Oil Kings, Montrose star Bertolucci claim Memorial Cup
By The Nelson Daily Sports
Montrose native Luke Bertolucci have come a long way since putting on the skates in Rossland/Trail Minor Hockey Association.
The former Kootenay Ice star of the BC Major Midget Hockey League helped the Edmonton Oil Kings win the first MasterCard Memorial Cup title with a 6-3 victory over the Guelph Storm Sunday at the Tier I Junior Hockey Championship in London, Ont.
This was the first Memorial Cup in the current franchise’s short seven-year history.
Bertolucci, in his second season with the Oil Kings, helped guide Edmonton to the Western Hockey League title before shocking the critics at the Memorial Cup.
After falling behind 2-1 in the first period, the Oil Kings scored five times in the final two periods to secure the win.
A previous version of the Edmonton Oil Kings won Memorial Cups in 1966 and 1963 before relocating to Portland.
The WHL ended a three-year run of Quebec Major Junior Hockey League teams winning the Cup. The Oil Kings were also the first WHL team to claim it since the Spokane Chiefs in 2008.
WHL teams have won the most Cups since the tournament went to a round-robin format in 1972 with 19. The OHL has won 14 and the QMJHL 10.
The Memorial Cup has been given to Canada’s junior hockey champions since 1919 in memory of those who died in the First World War.
Sixty teams in the Western, Ontario and Quebec major junior leagues begin play every September. The three league champions join a host team in the annual tournament to determine the Canadian Hockey League champions.
The 2015 MasterCard Memorial Cup will be held in Quebec City.
