Wednesday was a very good day for three Blue Jackets prospects.
Denton Mateychuk, Martin Rysavy and Max McCue added some rings to their collection, as their respective teams captured Canadian Hockey League championships at the junior level.
Mateychuk and Rysavy helped lead Moose Jaw to a 4-0 sweep of Portland to capture the franchise’s first-ever Western Hockey League crown, while McCue and London romped to a sweep of Oshawa to win the Ontario Hockey League.
All three will now advance to the Memorial Cup, the championship of Canadian junior hockey. The four-team tournament will be held starting May 24 in Saginaw, Mich.
A first-round pick in the 2022 draft (No. 12 overall), Mateychuk turned in one of the most impressive playoff performances in recent memory. After posting a 17-58-75 line in 52 regular-season games and earning league defenseman of the year honors, Mateychuk was second in the WHL postseason with 30 points (11 goals, 19 assists) and was named the WHL playoffs MVP.
One of the last cuts from the Blue Jackets before the season began, the 19-year-old defenseman had three goals in four games in the championship series. In all, he had 10 multipoint games in 20 postseason games and finished plus-19 as the Warriors won the Ed Chynoweth Cup.
A seventh-round pick of the Blue Jackets in 2021 who went back to Moose Jaw this year for one final campaign, Rysavy followed his best regular season (25 goals in 63 games) with an impactful postseason. The big Czech winger was a key part of the Warriors attack, notching a 6-10-16 line – including two goals in the Game 4 clincher – in 20 games and finishing plus-9.
Moving back east, McCue – who signed with the Blue Jackets in March – was part of a juggernaut London team that simply overwhelmed Oshawa in the final. The Knights won the games by a combined score of 31-9, including Wednesday night’s Game 4 win by a 7-1 score.
McCue posted a near point-per-game regular season (27-34-61 in 62 games) and topped that in the postseason, notching 22 points (three goals, 19 assists) in 18 games. He finished the OHL playoffs on a nine-game point streak (1-12-13) and was plus-21 in the postseason as the Knights won their fifth J. Ross Robertson Cup since 2005.
The three will be joined at the Memorial Cup by CBJ signee Nolan Lalonde, a goaltender who plays for host Saginaw. Lalonde went 21-6-0 this season for the Spirit and posted a 2.79 GAA in 12 playoff games.
Last year, QMJHL champion Quebec captured the Memorial Cup, with CBJ draft pick James Malatesta – who would go on to debut with the Jackets this season – earning MVP honors.
