LONDON, Ont. – The Guelph Storm earned the bye to Sunday’s final with a decisive 6-3 win over the Val-d’Or Foreurs on Monday.
The Storm shot out of the gate with three quick goals in the game’s first six minutes and coasted to their second win in the MasterCard Memorial Cup round robin. Their last game will come against the winless host London Knights on Wednesday.
“It’s a great feeling,” Storm forward Robby Fabbri said of being in the final. “That’s what we worked for all year and we got a big shot at this. We just get to prepare all week for the big game.”
The Foreurs will get less than 24 hours to prepare for the Western Hockey League champion Edmonton Oil Kings on Tuesday. Both teams are 1-1 and the implications are huge. The winner guarantees a bye to the semifinal, and the loser would play the Knights in the tiebreaker on Thursday if the Knights beat the Storm on Wednesday.
Why the Storm won: The Storm were the hungrier team and set the tempo right from puck drop. Kerby Rychel got the offence started before the game was a minute old and the Storm kept coming, taking a 3-0 lead before the six minute mark.
As has been mentioned in this space many times, Guelph’s depth is unmatched by any other team in the Canadian Hockey League. The Foreurs couldn’t keep up with the Storm’s pace and were reluctant to try skating with them early on.
“I think we got a little stunned by their speed and the quality of their players,” Foreurs defenceman Randy Gazzola said. “They came at us hard, you have to give your hats off they were ready to play and we weren’t ready to play right from the start.”
The Storm matched the Foreurs’ two second-period goals after getting a bit lazy in their defensive coverage, tightening it back up and draining the energy out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champions. Guelph head coach Scott Walker said he didn’t like some of the bad habits he saw creeping into his team’s game, such as going east-west as opposed to north-south and some misfires on shots. It didn’t cost them in this game.
Why the Foreurs lost: The Foreurs were in a daze at the beginning, and the score reflected it. Before they knew it, head coach Mario Durocher was calling a timeout after the third Guelph goal. Val-d’Or didn’t really rally from the timeout, other than to slow the bleeding. Veteran forward Samuel Henley admitted they were a bit intimidated, which was reflected in their play. After the first three goals, they were simply content getting the puck out of their defensive zone.
Mantha was largely ineffective for the Foreurs. The Storm took the body to him early with a big check by Brock McGinn and any time he was near the wall, with or near the puck, Storm players pinned him up and took him out of the equation.
“I played a horrible game tonight,” Mantha said.
Bigger than the loss was the potential loss of one of their best players. Guillaume Gelinas left the game with eight minutes left in the third period after taking a knee-on-knee hit from Chadd Bauman. Gelinas winced in pain on the ice and could barely gain his feet, slowly making his way to the bench before the play was called.
Durocher isn’t going to petition for a suspension, saying he would leave it in the hands of the Canadian Hockey League, but hopes there will be one.
“He’s one of the best players in the league, in the CHL,” Henley said. “It would be a big loss for us.”
Player of the Game: Robby Fabbri had an exceptional game for the Storm. The sophomore forward made the setup for Kerby Rychel’s opening goal at 59 seconds and later scored the fifth goal when the game was 4-2 and Val-d’Or was attempting a comeback, ending any hopes the QMJHL champs would get back in the game.
Quote of the day: Fabbri was robbed on a play in tight early in the third period. He had Keven Bouchard, the Foreurs’ backup goalie, at his mercy lying across the ice and fired the puck in Bouchard’s glove. Fabbri was seen laughing on the bench shortly thereafter. Asked what his teammates told him, Fabbri relayed,” they were just laughing, saying I didn’t want that one.”