Story with files from Brad Coccimiglio
Ken Appleby hoists the Memorial Cup. PHOTO COURTESY AARON BELL/CHL IMAGES.
Ken Appleby and his Oshawa Generals defeated the Kelowna Rockets 2-1 in overtime in the Mastercard Memorial Cup Sunday night in Quebec City.
Anthony Cirelli scored the overtime winner, his second of the game, on a rebound at 1:28 for the championship winning goal.
North Bay's Kenny Appleby was tremendous as he turned away 37 shots and was especially good in the third period when the Rockets were pressing for the game winning goal.
The Generals are the first OHL team to claim the title since the Windsor Spitfires took the Cup back in 2010.
“The guys bailed me out all this season, they bailed me out in this tournament so I knew I had to be there for them tonight," Appleby told Sportsnet's Rob Faulds in a post game interview.
"The guys grinded in front of me all game, they made my job easy at times and I can't say enough about these guys and all our fans that made the trip, it's been unbelievable.
“People have doubted us all year and we continue to prove people wrong and it's great what we have accomplished.”
For Appleby, the win came in front of a large group of Generals fans who made the trip to Quebec City for the final. Among those fans were his parents.
“My parents have supported me so much throughout the years,” Appleby told SooToday.com's Brad Coccimiglio after the game.
“They put in countless hours of driving me places and spend endless amounts of money. To finally win this for them is unbelievable.”
Ken Appleby gets a hug from his mother Tina and his dad Brian waiting his turn, after Appleby's Generals won the Memorial Cup title. PHOTO COURTESY SPORTSNET.
Generals Head Coach D.J. Smith, who was an assistant coach with the Windsor Spitfires that won the Memorial Cup in 2010, credited his goaltender for keeping his team in the game.
“It’s unbelievable, didn't look good there, they poured it on, that's one heck of a hockey team and I said at the start Kenny would steal me one and he stole one today,” said Smith in a post game on-ice interview with Sportsnet’s Rob Faulds.
“He’s a fiery guy that stood there for three years and never complained and he was rewarded today,” Smith added to SooToday.com's Brad Coccimiglio in a post game interview.
Appleby won the Hap Emms Memorial Trophy as the top goaltender in the tournament while also being named to the tournament all-star team.
Generals Captain Josh Brown also praised his goaltender after the victory.
“We wouldn’t be there without him this season, some of the saves he made were incredible, he held us in that game the entire time,” said Brown to Sportsnet.
Tomas Soustal opened the scoring for the Rockets at 15:08 of the first period. Cirelli netted the equalizer at 13:50 of the middle frame.
Hunter Smith appeared to score the game winner for the Generals with less than 3 minutes left in regulation as he batted a puck past Rockets goaltender Jackson Whistle. After review, the officials felt it was batted in with a high stick.
Rockets forward and 2014 Edmonton Oilers 1st round pick Leon Draisaitl was named the Memorial Cup MVP.
Red Hot Gens
The win may be a little more bittersweet for Battalion players and fans.
After being pushed to 6 games and being down 1-0 and 2-1 in the series to the Battalion, the Generals rolled through to a 4-1 series in in the OHL final against the Erie Otters and then walked into the Memorial Cup and won all four games in the tournament.
The last North Bayite to play in the Memorial Cup for an OHL team was defenceman Russ Moyer. He and the Ottawa 67's failed to make the final in the 2001 event which was won by the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League.
However, North Bay's Matt Marquardt played in the 2006 Memorial Cup as a member of the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL. His team coached at the time by Ted Nolan, fell 6-2 to Patrick Roy's Quebec Remparts in the tournament final.
