The Peterborough Petes fought hard to the finish, but their fifth elimination game in the past month would be their last as the WHL champion Seattle Thunderbirds skated to a 4-1 win on Friday, advancing to their first-ever Memorial Cup Final appearance.
Brad Lambert (WPG), Colton Dach (CHI), Kyle Crnkovic and Nico Myatovic all scored for Seattle while Thomas Milic stopped 27 shots.
Brennan Othmann (NYR) had the Petes’ lone goal as Michael Simpson was outstanding once again, making 43 saves.
“I thought we played well and played the majority of the game with good habits and in a way that we needed to play to be successful,” Seattle head coach Matt O’Dette said.
Jared Davidson (MTL) added two assists for Seattle and also had a game-high eight shots.
“It’s a tough tournament to win, and right now it really stings,” said Petes head coach Rob Wilson. “When we reflect back we’ll feel we achieved a lot, because there have been a lot of challenges, a lot of ups and downs. We won an OHL championship, we got one game from the Memorial Cup Final. There’s a lot to be proud of and we’ll always be champions in Peterborough.”
What a pass from Kyle Crnkovic to find #Blackhawks prospect Colton Dach! 👀 #MemorialCup pic.twitter.com/zI8jwsOp2A
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) June 3, 2023
After a goalless first it was Lambert who finally broke the deadlock with just 4:28 left in the second as he banged in a loose puck for his first of the competition.
Dach made it 2-0 just 88 seconds into the third as he buried Crnkovic’s clever pass into a wide-open net before Othmann cut the deficit in half at 2:41 with a finesse finish out front after Owen Beck (MTL) fed him down low.
Crnkovic restored the two-goal lead at 9:33 with his tournament best fifth goal before Myatovic scored into the empty-net with 2:09 left.
The @SeattleTbirds‘ Kyle Crnkovic has his fifth of the #MemorialCup! pic.twitter.com/DF8rrnOrEN
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) June 3, 2023
“From the start of playoffs we’ve had such a journey,” said Wilson. “We had so many serious injuries and we kept finding guys that filled holes. I’m really proud of the group, really proud of each guy as an individual but as a team, even prouder.
“It’s hard,” he continued. “There’s a lot of emotion in there. They put so much into this. Seattle’s a great team. They had a lot of the play tonight and I don’t think we had too much left in the tank. They were trying, they were battling. It hurts now, but the guys will look back and be proud of their achievement.”
“The group that we have is so special,” said Brennan Othmann. “The ups and downs that we’ve been going through all year, the injuries, suspensions. We kept persevering through stuff like that and that’s why we’re OHL champions.”
The Petes see their Memorial Cup run come to an end as they finish the tournament with a record of 2-3. Othmann led Peterborough in scoring with five points (2-3–5) in as many contests while J.R. Avon and Avery Hayes shared the club-lead in goals with three.
Overagers Hayes, Gavin White and captain Shawn Spearing played their final career contest, while likely graduates in Othmann and Chase Stillman, who have each signed NHL contracts, may have done so as well.
The T-Birds will face Quebec in Sunday’s final at 7pm ET / 4pm PT on TSN and NHL Network (U.S.). The two clubs met May 29 in the round-robin as the Remparts won 3-1 to clinch a spot in the Memorial Cup final.
