One of the Winnipeg Jets' top prospects will have the opportunity of a lifetime as the 2023 Memorial Cup enters its final day.
That's right, 19-year-old Brad Lambert and his Seattle Thunderbirds teammates will take on the Quebec Remparts in the Memorial Cup Final on Sunday evening, after beating the Peterborough Petes 4-1 in the semifinal on Friday night.
"We want to win this thing, and now we're one step closer," Lambert said following the semifinal victory. "We've got one more game to look forward to, and we're going to give it everything we've got."
Lambert - to whom the Jets used pick No. 30 of the 2022 NHL Draft to select - scored the opening goal on Friday. He finished the game a +1 with three shots on goal.
The Petes, who won a tiebreaker against the host Kamloops Blazers on Thursday, came out flat, falling behind 30-11 on the shot clock before Lambert broke the scoreless tie with just under five minutes remaining in the second period.
"Yeah it felt nice. We had a guy coming off the bench who took a shot and the puck kind of bounced to me and it came on my backhand so I just tried to get it on the net," the Jets prospect said of his marker. "I think it went through his five-hole, so I'm thankful and happy to get on the scoresheet and happy we got the win."
If it weren't for Peterborough backstop Michael Simpson and his 43 saves, it would have been a much more lopsided affair.
Colton Dach, Kyle Crnkovic and Nico Myatovic each added tallies for Seattle, while WHL Goaltender of the Year Thomas Milic made 27 saves in the Thunderbirds' victory.
Brennan Othmann scored for Peterborough early in the third period, but that was as close as the Petes would come, as Seattle advanced to its first Memorial Cup Final in franchise history.
"I love to win, and we've already got a championship, and now we're trying to win one more," Lambert added. "It's the first championship I've ever won, so it's gotta be the best feeling I've ever had in hockey so far."
Seattle will look to put the seal on its fantastic 2022-23 season at the Memorial Cup Final scheduled for Sunday night at 6:00 PM central time at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops. Quebec beat the Thunderbirds 3-1 back on May 29, guaranteeing the Remparts a spot in the Final. Seattle will look to stay hot by re-writing that script. The game can be viewed live on TSN.