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Sergachev and Addison lead Spitfires to Memorial Cup Final, Ott retires |
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Montreal Canadiens prospects are continuing to shine at the Memorial Cup as Mikhail Sergachev and Jeremiah Addison have led the Windsor Spitfires to first place and a spot in the final on Sunday. Addison had a hat trick while Sergachev scored the winning goal as the Spitfires defeated the Erie Otters in the final game of round robin play to clinch their berth in the Memorial Cup final. It is at least some good news for Canadiens fans who might still be playing the “what if?” game. Such as: What if P.K. Subban was still a member of the Canadiens? What if the team had managed to defeat the New York Rangers in the first round?
Addison’s goal scoring prowess throughout the OHL playoffs and Memorial Cup has been quite impressive. He has five goals and one assist through three games and has scored in each on. His shooting percentage of 62.5% is impossible to maintain as he has scored on five of eight shots. In the first round of the playoffs Addison had five goals in five games when the Spitfires were ultimately defeated by the London Knights. While one has to take into consideration that Addison is playing as an overage at 20 years old, he has consistently demonstrated in his OHL career that he has the ability to step up when it matters most with 24 points in his last 18 playoff games, including this year’s Memorial Cup.
As for Sergachev, he has been silencing some of his critics with his strong play as he is proving why some feel that he may just become the best defenseman from his 2016 draft class. With a goal and two assists, Sergachev is ties for second in Memorial Cup scoring by a defenseman and he is also the only blue liner thus far in the tournament to score a game winning goal. Canadiens fans can feel re-assured that Sergachev has taken his game to another level after what had been a bit of a bumpy regular season. He is also proving why it would be very difficult to part with him in any sort of blockbuster trade for a number one center.
The Canadiens other prospect at the tournament, defenseman Simon Bourque of the Saint John Sea Dogs will play Friday against the Erie Otters for the privilege of playing the Spitfires in the final on Sunday. Bourque has two assists through the tournament and rebounded with a better performance against the the Seattle Thunderbirds after a rough outing against the Otters. Bourque has proven himself to be a smart player with a good first pass but will need to continue to improve his skating if he is ever to make it to the NHL.
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It was announced on Thursday that former and brief Canadiens forward Steve Ott has hung up his skates and will become an assistant coach with the St. Louis Blues for the 2017-2018 NHL season. Ott was acquired at the the trade and quickly endeared himself to his teammates and Canadiens fans with his amusing on ice antics. His veteran leadership and ability to keep things light were appreciated by his teammates. With Ott’s departure, will Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin look once again to find an inexpensive veteran fourth line centerman? Especially if Torrey Mitchell were to be selected at the Las Vegas expansion draft?
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The Canadiens will once again take part in a rookie tournament before training camp fully gets underway:
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Finally some good news as Canadiens prospect Martin Reway received the clean bill of health earlier in May and resumed skating and training in Slovakia after a somewhat mysterious illness battle in which he nearly lost his life:
Cheers and follow along!
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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