Flames prospects Yan Kuznetsov and Jeremie Poirier are Memorial Cup champions

Originally posted on Flamesnation | By Ryan Pike | Last updated 6/30/22

The Saint John Sea Dogs began their Memorial Cup tournament with a win over the Hamilton Bulldogs. And on Wednesday night, they completed their Memorial Cup tournament with a win over the Hamilton Bulldogs.

Saint John’s 6-3 victory over Hamilton cemented the tournament hosts as champions of the 2022 Memorial Cup event.

Poirier joined the Sea Dogs in the 2018 QMJHL Draft and has played four seasons with the club. He emerged as one of the top offensive defenders in the Q over the past few seasons, and was a third round selection of the Flames in 2020. He turned 20 on June 2 and has an entry-level deal with the Flames, so he’s very likely graduating from the QMJHL and moving onto the AHL. He finished the tournament with one goal and two assists over four games.

Your 2022 #MemorialCup presented by @KiaCanada All-Stars! pic.twitter.com/wrpY7tnvuY

— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) June 30, 2022

Kuznetsov joined the Sea Dogs this past season after being selected in the CHL’s Import Draft. He was drafted by the Flames in 2020’s second round out of the NCAA’s University of Connecticut, but signed his entry-level deal following the 2020-21 season. He briefly played with the AHL’s Stockton Heat, then headed to Saint John. He established himself as a really reliable shutdown blueliner in the Q, and was named to the Memorial Cup tournament all-star team. He finished the tournament with one goal and two assists over four games. He turned 20 in March and his entry-level deal with the Flames kept running this season – there’s two years left on it – so it seems very likely that he, too, will be moving onto the AHL full-time in 2022-23.

As we noted earlier this week, success at the Memorial Cup is no guarantee of success in pro hockey. But it’s an impressive accomplishment, particularly for a Sea Dogs team that had a disappointing playoffs and then had to sit idle while the other teams involved got battle-tested in the climb for their respective league championships.

The 2023 Memorial Cup will be hosted by the Western Hockey League’s Kamloops Blazers.

This article first appeared on Flamesnation and was syndicated with permission.

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