Memorial Cup Wrap Up

Congratulations to the Edmonton Oil Kings on their Memorial Cup victory. They defeated the Guelph Storm 6-3 in the final on Sunday. Guelph was the best team in the tournament and very easily could have been the champions if this was a seven game series. In watching each game I have been tracking the zone entries for each game. I have games 1-3 already posted and decided rather than continue with a post every game just do one big post at the end with everything.

Here are the Zone Entries by team for the Memorial Cup

	Zone Entries
	London	Val d’Or	Guelph	Edmonton
Dump-Ins	64	88	99	101
Success Rate	17%	17%	17%	25%
Carry-Ins	118	135	149	211
Success Rate	65%	50%	58%	56%
Other	34	30	46	35
Success Rate	50%	37%	33%	57%

*This data is all even strength only. That includes 4 on 4 but not 6 on 5 when the goalie is pulled.

*I unfortunately missed game 4 between Val d’Or and Edmonton so these numbers do not include that game. I will update the post when I finish tracking that game.

It’s pretty clear that London deserved better in the tournament. They converted 65% of their carry-ins into shot attempts which led the field. They did everything well except score. Through the round robin they lead the tournament in possession close, but unfortunately had a 91.19 PDO due to a putrid 2.9% shooting percentage.  Guelph was riding high through the round robin sporting a 109 PDO propped up by a 15% shooting percentage. That came crashing back down to earth in the final where they shot just 9%.

The big reason Edmonton was able to win the Memorial Cup was due to their very high possession numbers. They were essentially tied with London, through the round robin and then continued that success in the semi-final vs. Val d’Or, out-shooting them 54-49 and then out-shooting Guelph in the final 45-35. They were able to turn those chances into goals as they shot 7.6% through the round robin and then 10.1% through the final two games, which is not spectacular but was enough. They were also able to get good goal-tending from Pittsburgh Penguins second round pick Tristan Jarry who posted a .910 SV% in the five games.    

In tracking zone entries for the Memorial Cup I was able to support the idea that dumping the puck in is usually a poor decision. All teams had much more success at generating a shot attempt when they carried the puck in rather than dump it in.  I look forward to tracking zone entries in the future when the CHL returns in the fall. For now all the hockey has been played for the season, next up the draft!