Hockey
Memorial Cup Playoffs 2023-24 Recap: Braun’s Dominance Leads Chargers to Memorial Cup, and SCS Awards
Carroll 6, Vipers 0
The Memorial Cup Final was his canvas and Dylan Braun used it to paint his masterpiece, scoring all six Carroll goals en route to a 6-0 victory over the Fort Wayne Vipers to claim the Memorial Cup. After falling short in the Final a year ago to the Leo Lions, Carroll was not to be denied this time as they completed a perfect 17-0 season in which they were the favorite from start to finish. Braun wasted little time in getting Carroll ahead, forcing a turnover in the neutral zone before charging in on Vipers goaltender Brody Rosswurm. Braun made a beautiful backhand-forehand move to get the best of Rosswurm and slide the puck in between the goaltender’s outstretched leg and the post.
Carroll continued their initial onslaught on the Vipers, establishing their preferred pace of the game early on. Rosswurm held strong while under siege as the skaters in front of him failed to give him any sustained relief by getting some offense of their own going. After making it through the opening five minutes of the period just conceding the one goal, things started to quiet down a tad and the Vipers would get their first real chance to get the offense going with a power play 6:19 into the period. Unfortunately for them it did not go well at all. After the faceoff to start the power play the Vipers couldn’t get the puck back in the Carroll zone for a full 1:15 and then when they did it promptly turned into a scoring chance the other way for Carroll. That would be the only chance on the power play because the Vipers failed to get it back to the Carroll end of the ice again after that, meaning they couldn’t even muster one shot on goal on the man-advantage.
After killing off the penalty, Carroll was right back to business and as Braun was looking to dangle around a pair of Vipers he drew a tripping penalty on Michael Scully. The Chargers were also unable to convert on their first power play but there were chances in the early portion of it before the Vipers were able to establish a spin cycle against Carroll like the Chargers did to them earlier. However it was mostly for naught as just 30 seconds after the penalty to Scully expired Braun buried his second goal of the game to give Carroll a 2-0 advantage. Dylan Carteaux gathered the puck along the blue line and skated it across the line, feeding Braun who sent a shot past the blocker of Rosswurm in what would become a familiar sight over the remainder of the game. The remainder of the period went by rather quietly with a couple low-danger chances for Carroll but neither team was able to find another goal to close out a dominant period for the top-seed as Carroll outshot the Vipers 26-3.
The first half of the second was also largely quiet as Carroll continued going about their business but couldn’t find the back of the net. That changed when Simon Watson, the league leader in penalty minutes with 64, took a cross-checking penalty for putting his stick right into the upper chest of Finn Cupp. Then, in a move of what can only be described as pure idiocy, decided that after the whistle would be a great time to casually skate past Braun and catch him with an elbow, knocking him to the ice, to put his team on a four-minute penalty kill. Already trailing by two, some might call this an “own-goal” as it was an entirely self-inflicted wound and on Saturday night Karma was not “the guy on the Chiefs”, it was a Braun power play goal to make it 3-0. Carroll had chances to score before that Braun goal, most notably Carter Gnau having an open net but putting it off the side of the goal due to the bad angle he had to shoot from. Ultimately though Braun picked up the puck in the corner behind the Carroll net and went coast to coast, colliding with Cupp in the process, then fired a low shot past Rosswurm for his fifth hat trick in six games.
Just when it looked like the second period was winding down, Carroll’s attack yet again engaged. Braun provided the initial poke check and then Cupp sealed off the wall, taking control of the puck. Looking to go for a line change, Braun quickly stopped at the back door when he spotted a potential scoring chance. Cupp then made a perfect cross-crease pass to Braun who was all alone for an easy tap-in to make it 4-0 Chargers with just 9.3 seconds left in the period. While Carroll controlled the middle frame to a lesser extent, they were still the preeminent force with a 9-2 shot advantage, making their margin for the game +30.
The third period started just as the second period, with Carroll controlling the puck and Braun scoring another goal. Gnau snatched the puck away from Grant Knudson, found an open Braun in the slot who toe-dragged around Knudson and then sent yet another shot past the blocker of Rosswurm for his fifth goal of the game just 20 seconds into the period. With the clock now running through most stoppages and Carroll running through all of them, it was only a matter of time before the Chargers claimed their first Memorial Cup since 2019. In a bit of symmetry, that 2019 Memorial Cup Final was the last City Championship game that featured a hat trick, and it came off the stick of Carroll Assistant Coach Jake Dess as Carroll defeated Homestead 4-2 that night.
