The Memorial Cup is in full swing on the east coast and it’s Xavier Bourgault’s Shawinigan Cataractes that lead the way. Shawinigan holds a perfect record with wins over the Edmonton Oil Kings and the Hamilton Bulldogs.
Bourgault received the first star of the game in their opening matchup versus the Oil Kings. The Oilers first-rounder from 2021 helped initiate the Cateractes’ comeback scoring to tie the game up at two midway through the second. He then grabbed an assist on Olivier Nadeau’s game-winning goal in the third period.
With two points already in the tournament, Bourgault kept his name on the boxscore with another multi-point performance. Bourgault had his name on all three goals in a 3-2 win over the OHL Champions, the Hamilton Bulldogs. Shawinigan trailed again but a powerplay goal from Bourgault tied the game at one. He then had an assist on Mavrik Bourque’s one-timer blast giving the Cataractes the lead. His third point came midway through the third period when he found his linemate Bourque whose shot deflected off a Hamilton defenceman to give Nadeau an easy tap-in.
Through two games, Bourgault leads the tournament with five points, tied with his teammate Bourque and Raivis Kristians Anson of Saint John.
Last week, we spoke about how the Shawinigan forward extended the Oilers Memorial Cup streak dating back to 2012. Of all those players, only four have scored more than five points in the tournament.
Ty Rattie (2013) | Portland Winterhawks | 5 GP | 6 G | 12 PTS |
Henrik Samuelson (2014) | Edmonton Oil Kings | 5 GP | 4 G | 8 PTS |
Leon Draisaitl (2015) | Kelowna Rockets | 5 GP | 4 G | 7 PTS |
Warren Foegele (2017) | Erie Otters | 5 GP | 2 G | 7 PTS |
Xavier Bourgault (2022) | Shawinigan Cataractes | 2 GP | 2 G | 5 PTS |
Bourgault will be hoping to replicate Samuelson more than the other three names on the list. Samuelson’s Oil Kings went on to win the Memorial Cup in 2014 and he was named to the tournament’s all-star team.
Next up are the hosts and 2011 Memorial Cup winners, the Saint John Sea Dogs. Bourgault will be hoping his team’s fortunes turn around in that game after struggling against them in the 2022 regular season. In their two meetings, the Sea Dogs overcame the Cataractes, beating them 4-2 and 6-3. Both games came within a week of each other way back in November.
Since then Shawinigan went on to win the QMJHL championship and Saint John lost in the first round to Rimouski.
We’ll see if Shawinigan can go perfect in the round-robin and if Bourgault can stay hot on Saturday when they face Saint John.
