Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Saint John Sea Dogs beat Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors 3-1 to win 2011 Memorial Cup

Saint John Sea Dogs v Mississauga St. Michael's Majors

MISSISSAUGA, CANADA - MAY 20: Jacob DeSerres #1 of the Saint John Sea Dogs makes a save in the opeing game of the 2011 Mastercard Memorial Cup against the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors in Mississauga, Canada. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)

Claus Andersen

The Saint John Sea Dogs became the first ever Memorial Cup winner from Canada’s Maritimes region thanks to their 3-1 win against the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors.

It was a redemptive performance for Sea Dogs goalie Jacob DeSerres, who gave up nine goals in last year’s Memorial Cup final against the Taylor Hall and Cam Fowler-fueled Windsor Spitfires as a member of the Brandon Wheat Kings. This time around he only yielded a goal against Riley Brace, making 34 saves tonight.

The Memorial Cup is often an opportunity for future NHL prospects to improve their draft outlook at least a little bit or make the teams who already drafted them drool that much more. The Goalie Guild points out that while the Philadelphia Flyers drafted DeSerres, they did not end up signing him so he is an unrestricted free agent.

Speaking of players improving their stock, Damien Cox wrote that Sea Dogs forward Jonathan Huberdeau was making his way into the conversation to be the top pick of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft with prospects such as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Gabriel Landeskog and Adam Larsson going into this game. Huberdeau didn’t disappoint in tonight’s final game, scoring a 3-1 insurance goal thanks to a pass by Zack Phillips. NHL.com points out that Huberdeau is ranked third and Phillips (who also scored a goal) is the 15th-ranked prospect among North American skaters according to the league’s Central Scouting.

Defenseman Simon Despres was Saint John’s other goal scorer. He was the 30th overall pick of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

This 2011 Memorial Cup win was also a redemptive experience for former Columbus Blue Jackets and current Sea Dogs coach Gerard Gallant. Meanwhile, it’s another bitter big-game defeat for Mississauga coach Dave Cameron, who coached the Canadian World Junior team that lost to those crazy drunken Russians and lost the OHL championship to the Owen Sound to boot.