The first game of the 2018 Memorial Cup has been played and the host Regina Pats are the winners. On Friday at the Brandt Centre in Regina, Saskatchewan, Nick Henry of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba scored the game winning goal with 33 seconds in the third period to give the Pats a 3-2 win over the Ontario Hockey League champion Hamilton Bulldogs.
Henry was one of three Pats players who had one goal and one assist for two points. The others were Josh Mahura of St. Albert, Alberta and Sam Steel of Sherwood Park, Alberta.
Steel, Mahura and Henry are all drafted in the National Hockey League. Steel and Mahura are draft picks of the Anaheim Ducks and Henry is a draft pick of the Colorado Avalanche. Steel, a centre, is a first round draft pick, 30th overall by the Ducks on in the 2016 National Hockey League Entry Draft. Mahura, a defenseman, is a third round draft pick, 85th overall by the Ducks in the 2016 National Hockey League Entry Draft. Henry, a right winger, is a fourth round draft pick, 94th overall by the Avalanche in the 2017 National Hockey League Entry Draft. Steel was the 2017 WHL Player of the Year after he had 50 goals and 81 assists for 131 points for the Pats last season,
The Memorial Cup continues on Saturday. The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League champion Acadie-Bathurst Titan plays the Western Hockey League champion Swift Current Broncos.
