Memorial Cup Final: Saint John Sea Dogs vs Hamilton Bulldogs
On July 23, 2022 by jmwebPrior to the second game, I was standing around chatting with a couple of the security guys from TD/Harbour Station. They were just as excited as I was to be here. I mentioned to them, don’t blink, it will be all over in a second. Here we were, the final game to decide the winner of the 2022 Memorial Cup.
The two teams I had pegged to be in the finals were the Edmonton Oil Kings (whom had a ton of first round NHL picks) and the Shawinigan Cataractes. Both teams were eliminated so my guess was off.
In the media hockey pool, 4 of my 6 selections were from Shawinigan. So here I was in second place with most of my players out of the pool. Back to the action as it was just about to start. Before things got started, we had a special visitor to the media room.
Both teams took to the ice and did their on-ice warmup. Things were a bit tighter by this stage and bench access was limited, so I capture some imagery from around the arena. For the last game, things were also tighter masking wise. Masks were now required on the ice level (where the media room was) after a volunteer tested positive for COVID19.
With the warmup completed, it was onto the big show.
Before we could blink, the first period was over.
The crowd was electric. More electric than the 2019 CHL Memorial Cup which featured the hometown host Halifax Mooseheads taking on the Rouyn Noranda Huskies. Similar to the crowd at the Eastlink Centre in Charlottetown when the Charlottetown Islander played the Shawinigan Cataractes a few weeks prior. Or the first time the Islanders made the 3rd round of the QMJHL playoffs. The energy was just flowing!
The electricity continues, onto page 2.
