Memorial Cup: Petes Have Their Backs Against the Wall After Blowout Loss

It’s been like this all year long. The Peterborough Petes have had their back up against the wall, counted out, and they’ve found a way to succeed despite that. 

After a 10-2 loss to the host Kamloops Blazers, their underdog mentality is going to be put to the test one more time.

After losing their opening game 6-3 to the Seattle Thunderbirds, they were looking to bounce back against the hosts, and they were met with a dominant effort from a team looking to avenge an embarrassing loss of their own. Peterborough was outclassed, and they put themselves in a difficult spot heading into their final round-robin game on Tuesday against Quebec.

There isn’t much to even break down about the game. After the first period, the Blazers led by three goals. Halfway through the second period, the lead was seven. The Blazers' seventh goal was scored on their 28th shot of the game, while the Petes had 11.

Despite getting on the board late in the second and once more in the final minute of the third, Peterborough was simply uninvolved in the game. Blazers superstar Logan Stankoven had five points on the night. Six other players had multiple points, and only four Kamloops skaters failed to register at least one point. There were more Blazers with multiple points than Petes with a single point. It was pure domination.

The Petes have unfortunately left their fate in the hands of another team, namely the Thunderbirds. They will need Seattle to beat Quebec, and the Petes will then need to take down the Remparts in their matchup to force a tie-breaking rematch. The winner moves on to the semifinal, and the loser goes home.

Leaving their fate in the hands of another isn’t ideal. Even if they do get the help they need, they’ll need to win back-to-back games against the same team to ensure that they move on, and that opponent lost twice in all of the QMJHL playoffs. It's quite a difficult task.

The Petes are no strangers to being counted out, though. 

Despite their big acquisitions throughout the season of players such as Brennan Othmann, Avery Hayes and Owen Beck, the Petes struggled with consistency. They were an up-and-down squad that flashed potential of what they could be but never truly rounded into form during the regular season.

When the playoffs began, they were the fourth seed in the OHL’s Eastern Conference and took on the young and upstart Sudbury Wolves. They were doubted. They swept them.

After handling them fairly easily, they went on to face the OHL’s top team, the Ottawa 67’s. They were doubted. They won in six games.

Next, they did battle with the North Bay Battalion, who had the league's second-best record overall. They were doubted. They won in a dramatic Game 7.

They were huge underdogs in their final three rounds. They won every one.

When they reached the OHL final, they faced the league’s fourth-best regular-season team, the London Knights. With everyone planning for the Knights to head out to Kamloops, the Petes handled their opponent with relative ease. Peterborough won the series in six games, battling through adversity and finding ways to win when it mattered.

Othmann, Beck and Hayes were all finding their niche on the squad. Petes foundation pieces like Tucker Robertson and J.R. Avon were coming up big in key moments. They were getting excellent goaltending from Michael Simpson. Simply put, they were finally coming together, meshing at the perfect time.

Once again, the Petes are up against it and will need to have their big-time players come up in big-time moments. This isn’t exactly where they wanted to be heading into their final round-robin game at the Memorial Cup, but that’s not to say they aren’t comfortable at this point being counted out.

This is their time to prove once again that the Peterborough Petes are a force to be reckoned with, especially when backed into a corner. They’ll just need a little help to prove it.