“Welly” Keeps Spitfires Perfect

Brandon, Man. — It took an extra period, but Eric Wellwood got to play hero for a day in game five of the Memorial Cup.

Wellwood took advantage of a bounce off the end boards and finished off a crazy overtime with his first goal of the tournament, giving the Windsor Spitfires a 4-3 victory over the Moncton Wildcats. (Watch post game video here)

Wellwood was snake bitten earlier in the frame, as he shot a bouncing puck in the slot over the net and into the crowd.

He redeemed himself however, as he officially put the dagger into the Wildcats’ season, sending them home with an 0-3 record.

“I felt I was going to score a goal,” Wellwood said after his OT winner.  “I had a lot of opportunities in the third period and the overtime and it wasn’t going in but I still got it.  I was happy to get another chance.”

He was also pleased that they knocked out the first team of the tournament.

“It’s nice to get them out of the way,” he said.  “Kelowna let off last year and we came back.  We didn’t want that to happen this year and wanted to get them out of the way.”

Even with the win however, Wellwood felt that the Spitfires didn’t play the way they normally do.

“We weren’t as happy as we were with our other two games,” he said.  “We weren’t as sharp as we normally are and I think that’s because we knew we were going to the finals.  It’s human nature to let up.”

The win didn’t come easy for the Spits, as the QMJHL champions put up a fight until the very end.

In what was a bit of a surprising move, Wildcats’ goalie Nicola Riopel was scratched before the game in favor of backup Shane Owen.

““Last night they told me to be ready because Rio [Riopel] came down with the flu,” he said.  “I had to prepare myself even if he was ready.”

Having Owen face Windsor wasn’t a complete shot in the dark however, as he spent half of this season with the Erie Otters of the OHL before he was cut.

Owen played a stellar game, stopping 48 of the 52 shots he faced.

“I definitely wanted to give it my all and give them a chance to win the game,” he said.  “The boys came out hard and gave it all we had and we left it on the ice.”

It looked like Windsor was going to shut down the Wildcats completely, but early in the third period, they got some life.

Captain Scott Brannon brought the game to 2-2, followed by a Brandon Gormley seeing-eye shot 29 seconds later to give them their first lead since game one against Calgary.

“We were fighting for our lives,” Brannon said.  “We knew we had to just keep plugging away and get shots to the net.  We got up a goal and they got one back.  They did a great job in overtime and couldn’t ask for a better finish for the guys.”

That aforementioned goal came off the stick of perennial fourth liner Stephen Johnston, who was rewarded for his hard work with a shift on the top line with Taylor Hall and Adam Henrique.

But it was the goal by Wellwood that ultimately sunk the Wildcats and left them dreaming about what could have been.

Brannon – playing in what was most likely his last game in the CHL – explained that his team wore their heart on their sleeve.

“Our year is over and we had a great game,” he said.  “I like how we saved our best game for last.  It could have gone either way, we had a lot of chances but they got a good bounce at the end.”

Cam Fowler and Justin Shugg had the other goals for Windsor, while Randy Cameron tallied his first of the tournament for Moncton.

Philip Grubauer played another strong game, stopping 38 of 41 shots.