A 5th round pick (128th overall) for the Canadiens at the last draft, Cole Fonstad was the first Habs' prospect to start his memorial cup tournament when his Prince Albert Raiders took on the host team, the Halifax Mooseheads. It was a tough day at the office for the Western Hockey League champions has they had to wave the white flag losing to Halifax 4-1. Fonstad, who can play both center and left wing, was used on the wing for that game and managed to get an assist on his team's sole goal of the game. Since then, the Raiders have been waiting for their second game which will happen tonight against the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and Joël Teasdale.
Speaking of Teasdale and the Huskies, they kicked off their tournament on Saturday afternoon as they took on the Guelph Storm and Nick Suzuki. While the Huskies opened the scoring just over 2 minutes in, the Storm was in no means discouraged and came back scoring 4 unanswered goals before the Huskies bit again. The star of the first period of play was without a doubt Alexey Toropchenko who got a hat trick in the first period. The last time a player got a hat trick in a single period at the Memorial Cup Tournament was in 2013 and the guy was named Nathan MacKinnon. I think you'll all agree that he then went on to accomplish great scoring feast in the NHL. Safe to say the Blues are hoping that their prospect follows in his footsteps at the NHL level as well. Meanwhile, Nick Suzuki took 5 shots on goal and scored the Storm's last marker putting a final stamp at their 5-2 wins. The Center finished the game with a +2 rating and 5 shots on goal. Sadly for Teasdale, there's a losing team in every game and that was their role on the day. Teasdale couldn't get his name on the score sheet but he finished the game.
On Sunday, it was the Storm's turn to be on the receiving end of a loss as the Mooseheads continued their excellent tournament start with second win in as many games with a 4-2 triumph. Nick Suzuki added an assist to his record during the match while also taking 10 shots on goal and winning 16/32 face-offs. Today, the Huskies will be back in action when they take on the Prince-Albert Raiders and Cole Fonstad. Having won 2 games already, the Mooseheads are now assured to be in the semi-final.
Meanwhile in Europe, not many Habs players' decided to go play for their country but Tomas Tatar wouldn't miss the chance to defend his country's colours on home soil. Unfortunately for Tatar the tournament has not been kind to the Slovaks so far...they've lost 3 of their 6 games and sit in 5th position of Group A. Number 90 has gathered 6 points in 6 games and is currently 26th in scoring in the tournament. It's worth noting that Canada will be taking on Danemark this afternoon before battling with the Americans for the win tomorrow. The quarter-finals are scheduled for Thursday, the semis for Saturday and the final will take place on Sunday.
As for the Habs, they're currently running their play of the year vote and it is rather fun to remember some of the last season's best plays. As per usual, the plays nominated are mainly Price's saves but you can also take another look at some of the Habs beast plays.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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