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PrivacyCanadian Junior Hockey 1997 - 98 Memorial Cup
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For the third time in the history of the Memorial Cup the finals would be played outside of Canada as the 1998 tournament was hosted by the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League. Portland, Oregon had hosted the 1983 and 1986 tournaments.
The Portland Winter Hawks won the Western Hockey League title by defeating the Brandon Wheat Kings in four straight games to earn the right to participate in their first Memorial Cup since 1986. The host Chiefs had lost in the Western Conference final to Portland in a series that went seven games. The Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League were appearing in the Memorial Cup for the second time in three years as they had defeated the Ottawa 67's in five games to win the J. Ross Robertson Cup. The Val-d'Or Foreurs entered the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League as an expansion franchise in the 1993-94 season and in just five seasons they captured their first QMJHL title by defeating the Rimouski Oceanic in four games.
The Foreurs arrived late in Spokane due to travel problems and were eliminated with a record of 0-3. Portland qualified for the final with a 3-0 record, while the 2-1 Storm and the 1-2 Chiefs would meet in the semifinal. The semifinal game was won by Guelph, 2-1 in overtime.
In the final game, Bobby Russell scored at 6:21 of overtime to give Portland a 4-3 win and their second Memorial Cup title. The Memorial Cup was originally known as the OHA Memorial Cup and was donated by the Ontario Hockey Association in March, 1919. Initially the Cup was awarded to the national junior hockey champions of Canada. Later on it came to signify Junior 'A' hockey supremacy when in 1934, junior hockey in Canada was divided into 'A' and 'B' classifications. In 1971, junior 'A' hockey was divided once again to form a major junior and a Tier 'II' level. The Memorial Cup was awarded to the higher category. In 1972, a round-robin tournament format replaced the old play-down system to determine the champions. Since then, the champions of the Western Hockey League (WHL), the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) and the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), along with a host club, have met each spring in a round-robin series with the two top teams playing off in a sudden-death game to determine the Cup champions. |
Canadian Junior Hockey 1997 - 98 Memorial Cup Games
Saturday May-09, 1998 - Spokane 5, Val-d'Or 4Sunday May-10, 1998 - Portland 6, Guelph 2
Monday May-11, 1998 - Spokane 1, Guelph 3
Tuesday May-12, 1998 - Portland 7, Val-d'Or 4
Wednesday May-13, 1998 - Guelph 7, Val-d'Or 0
Thursday May-14, 1998 - Spokane 2, Portland 4
Saturday May-16, 1998 - Spokane 1, Guelph 2 OT
Sunday May-17, 1998 - Guelph 3, Portland 4 OT
Canadian Junior Hockey 1997 - 98 Memorial Cup Winning Roster
1998 - Portland Winter Hawks - Brent Belecki, Christian Bolding, Kyle Chant, Ken Davis, Andrew Ference, Kevin Haupt, Todd Hornung, Marian Hossa, Mike Hurley, Chris Jacobson, Shon Jones-Parry, Ryan Kehrig, Gerry King, Jason LaBarbera, Derek MacLean, Justin Morneau, Brenden Morrow, Mike Muzechka, Shane Palahicky, Andrej Podkonicky, Todd Robinson, Blake Robson, Bobby Russell, Jerad Smith, Marty Standish, Joey Tetarenko, Ryan Thrussell, Matt Walker, Ken Hodge (general manager), Brent Peterson, (coach)Canadian Junior Hockey 1997 - 98 Memorial Cup Awards
Tournament MVP - Chris Madden, Guelph StormSportsmanship: Manny Malhotra, Guelph Storm
Leading Scorer: Andrej Podkonicky, Portland Winter Hawks
Outstanding Goaltender: Chris Madden, Guelph Storm
All Star Team: Goaltender - Chris Madden (Guelph)
Forwards - Andrej Podkonicky (Portland), Manny Malhotra (Guelph), Marian Hossa (Portland)
Defencemen - Brad Ference (Spokane), Francis Lessard (Val-d'Or)