Montreal Canadiens: What to expect from Cale Fleury in Memorial Cup Final
Cale Fleury is the lone Montreal Canadiens prospect in the Memorial Cup Final and will be looking to put up his best effort tonight for the Regina Pats.
The Regina Pats will try to duplicate what the Windsor Spitfires did the year before. Similarly to the 2017 Memorial Cup winners, the Pats were chosen to be the host of the tournament. A first-round exit had them fresh and ready to contend. The time off has been in seen in a lot of the team’s core players including Montreal Canadiens prospect Cale Fleury.
It took wins against both the Hamilton Bulldogs and Swift Current Broncos to earn a spot in the playoff round. Eliminating the Broncos must’ve been extra sweet as they were the ones to eliminate them from the WHL Playoffs. The semi-finals saw Fleury take on fellow Habs prospect Will Bitten.
The Pats got the early lead, but a goal from Bitten tightened things up. However, Regina ended up getting the win earning the right to compete in the Memorial Cup Final.
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Acadie-Bathurst Titan are the only thing standing in their way of claiming the cup for the first time since 1973. Back then, the WHL was referred to as the WCHL, and the tournament only had the three league champions taking part. A Regina victory would also continue the WHL dominance of the Memorial Cup who have a total of 16 wins in the current era.
Titan got the best of the Pats in their round-robin game defeating them 8-6. The offence came later than they hoped for the host city who couldn’t get one more to tie the game up in the final minutes. Things will have to be a lot more structured than in the previous match for Regina to come away with the win.
The Fleury Force
Fleury received a lot of praise this season for his management of the puck along the blue line. It made him an offensive force for the Kootenay Ice and was a big part of John Paddock’s decision to acquire him. Whether he was finding wingers on the wall, shooting for rebounds, or sending pucks in himself, the Pats benefited from having Fleury on defence.
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Two things have become more apparent in his game since the Memorial Cup started. Fleury is carrying the puck a lot more taking more of a leadership role as far as setting up in the offensive zone. Additionally, there’s a been a greater wave of physicality from the 20-year-old.
Fleury has used more of the body knocking opponents off the puck and winning battles along the walls. It’s that aspect of his game that has shut down some of the offensive opportunities of other players.
There’s more scoring to Fleury than what we’ve seen. He has a total of nine shots on goal over the course of the four games and his best chance found iron instead of mesh. The Regina Pats will have to fire on all cylinders and if Fleury isn’t showing up on the scoresheet, making sure Acadie-Bathurst doesn’t is key.
The future for Fleury in the Montreal Canadiens organization is still muddled. He could very well return for an extra year in junior or make the jump to the next level. Other Habs prospects are expected to do the latter and management will be watching to see whether Fleury is ready.
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The game will be broadcasted on Sportsnet at 7:00 PM ET. Tune in to see who wins the 100th Memorial Cup. If the Montreal Canadiens hockey gods are watching, it will be the Regina Pats.