Rousseau leads Quebec Remparts past Seattle Thunderbirds 5-0 for third Memorial Cup title

William Rousseau made 32 saves in the first shutout of the tournament, lifting the Quebec Remparts over the Seattle Thunderbirds 5-0 on Sunday night for the team’s third Memorial Cup title and first since 2006.

Tournament MVP James Malatesta, Vsevolod Komarov, Kassim Gaudet, Zachary Bolduc and Charles Savoie all scored for Quebec.

Hall of Fame goalie Patrick Roy will step aside on a winning note as coach of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champions, who reached the final after opening the tournament with consecutive wins over the host Kamloops Blazers and Seattle. It’s Roy’s second Memorial Cup title with the Remparts after also winning in 2006.

Quebec also won the championship in 1971, when Guy Lafleur scored nine goals in seven Memorial Cup games.

The Remparts last played on Tuesday, a 4-2 loss to the Peterborough Petes in its final round-robin game.

Thomas Milic stopped 30 shots for Seattle, the Western Hockey League champion which defeated the Ontario Hockey League champion Petes 4-1 in Friday’s semifinal. It was Seattle’s first Memorial Cup championship game appearance.

Komarov opened the scoring 6:31 into the first period and Malatesta, who had five goals in four games, made it 2-0 8:50 into the second.

Gaudet scored a short-handed goal 12:21 into the third. Bolduc made it 4-0 with 4:04 remaining, and Savoie sealed it with a goal two minutes later.

©2023 Cox Media Group