Chiefs will play Kitchener for Cup
KITCHENER, Ontario – The total number of goals represented every time they’ve met in the postseason. Of course the fact that one team did all the scoring made it a huge disappointment for the other.
It also made it the most lopsided Memorial Cup semifinal since the tournament changed to a four-team format in 1983.
Justin Azevedo finished with a hat trick and two assists and goalie Josh Unice stopped 25 shots as the Kitchener Rangers blanked the Belleville Bulls 9-0 on Friday night in front of 6,767 fans at the Kitchener Auditorium. With the win, Kitchener advanced to the championship game against the Spokane Chiefs on Sunday.
The Bulls and Rangers met prior to the Memorial Cup tournament in the Ontario Hockey League final, a series that Kitchener won in seven games.
The teams met for the eighth time in the postseason in a semifinal tuneup in the tournament’s final round robin game on Wednesday, a game Belleville won 4-3 in overtime after Kitchener scored the first three goals.
Azevedo, who was the regular-season and playoff MVP for the Ontario Hockey League, combined with linemates Matt Halischuk and Nick Spaling for 15 points in the game. Halischuk finished with two goals and three assists and Spaling had a goal and four assists.
“No doubt it’s a surprise,” Chiefs coach Bill Peters said about the game. “That’s the way it goes sometimes. They’ve (the Azevedo-Halischuk-Spaling line) been good each and every night. We’ll have to find a way to neutralize that unit.”
The Chiefs did exactly that when they beat the Rangers 2-1 in their round-robin meeting last Sunday, allowing just a short-handed goal by Halischuk. “We know them better now than when we played them and we’ve obviously gotten to watch them the last two games against Belleville, but it’s all about how we play,” Peters said. “We’ve got to find a way to make them play in the (defensive) zone and we’ve got to look after things with the Azevedo line and go from there.
“We’ll be aggressive, and be on our toes. Let’s go for it.”