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OHL Saginaw Spirit

Spirit Face Knights for Memorial Cup on Sunday Night

June 2, 2024 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Saginaw Spirit News Release


Saginaw, Mich. - The Saginaw Spirit will play for the Memorial Cup against the London Knights on Sunday, June 2nd at the Dow Event Center. The Championship game of the 2024 Memorial Cup Presented by Dow will bring to a close the first ever hosting of the tournament in an American OHL market, and will see the host Spirit face the OHL champion Knights for the 12th time.

Tonight's Game:

Puck drop is at 7:30 PM

Broadcast:

Television: WNEM TV5+ (Local), TSN (Canada), NHL Network (US), CHL TV, CHL App

Radio: 100.5 FM WSGW, WSGW.com

Last Game:

Saginaw enters their final game of the season coming off a 7-1 victory over the WHL's Moose Jaw Warriors in the Semi-Final. Saginaw and Moose Jaw both held serve in the first entering the second tied at one. The Spirit then tallied 5 straight goals in the second and added one more in the third to finish off the six-goal win. Ethan Hay scored twice in a four-point night, Rodwin Dionicio pulled together three assists in a four-point night, and both Sebastien Gervais and Lincoln Moore collected three points (1G, 2A) on a potent fourth line. Andrew Oke made his fourth straight Memorial Cup Start saving 23 of 24 enroute to his third win of the tournament.

With a 3-0 record in the round-robin, London advanced directly to the Final, where they look to claim their third Memorial Cup. Their final round-robin game came against Saginaw on May 29th. Both teams played back and forth hockey throughout the first two periods getting late into the third still tied at two. The Knights then tallied two late goals and shut down the Spirit offensive to ride into the Memorial Cup Championship. Easton Cowan scored both late goals for London, one into an empty net, and added an assist for a three-point night. Dever Barkey and Kasper Halttunen both finished with a goal and an assist, and Sam O'Reilly collected two assists in the 4-2 win. Michael Simpson made the start for London stopping 26 of 28 shots for his third straight win of the tournament.

In 11 meeting this season, London is 7-4, scoring 47 goals to Saginaw's 36. The last time the Spirit defeated the OHL Champions was Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals, when Saginaw prevailed with a 4-2 victory at the Budweiser Gardens.

Players to Watch:

Rodwin Dionicio (1G, 4A), Michael Misa (0G, 5A), and CHL Defenseman of the Year Zayne Parekh (1G, 4A) all sit atop the Saginaw lead in points at five with a five-way tie for Saginaw's scoring leader. Alex Christopoulos scored in his last matchup against London and Ethan Hay is fresh off a two goal, two assist night against Moose Jaw. Andrew Oke has made all four starts for Saginaw making 97 saves on 108 shots for a 2.77 GAA, .898 SV%, and three wins.

Easton Cowan leads London in points (2G, 3A) including a two-goal performance in his last appearance against Saginaw. The Knight's goal lead is co-lead by Kasper Halttunen and Ruslan Gazizov who both have netted three goals throughout the tournament. Rookie Sam O'Reilly has collected four points (1G, 3A) in his first Memorial Cup action. Michael Simpson has won three straight games for London saving 83 of 89 shots sporting an even 2.00 GAA, a .933 SV%, one shutout, and three wins.

Check out the Saginaw Spirit Statistics

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