The Saginaw Spirit were sent home in the OHL playoffs as the London Knights took the glory. On Sunday night, Saginaw and its fans took it back in the Memorial Cup final.

The home crowd roared from puck drop until well after the final whistle as the Saginaw Spirit defeated the London Knights to secure their first Memorial Cup in franchise history. 

Ahead of Sunday night, the Spirit only won four of the first 11 meetings against the Knights. Last month, the Knights knocked them out in the OHL's Western Conference final by a 4-2 series score. The Spirit could only train for the Memorial Cup as tournament hosts while the Knights swept the OHL championship series against the Oshawa Generals. 

But in 12th and final meeting, the Spirit won it all in the only game that truly mattered.

It wasn’t easy, though.

Josh Bloom, the former captain of the Saginaw Spirit who returned to the team after playing in the AHL to start the year, scored the game-winning goal with 22 seconds left in the third period. It was a poetic ending to his junior career, as he became a hero in the city of Saginaw for the rest of his life.

“I have no words right now,” Bloom exclaimed after the game. “Having our hearts ripped out of our chest and smashed into a million pieces, we found a way to put it back together, and we're champs.”

After taking a convincing 3-0 lead, the Spirit seemed to have the game under control until London roared back to tie it. However, the home team would not be denied when it was all said and done.

Saginaw controlled play early despite some sloppy moments with the puck. Finally, Montreal Canadiens prospect Owen Beck found a puck in the feet of a group of players off a faceoff scrum and wired it past Michael Simpson, the London netminder. The eruption in the building was electric. The home fans were ready to take the top off the building, and it was only halfway through the first period.

The Spirit dominated play, outshooting their opponent 12-1 as the first period winded down when London’s Landon Sim elbowed Zayne Parekh in the face, knocking the 2024 NHL draft prospect to the ice. Sim was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct as Parekh left the ice a bit bloodied.

Before the period ended, Saginaw made the Knights pay. Beck scored his second of the night on a nice one-timer from the dot on a pass from below the goal line from Bloom. The Spirit went into the first intermission with a two-goal lead.

Although they couldn’t score another on the remaining four minutes of the power play, they added another goal on a cheeky backhand shot by Joey Willis, as he split the D and put the Spirit up 3-0. Still dominating possession, the Spirit seemed to be in full control.

The Knights finally got on the scoreboard a few minutes later on a nice shot on the rush by Kasper Halttunen. The San Jose Sharks prospect scoring gave the Knights life, and they began pushing back a bit.

Easton Cowan scored on a seeing-eye shot just under eight minutes into the third period, with the puck finding its way through traffic to pull the Knights within one. London continued pushing and looking to find the equalizer, finally getting their legs under them, and the Spirit were trying to hold on for dear life.

Just minutes later, the Knights flew up ice on a 3-on-1, and Sam Dickinson made no mistake, tying the game with half of the third period to go. The highly touted 2024 NHL draft prospect showed up in the biggest moment for the Knights. 

Unfortunately, both teams can’t have their fairytale ending.

The Spirit began to push the pace again. Both teams traded chances. Both goalies made massive saves. The clock winded down.

With under a minute, Saginaw pressed in the offensive zone. The puck bounced all around the net when Bloom achieved legend status in Saginaw. Working harder than everyone around him and finding the puck loose in the crease, he buried it past the sprawling netminder and a desperate defender down on the goal line.

Once again, louder than ever, the building erupted. The Saginaw Spirit regained the lead with 22 seconds to go, and the Memorial Cup was in their grasp. The seconds ticked down, the final buzzer went, and gloves flew in the air.

“It’s not even setting in. We’re Memorial Cup champions,” said Parekh as he took it all in.

Captain Braden Hache circled the ice, pumping up the crowd, feeding off of their energy as the team celebrated the win.

Beck accepted the MVP of the tournament and thanked the fans. Parekh danced along on the ice with the fans in the stands. Goaltender Andrew Oke found his way out of the bottom of the celebratory pile and continued to go berzerk, wooing with fans.

The Spirit are Memorial Cup champions on home ice in front of their fans who had been rocking the rink all week long. The fans deserved this win, as did the players. Their revenge against the Knights couldn't have come at a better time, and they'll remember this forever.

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