Memorial Cup Notebook: Culina, Spitfires capture Memorial Cup title

WINDSOR, Ont. - Both teams felt like they were the underdog going in.

In the end, it was the Windsor Spitfires who came away victorious in the championship game of the 2017 MasterCard Memorial Cup.

Windsor beat the Erie Otters by a 4-3 score Sunday night at the WFCU Centre.

Aaron Luchuk's goal at 5:07 of the third period was the game winner as the Spitfires finished the tournament with a perfect 4-0 record, which included a win over the Otters in the round robin finale to earn a spot directly into the final.

“I’m speechless right now,” said Sault Ste. Marie native Mario Culina, a goaltender with the Spitfires. “We’ve been working for this all year. Once you make the OHL, your goal is to win the Memorial Cup and we just did it. It’s crazy.”

The win comes as the Spitfires entered the event as the tournament host before running the table in the four-team, 10-day event.

“We have some of the best fans in the league,” Culina said. “It was a packed house. They were behind us the whole year. We won it for them.”

Jeremy Bracco paced the Spitfires with a goal and two assists, which included a great pass to Luchuk on the game-winner. Logan Stanley and Graham Knott also scored. Gabriel Vilardi and Logan Brown assisted on two goals each for Windsor while goaltender Michael DiPietro made 32 saves,

“To have to play three championship teams like that, that’s why this tournament is so special,” said Windsor Coach Rocky Thompson. “You have to go through the best in order to win. And we had to go through the best twice in our last two games. Our guys executed so well. They played extremely well.”

Dylan Strome, who was named the tournament MVP, had a goal and an assist for the Otters. T.J. Fergus and Warren Foegele also scored.

Goaltender Troy Timpano stopped 18 shots.

“We played really well at the end of the game but we were a little tired,” said Erie Coach Kris Knoblauch. “We had our opportunities. We hit two goal posts in the third. You just don’t always win.”

Knoblauch said the overtime goal by Anthony Cirelli in the OHL final is one of his most memorable moments this season.

“That’s the highlight of my coaching career and maybe hockey career,” Knoblauch said. “To win it and spend it with the fans is definitely a highlight.

For Garden River’s Owen Headrick, the season was a memorable one.

“I can’t say enough about my teammates,” Headrick said. “I came in late in the year and they welcomed me in. I think I can call them my brothers and they could too.”

“It’s been a crazy season for me,” Headrick also said. “We battled hard for the playoffs, won that, and we came here and worked our butts off. We didn’t get the result we wanted but I’m still proud of the team and all the guys. Looking back on it, it’s something I’ll never forget.”