only had one shot on net in the first, six after two periods and finished with just 13 – the lowest total in the Cup final that statisticians could find in the past 25 years.

“It’s not a good feeling,” Knights forward Jacob Julien said. “We had a slow start and kind of found our way back. Then, (the Bloom goal) happens. It’s a game of inches. Bounces happen all the time. It’s not the end of the world.

“We would have liked to win, but it’s hockey, right?”

It can be cruel sometimes, especially when facing a top-notch rival. The Knights only lost three times in 22 post-season games this spring and all of those were against the Spirit.

London finished first in the regular season, knocked out the Spirit in a six-game OHL Western Conference final, beat Oshawa for the league title and went a perfect 3-0 in the Cup round-robin.

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But Saginaw won the biggest prize.

“We had to get our hearts ripped out to win,” Spirit defenceman Zayne Parekh said, “and that’s what we did.”

THE WINNER: Saginaw had lived this nightmare in the 4-2 loss to London Wednesday.

They watched Easton Cowan beat them with 1:25 left in regulation. Then, they were relieved when the Maple Leafs first-rounder was in position for a good look late Sunday – but he had to hesitate to control the seam pass and the moment was lost.

“We kind of sat back and they caught us a couple of times,” Bloom, the Saginaw hero, said. “We started to ramp it up and lucky enough, that puck was just sitting there for me. (Max) McCue tried to dive across the net. Good effort, but I was going to drive that puck in if I had to.

“It was a special goal but more of a special moment with these guys. We had great battles with London all year. They slayed us a dragon in the playoffs. We slayed them now and we’re both walking away with a trophy.”

SIM PENALTY: The Knights gave up two goals to tournament MVP Owen Beck in the first period and were outshot 13-1 early. Some of that was due to Saginaw’s push and London’s inability to establish the cycle.

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But another big factor was the major penalty and ejection handed to London forward Landon Sim for catching Parekh with what was deemed a head check by the referees.

London coach Dale Hunter complained, Parekh was back on the ice in no time and Beck ended the Knights’ perfect 11-for-11 kill streak with a power-play goal.

“I haven’t watched it yet,” Dylan Hunter said. “They’re (the officials) the ones looking at it. They get to watch on video so obviously it must have been called for.”

Parekh got away with a vicious high-stick on Denver Barkey late in the second period without a penalty. The Knights didn’t get a single power play in the final.

“I find the deeper you go in playoffs, they’ll let a little bit go,” Dylan Hunter said. “I think there were penalties on both sides. They make the game as playable as possible. It made it exciting at the end.”

The Spirit are worthy champs. It’s a historic first Cup win for the mid-Michigan team and it has already sparked a jump in 800 more season tickets sold for next season.

But that’s little consolation for a Knights team that aimed to finish the deal.

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“We thought of each other like family,” Julien said. “We were brothers and that’s what made us push even harder. We didn’t want to be apart from each other. It made us play a little harder and do whatever we’ve got to do to stay together (to the end).”

AROUND THE RINK: Kasper Halttunen scored in all four Cup games the Knights played . . . Saginaw dominated at the faceoff dot and it made a difference. “Some of our centres and faceoff guys are the best in the league,” Spirit coach Chris Lazary said. “It was on display. They (London) have some good faceoff plays with Halttunen there and if they win them, they’re deadly. We didn’t really give them those looks.” . . . Easton Cowan made the Canadian Hockey League’s first all-star team as one of the three forwards. Owen Sound goaltender Carter George, formerly of the St. Marys Lincolns, earned all-rookie honours . . . This was the first time London faced a non-Quebec team in its fourth final. They beat Rimouski in 2005 and Rouyn-Noranda in 2016 and lost to host Shawinigan in 2012. It was also the fifth all-OHL final since 1972 and first since Windsor beat Erie in 2017 . . . Saginaw was the third U.S.-based team to win the Cup. Only the Portland Winterhawks in 1983 and ’88 and the Spokane Chiefs in 1991 and ’08 had done it before . . . Veteran OHL referee Sean Reid, who has London roots but now lives in Ottawa, officiated in his fourth career Cup final . . . The 2025 Memorial Cup will be held in Rimouski, Que. . . . Saginaw used its timeout after an icing up two goals with 4:07 left in the second period. Dale Hunter used his with 1:50 left in regulation. The problem was the Knights ended up icing the puck again after the break and that was the offensive zone time the Spirit needed.

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rpyette@postmedia.com

MEMORIAL CUP FINAL

Spirit 4, Knights 3
Saginaw goals: Owen Beck (2), Joey Willis, Josh Bloom
London goals: Kasper Halttunen, Easton Cowan, Sam Dickinson
The Spirit are the 104th Memorial Cup champions.

Sunday at Dow Event Center

Spirit 4, Knights 3

First period
1., Saginaw, Beck 3 (Bloom) 9:07
2. Saginaw, Beck 4 (Bloom, Willis) 19:15 (pp)
Penalties – George, Ldn (delay of game) 4:37, Sim, Ldn (head check major, game misconduct) 18:58.

Second period
3. Saginaw, Willis 2 (unassisted) 7:47
4. London, Halttunen 4 (Cowan, Bonk) 9:45
Penalties – None.

Third period
5. London, Cowan 3 (Dickinson, Bonk) 7:48
6. London, Dickinson 2 (McCue, Cowan) 10:16
7. Saginaw, Bloom 2 (Donovan) 19:38
Penalties – None.

Shots on goal by
Saginaw 13 11 7–31
London 1 5 7–13

Power plays: Sag 1-2. Ldn 0-0.

Goalies: Oke, Sag (W, 4-1). Simpson, Ldn (L, 3-0).

Referees – Sean Reid, Jeff Hopkins. Linesmen – Spencer Knox, Dustin Minty.

Attendance – 5,373.

Three stars: 1. Josh Bloom, Spirit; 2. Owen Beck, Spirit; 3. Sam Dickinson, Knights

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