GUELPH DOWNS ROUYN-NORANDA SATURDAY AT M.C.
HALIFAX – Alexey Toropchenko scored a natural hat trick in the first period as the Guelph Storm went on to beat the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 5-2 on Saturday in the Memorial Cup opener for both teams.
Mackenzie Entwhistle and Nick Suzuki also scored for the Ontario Hockey League champion Storm while Sean Durzi chipped in with three assists. Anthony Popovich made 22 saves for the win.
The 19-year-old Toropchenko, a St. Louis Blues prospect, has been on fire after scoring seven goals in the OHL championship to beat the Ottawa 67’s in six games and advance to the national major junior hockey championship.
Vincent Marleau and Jakub Lauko found the back of the net for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champion Huskies, who entered the four-team tournament as the No. 1 ranked club in the Canadian Hockey League.
Samuel Harvey stopped 24-of-29 shots in defeat.
Guelph continues round-robin action against the host Mooseheads on Sunday in a matchup of squads that won their tournament openers. Halifax downed the Western Hockey League champion Prince Albert Raiders 4-1 on Friday to kick off the CHL championship.
