They came into Sunday night's 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup Championship game having lost only 12 times in 89 games, and the Halifax Mooseheads refused to leave with any more.
"We couldn't have asked for a better season. To be part of this team is the best feeling in the world," said Nathan MacKinnon, who scored a hat trick in the 6-4 Halifax win.
The Mooseheads dominated most of the game, leading 3-0 after the first period.
The Portland Winterhawks weren't going to give up that easily, storming back for two goals in the second period and outshooting Halifax 18-6. The game got interesting in the third, with Portland bringing it to within two when Brendan Leipsic and Ty Rattie scored in the final six minutes before MacKinnon finished them off with an empty-netter.
The goalies were kept busy, the shots were 44-42 for Portland. A big part of the victory was Zachary Fucale, the Mooseheads' goalie.
"You can't get him off his game as all. He's the most focused goaltender, if not player, I've ever had to play with," said Trey Lewis, Mooseheads captain.
The announced attendance of 11,488 might have been the rowdiest of the tournament, most vocal were the fans from Halifax.
"I'm happy they come, and they come to support us they deserve it to win, too. We won it for them too because they come and support us a lot," said Mooseheads forward Martin Frk.
The game was a battle of the projected top three picks in June's NHL entry draft. In order, Seth Jones, MacKinnon, and Jonathan Drouin are expected to lead off the draft. Jones' smooth skating and his goal in this one weren't enough to show up the lethal one-two punch from Halifax. Drouin and MacKinnon combined for 10 points in this game alone. Giving them 22 points in the team's four games. Jones put up four points in his five games as a defenceman.
And no surprise, MacKinnon also took home MVP honours, leading the pack with 13 points.
While the Saskatoon Blades were knocked out of the tournament last week, they didn't go home empty-handed. Goaltender Andrey Makarov was awarded the Hap Emms Memorial Trophy as the tournament's top goalie.
Saskatoon also made an impact as a city. This year's tournament had the fourth highest attendance in the Memorial Cup's 95 years. The 82,503 attendees put it behind only Vancouver, Quebec City and Ottawa.
