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Kelowna Rockets beat Quebec Remparts in Memorial Cup semifinal

Kelowna scored four goals in a row in the second period (Aaron Bell, OHL Images
Kelowna scored four goals in a row in the second period (Aaron Bell, OHL Images

The Kelowna Rockets and Oshawa Generals, who traded the top two spots in the Canadian Hockey League rankings for much of the season, will play for the Memorial Cup on Sunday.

The Rockets, paced by four points from Justin Kirkland and three apiece from Leon Draisaitl and Josh Morrissey, ran the Quebec Remparts team ragged during a 9-3 semifinal win in front of 9,870 mostly upset fans at the Colisée, some of whom threw debris on the ice during the second period. Rourke Chartier, a 48-goal man in the regular season, also scored his first two of the tournament during the closing stanza.

Quebec, playing for the third consecutive night and 12th time in the last 25 days, had a spirited burst during the opening 10 minutes after being ignited by grinder Yan Turcotte squaring off with Kelowna's Rodney Southam for a fight just 13 seconds into the game. Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Adam Erne, in what is likely to be his final junior game, scored on the first Remparts shot of the game.

Kelowna, coming off a two-day break, asserted itself steadily around the midpoint of the first period. Following a pinged post, Chance Braid levelled at 9:51. Braid also had an assist and fought Turcotte in the second period, completing a rare Memorial Cup Gordie Howe hat trick.

Kelowna wasted little time pouncing in the sandwich stanza. Just 17 seconds in, Draisaitl beat Zach Fucale on a shortside snapshot for a power-play goal. That led to a three-goal outburst over the first quadrant of the period, with Kirkland scoring back-to-back. The Nashville Predators third-round choice converted a Draisaitl feed after being left unguarded in the goalmouth at 3:23 and sniped again at 4:06.

Morrissey, the Winnipeg Jets first-rounder who has a chance to win both a world junior gold medal and Memorial Cup ring in the same season (as does Rockets captain Madison Bowey), made it 5-1 with 3:14 remaining in the period.

Chartier and Cole Linaker each got their first of the tournament 37 seconds apart in the second period to open a 7-2 lead. Another Rockets contributor, Tyson Baillie, also got his first of the tourney in the third.

Oshawa beat Kelowna 2-1 on Tuesday, holding the WHL champs to 21 shots on goal and also withstanding a 60-second two-man penalty kill in the final minutes. Sunday's final, which will be the final hockey game at the Colisée, will be the first championship game since 2009 that does not include a team from the host league.

Coincidentally, that matchup involved Kelowna and Oshawa coach D.J. Smith, who was then an assistant coach for the Windsor Spitfires, who won the title.

Present-day Anaheim Ducks defenceman Cam Fowler, with Team USA and the Spitfires in 2010, is the most recent player to win a world junior gold and Memorial Cup in the same season.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.