They came in with the two best draft-eligible forwards and the best record in junior hockey this year, and they left with a loss at the hands of the host team.
The Halifax Mooseheads made it through the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoffs virtually untouched, losing only one game. Coming into the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup they were viewed as the favourites by many, but were stunned Sunday night when the Saskatoon Blades shut down Halifax's potent offence and went on to win 5-2.
Superstars Jonathan Drouin and Nathan MacKinnon couldn't get it going offensively for most of the game thanks to tight checking by the likes of Duncan Siemens, Darren Dietz and the rest of the Blades team.
"We had opportunities to get a couple [goals] in and we didn't bury them, gotta do that," said MacKinnon.
"We just wanted to be hard on these guys We were wearing them down, you could see the frustration," said Josh Nicholls, Blades winger.
He wasn't about to get caught up in the hype surrounding Drouin and MacKinnon, he's heard enough about it.
"Still sick of it [the hype]," Nicholls said, laughing. "I think when we played them we realized we could really shut them down. You've heard all the hype and we wanted to prove that we're the better team here."
Halifax was able to dominate the Western Hockey League Champions Portland Winterhawks Saturday with a 7-4 win, so it was a surprise to many when Saskatoon kept them in check.
"I think they battled harder than us that was why they won the game," said Dominique Ducharme, Mooseheads head coach.
Hard work certainly played a part, but an even bigger reason for the win was the brilliant play from Andrey Makarov in net.
The Blades goalie stopped 29 of 31 shots en route to the victory.
"He's been wonderful, I don't know what he's doing but hopefully he keeps doing it," said Michael Ferland, Saskatoon winger.
Just like his teammates, Makarov refused to be intimidated by Halifax's high-flying superstars.
"I just try focusing on the puck not on the people," he said.
The announced attendance at the Credit Union Centre was only 8,934, but the cheers were deafening from beginning to end. The players fed off the great atmosphere from the hometown fans.
"We needed a game like this to show the fans and the whole city that they can get behind us and have something to feel confident about. I think that place is the loudest it's been in my five years here," said Nicholls.
As they have been for most of the season, the Blades were led by the first line of Ferland, Nicholls and captain Brenden Walker. The go-to line combined for three points, but played an even bigger part in setting the tone physically and on defence. Ferland laid a couple huge hits, pumping up the crowd. Walker was in Drouin's ear for much of the game, it wasn't hard to catch him chirping during the whistles. And Nicholls drew a couple penalties, it came at a price, twice he went to the bench in some pain, but he says he's feeling good.
"There's a lot of battered bodies here but this is why we put in the hard work over those 50 days."
The little things play a big part in winning games, but ultimately it always comes down to who scores the most goals. It was Matej Stransky who put up two goals for Saskatoon, one a breakaway marker after coming out of the penalty box.
Other goals in the game came from Collin Valcourt, Dietz and Nicholls for Saskatoon. While MacKinnon and Stephen MacAuley scored for Halifax.