Little did we know though that while the game was over for all intents and purposes, Braun wasn’t. As the third period approached it’s halfway point Braun intercepted a pass at the blue line from Nick Vanryn and corralled the puck onto his forehand as he sent a 40 ft wrister past, you guessed it, Rosswurm’s blocker for his sixth goal of the game and second full hat trick. That sense of inevitability was only heightened with just 7:56 separating the Braun goal and the final buzzer. Both teams had one more power play in the closing stages but neither could score and with just under a minute to go the Chargers bench started the hugs. As time expired they piled over their bench, launching their sticks and gloves into the air in celebration to cap off an incredible 33-1 stretch of city play over the last two seasons with a Memorial Cup.
While Carroll fell just short in the Finals a year ago, they left no doubt this time as they dominated both the Semifinals and Finals, to say nothing of the regular season. The Chargers were simply a tier above everyone else this season and particularly after the calendar turned to 2024. Luke Vanantwerp posted an eight save shutout in the victory while Rosswurm did the best he could in stopping 39 Carroll shots over the 45 minutes. The Vipers will get to reset and have a tremendous opportunity in front of them to bring home some hardware of their own. They’ll play their State Tournament games in Fort Wayne beginning Friday as the #1 seed in 2A. The Chargers will look to repeat their State-wide success of the past two seasons and make their third straight State Championship, and their second-straight being in the top-level Class 4A. Their road to the Championship goes entirely through South Bend where they get underway Friday with a matchup against Southwest Michigan Blades in search of some more hardware.
Semifinals
Carroll 6 Homestead 1
Carroll advanced to the final with a dominant 6-1 win over the Spartans in the Semifinals. The top-seed had the jump from the start and had taken a 2-0 lead by the end of the first period. Both goals were very similar to each other in that they resulted from scrums in front of the net and a Charger was the one to get their stick on it first. The first goal belonged to Patrick Lalonde and the second was scored by Colsen White, with the goals coming 2:32 apart late in the period. Homestead was able to keep it tight through most of the second period but yet again it fell apart late with two Carroll goals in the final five minutes. Both goals came on the power play and were scored by Dylan Braun. The first one was another scramble in the crease and Carter Gnau shoveled it across the crease to Braun who took a moment before firing the puck through a mass of bodies and into the back of the net 16 seconds into the power play. The Chargers were on the power play again with 0:33 left in the period following a elbowing penalty to Daniel Martinsky. This time it took Carroll 22 seconds before scoring after Braun hammered in a rebound from Gnau’s wrister from the point to make it a 4-0 lead heading to intermission.
The third period started with a flurry of action before ultimately settling down with the running clock in effect. Finn Cupp put Carroll up by five just over a minute into the period with a redirection. Homestead answered right back with their first goal of the game to stop the clock from running when Robert McNary saw just enough room between Luke Vanantwerp and the post to slip the puck through. Carroll though was right back to business and Gnau put Carroll back ahead by five a mere seven seconds later. A quiet third period ensued from there as the Spartans fate was sealed with 6-1 loss.
Vipers 3 Leo 2 4OT
The Vipers advanced to the finals after a marathon matchup with the defending Memorial Cup Champion Leo Lions that required “four” overtimes. The game was tense throughout with no team leading by more than a goal and being tied for all but roughly nine of the 45 minutes in regulation. Leo took the first lead of the game near the end of a first period they controlled to the tune of 20 shots on goal versus just six for the Vipers. Colin Robison buried the opener but the assist to Alex Hendricks made the play. Hendricks looked to be taking the puck behind the goal and Vipers goaltender Brody Rosswurm took the bait but as he turned to the other post Hendricks popped a pass to Robison who fired the shot into the net before Rosswurm could recover. 3:18 into the second period the Vipers were able to even things up after a Leo miscue on the breakout led to Logan Ryan finding himself alone in front of Drew Baumert and he capitalized on the chance for his first goal in city play.
The score stayed the same as the tension built up to the final minutes of the third period. As Leo came across the offensive blue line Sam Schwartz had the puck knocked away from him but he was able to get his stick back on it and put the puck into some open ice in the high slot. Hendricks got to that spot and quickly fired a shot that beat Rosswurm and vaulted the Lions into the lead with 5:41 to play. The 3rd-seeded Vipers weren’t going to go down without a fight though. After a short battle in the corner, Jackson Bertels made a centering pass for Nick Vanryn but the pass was off target and rolled to Colton Franks. With a kick of his right skate, Franks got the puck to his blade and ripped the most important shot of his young career. With traffic in front serving as at least a slight distraction, Franks’ shot bested Baumert to knot the game at three with 3:18 to go in regulation. Leo had a couple of chances before the end of regulation but couldn’t find the winner. Then the whole tenor of the game changed with a tripping penalty to Colten Calhoun with 0:42 left in the period, giving the Vipers a chance to effectively win the game with a power play goal. They couldn’t put anything together in the closing minutes of regulation and off we went to overtime which would consist of continuous five minute periods of 3-on-3 until a winner was found.
