The Peterborough Petes celebrate their tiebreaker win over the Kamloops Blazers on June 1, 2023. (Photo via Candice Ward/CHL)
J.R. Avon scored the first overtime winner of the 2023 Memorial Cup as the Peterborough Petes erased a three-goal deficit to eliminate the Kamloops Blazers with a 5-4 win in Thursday’s tiebreaker game.
The Petes will play the Seattle Thunderbirds in Friday’s semi-final, with the Quebec Remparts awaiting the winner in Sunday’s Championship game.
“That was an unreal feeling,” Avon said post-game. “I don’t think anything is going to top that for a while.”
“We’ve had this ‘it’s not over’ type of attitude,” Petes Head Coach Rob Wilson added. “We adopted that at the start of the playoffs and we’ve [ran] with it.”
It was a much different attitude in the Blazers camp as Kamloops became the first Memorial Cup host team to be eliminated first from the tournament since the London Knights in 2014.
“It’s a heartbreaker,” Head Coach/GM Shaun Clouston said. “The guys fought hard today, I thought the game got away from us a bit in the second period. I feel for the guys, they put a lot into it.”
Connor Lockhart opened the scoring for the OHL champion Petes at 7:52, to send a shiver down the spine of fans at Sandman Centre.
Logan Stankoven, Olen Zellweger, and Harrison Brunicke eased those worries with goals in the opening period to ensure the Blazers went into the locker room up 3-1.
#Texashockey prospect and Kamloops native Logan Stankoven gets the home side on the board as the puck finds him out front! #MemorialCup pic.twitter.com/hLTmN9Ycup
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) June 2, 2023
Pinpoint accuracy from @blazerhockey d-man Harrison Brunicke! #MemorialCup pic.twitter.com/vZoCQgnhwG
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) June 2, 2023
The Blazers were flying after Logan Bairos put them up by three goals at 4:23 of the second period but the pesky Petes weren’t ready to go away without a fight.
Brennan Othmann, Samuel Mayer, and Brian Zanetti all found the back of the net in an 11-minute span to drag the Petes back into the game. Othmann started the rally at 7:50 as he stole the puck from Bairos and then beat Dylan Ernst over his glove for his first of the tournament.
#NYR prospect Brennan Othmann does it ALL himself 😤 #MemorialCup pic.twitter.com/apwhx2oYRh
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) June 2, 2023
Mayer then made it a one goal game with a one-timer on the power play at 17:37 before Zanetti redirected Tucker Robertson’s pass 73 seconds later to tie the game at 4-4.
A blast from Mayer.
A re-direct from Zanetti.#MemorialCup | @PetesOHLhockey pic.twitter.com/olWlxyahqz— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) June 2, 2023
Othmann was booed by the majority of fans inside the building every time he touched the puck, and more so when he scored to cut the lead to 4-2. Earlier in the day, Blazers defenceman Kyle Masters told RadioNL he was “doing alright” as continues to recover from a lower-body injury sustained in Sunday’s win over Peterborough.
The Blazers came out strong in the third period though neither team found the go ahead goal, to send the first Memorial cup tiebreaker game since 2015 to overtime.
Avon netted the winner at 10:54 of the extra frame after the Petes broke up Blazers’ rush. He had a bit of fortune as Brunicke lost his footing as crashed into Ernst, leaving a somewhat open net for Avon to bury the puck into.
The Philadelphia Flyers prospect’s winning goal came just seconds after Zellweger missed a golden chance to win the game for the Blazers.
“I got through the last guy, in alone. I got a weaker shot off the pad, but I need to score there. I need to end the game, I know I can,” Zellweger said. “I know it puts a forward in a tough position playing defence, but if I’m willing to go in and make those moves I need to finish it off.”
J.R. AVON OVERTIME WINNER‼️#MemorialCup | #FueledbyPhilly pic.twitter.com/XDUogN8MS0
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) June 2, 2023
Ernst turned aside 25 of 30 shots to take the loss. Michael Simpson, the OHL playoff MVP, made 43 saves on 47 shots, and was named player of the game in the process.
“It just feels weird. I’ve spent the last five years here in my hometown and yeah, a lot of those guys, I’ve got to know really well over the past few years,” an emotion Stankoven said post-game.
“I don’t think it’s hit me yet that this is probably my last game here.”
Friday’s Memorial Cup semi-final is a 7 p.m. puck drop from Sandman Centre. Coverage on RadioNL gets underway with the pre-game show at 5:30 p.m.
You can find a schedule of events and more of RadioNL’s coverage of the Memorial Cup here.
