From TSN.ca

Matt Zultek's goal at 1:58 of the first overtime period lifted the Ottawa 67's to a dramatic 7-6 win over the Calgary Hitmen on Sunday, giving legendary coach Brian Kilrea his second Memorial Cup championship.

Zultek took a centering feed from Justin Davis and beat Calgary goaltender Alexandre Fomitchev with a back-hander to give Ottawa its first championship since 1984.

Zultek, Davis and line-mate Mark Bell, all of whom are at least six-foot-three, dominated the game. Zultek and Bell each scored twice, while Davis continually won battles for the puck along the boards. Bell and Davis worked a nifty give-and-go halfway through the first period that resulted in Bell's first strike. His back-hander gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead and a hint of the fate that awaited the Hitmen.

Ben Gustavson made it 2-0 with his first of two on the afternoon, beating Fomitchev with a weak wrister from the slot.

Calgary stemmed the tide late in the first period when Chris Nielsen scored on a brilliant solo dash. After Ottawa defenceman Nick Boynton tripped on a loose stick, Nielsen ducked in and beat Seamus Kotyk with a hard shot. The second period started with a furios pace. Gustavson slipped another weak shot through Fomitchev just 34 seconds in to make 3-1 67's. Less than two minutes later, Lance Galbraith beat Fomitchev with a similar play to give Ottawa a three goal advantage.

Still, the Hitmen refused to fold. Rookie Eric Clark scored 22 seconds after Galbraith to cut the lead in half. And before the period was done, Nielsen scored again to make it a 4-3 game.

With the ice still wet from the second intermission flooding, Calgary struck again. Pavel Brendl raced in to notch his fourth goal of the tournament to tie the score.

Calgary took its first lead at 4:38 of the third period when defenceman Kenton Smith rifled a slapper past Kotyk. Smith was playing his first game of the tournament after having gone home earlier in the week when his mother lost her battle with cancer.

Kilrea pulled Kotyk after Smith's goal and replaced him with Hungarian rookie Lavente Szuper, who had been pulled from Ottawa's last game after coughing up a couple of easy goals against the Belleville Bulls. The move sparked the 67's, as Bell scored his second at 5:34, tipping home a rebound off a shot by Zultek. Bell then returned the favour, setting up Zutlek at 7:38 to give Ottawa a 6-5 lead.

Once again, though, the hard-charging Hitmen fought back to tie the game. Jarrett Smithson's powerplay goal at 11:17 left the clubs deadlocked at 6-6 through 60 minutes, setting the stage for Zultek's overtime heroics.

The win was sweet vindication for Ottawa and the 67's. Despite being one of the nation's top-ranked teams, the 67's had been doubted because they had only qualified for the tournament as the host club. The 67's had been knocked out of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs six weeks earlier by Belleville.

Ottawa's fans, meanwhile, had been criticized for being too quiet during the tournament. They did, however, set an all-time tournament attendence record of 84,200 and, when Zultek scored the winner on championship Sunday, the roar at the Civic Centre was deafening.

All doubts about the team, the city and it's fans, had been erased.


Gretzky Plays Final Game

The greatest player in NHL history has played his final game. Wayne Gretzky’s game Sunday against the Pittsburg Penguins was his last and it was truly an event to remember. No.99 played great and recorded one assist and he could easily have picked up a few more as he was constantly dancing behind the opposing net, where a 99 had been painted on the ice, setting up his teammates. While the fans would have liked to see Gretzky score the overtime winner, that honour went to the man who may now be the best offensive player in the NHL, Jaromir Jagr. Before the game, Gretzky was presented with a car and Gary Bettman announced that no.99 would be retired by the NHL, meaning that no player will every wear that number again. Gretzky’s family members were also brought onto the ice as well as some current Rangers and 3 longtime friends: Glenn Sather, Mario Lemieux and Mark Messier. Messier got the biggest cheer from the sell-out crowd on hand and Gretzky called him the greatest player he has ever played with. Lemieux, was a surprise guest and he came along to share some wisdom about retirement with Wayne when he told him that his gold game wouldn’t improve with retirement. Throughout the week, Sather was the man who Gretzky continually insisted had done the most for his career. Following the game, the Penguins all shook Gretzky’s hand and the Rangers assembled for a team picture in the fashion that teams do after they win Stanley Cups. Gretzky then saluted the crowd, with many tears in his eyes for repeat curtain calls.

Many celebrities came to the game including Christopher Reeves, Jerry Seinfeld and Mark O’Meara. Gretzky also said that he’d received phone calls from Micheal Jordan and Jean Chretien among others. Like everyone else, these stars in their own right are all fans of the greatest player ever, no.99.

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