Montreal Canadiens: Cole Fonstad and Raiders start slow at Memorial Cup

By Omar L | May 18, 2019

KELOWNA, BC - JANUARY 19: Cole Fonstad #24 of the Prince Albert Raiders skates against the Kelowna Rockets at Prospera Place on January 19, 2019 in Kelowna, Canada. (Photo by Marissa Baecker/Getty Images) /

The 2019 Memorial Cup starts, and Montreal Canadiens prospect Cole Fonstad and the Prince Albert Raiders are the first to go against the Halifax Mooseheads.

The OHL, WHL, and QMJHL all have champions, and now it’s time for the CHL to crown a champion as well. What makes this year’s Memorial Cup tournament better for the Montreal Canadiens is that there are three prospects on three of the four teams ready to compete for the right to be number one.

The first two teams to play saw puck drop at 8:00 PM AT at Halifax Host Arena between the Prince Albert Raiders and the Halifax Mooseheads. The Raiders pushed themselves to an Ed Chynoweth Cup for the second time in franchise history with the last victory being back in 1985 ending a 34-year drought.

That was also the same year the Raiders won their first Memorial Cup defeating the Shawinigan Cataractes 6-1 in the final.

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Can they end another drought in that category?

Habs prospect Cole Fonstad has been doing his part in a depth role with the Raiders that hasn’t resulted in a lot of offence. He has six points in 21 games, which is a big drop from what he produced in the regular season, but, his contributions away from the puck are helping the team win. Additionally, it’s large stages like these where depth steps up in a big way. Perhaps this could be it for Fonstad.

On the other end of the ice are the Mooseheads who lost to Joël Teasdale and the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in the QMJHL Playoffs. However, as the host team, they were already pencilled in to take part in the Memorial Cup and try to still have a championship-style season.

There aren’t any Montreal Canadiens representation on Halifax, but Raphaël Lavoie is a name who may fall in reach at the upcoming draft. The Montreal native got on the board early with a primary assist on Samuel Asselin’s goal in the first period leading up to a 4-1 decision for the home team and showing off his incredible skill as a playmaker.

Fonstad, however, got himself on the scoresheet with a secondary assist in the second period to make it a 2-1 hockey game. Fonstad got possession of the puck along the right wall choosing to bump it back to the point with traffic ahead. Max Martin eventually sent a shot on net that was tipped by Noah Gregor in front for Prince Albert’s first goal of the Memorial Cup.

Halifax responded five minutes afterwards to restore the two-goal lead via Jake Ryczek while Antoine Morand finished the night with an empty-net goal in the third.

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The Raiders didn’t look ready for the Mooseheads, and they’ll have some time to regroup before their next game on Monday against Teasdale and Rouyn-Noranda. Despite the loss, it was good to see Fonstand get rewarded offensively, but the Raiders will need to regroup in order to stay alive in the Round Robin.