The Vipers still couldn’t find a power play goal with the remaining power play in overtime, played at 4-on-3, but they came within inches of doing as Michael Scully rung a shot off the post. Scully also nearly ended with a wrap-around chance but Riley Murphy saved the game for Leo when he had enough time to react and got along the post to seal it off. Calhoun had a big chance the other way for Leo in the first overtime but didn’t take full advantage as his weak backhander was easily turned aside by Rosswurm. In the second overtime the Vipers yet again got a power play after Robison slashed Bertels’ stick out of his hands.
Awards
Regular Season MVP: Dylan Braun, Carroll
For the third straight year we go with the league’s leading scorer and while this was in doubt through 12 weeks, Braun’s rampage over the closing weeks solidified another MVP award. Four hat tricks in a row to close out the regular season, topped off by an OT winner to claim Carroll’s second straight 15-0 season left no doubt. Given that his impact has been discussed in the Carroll section of the power rankings regularly, I won’t add much else here other than to say that Braun is now up to 94 points in league action over three years and if he keeps up at this pace I think he would become the all-time league leading scorer (at least in the last 15 or so years) given that all the other names that could be put up there probably didn’t play long enough in Fort Wayne to have the lead needed to hold off Braun.
Defenseman of the Year: Michael Scully, Vipers
Scully’s offensive impact continued to be a critical part of the Vipers’ attack this season. His speed from the back-end enables him to join (or more often lead) rushes but still get back in defense when needed. On a team that is as top heavy as the Vipers that was an even more important asset this season and his nine points were tied for second on the team and second among defenseman behind Carroll’s Sam Krauhs. Scully’s threat was also beyond that of a normal defenseman in that he ended up with more goals than assists which shows that not only is he getting the play up ice for his teammates, he is among those that leads the attack as a highly offensive-defenseman.
Goaltender of the Year: Brody Rosswurm, Vipers
While Rosswurm didn’t put up the best numbers this season, he add the biggest impact of his team’s success. He was the only goalie this season to play in all but one of his teams games, and the only other goalie in the league to get bonafide #1 starter minutes was Luke Vanantwerp who finished with 222 fewer saves than Rosswurm. The rookie goaltender was also one of three goalies to post a SV% of 0.900 or more, the others being Vanantwerp and Drew Baumert (who’s case for this award was limited by his number of starts). We can also add to Rosswurm’s case by looking back to last season. This Vipers team was worse off on talent than last season’s was but the step-up in goaltending changed their fortunes from a team that was last in the league to one that played for a Memorial Cup. As just a Freshman, Rosswurm’s debut season went about as good as Head Coach Tyler Mason could have hoped for and sets the Vipers up nicely in net for the next few seasons.
Newcomer of the Year: Brody Rosswurm, Vipers
No further comment.
Game of the Year: Leo vs Homestead, Week 10
I’ll preface this by saying these are regular season awards. Of course a 4OT playoff game would have to be Game of the Year if this was all-inclusive, but this isn’t. Since I already discussed this game a couple of weeks ago, rather than repeat myself I’ll just direct to that article instead.
SCS All-City Team:
Forwards: Dylan Braun (Carroll), Jackson Bertels (Vipers), Colin Robison (Leo)
Just one change from our fall semester All-City team and I think it’s an obvious one. For the explanation all you need to do is read back the MVP section of this piece as there’s just no way to leave Braun off this team after the way he finished the regular season. As for Bertels, the points I made at the start of January remain the same for him. In short, he is the stick that stirs the drink for the Vipers. Robison is another one that I have here because to me I look at All-City teams as a hybrid between the best players and the most valuable players, with the most valuable part of that being Robison’s big advantage over someone like Carter Gnau. Robison, like Bertels, is the primary driver of offense for his team and given that Leo was the second-best team this year I couldn’t have zero representation for them on my squad.
Honorable Mentions: Carter Gnau, Carroll; Daniel Martinsky, Homestead; Alex Hendricks, Leo
Defense: Michael Scully (Vipers), Henry Loxton (Homestead)
See the above section for my thoughts on Scully, another member of the fall All-City team that solidified his position over the last six games. For Loxton, while he might not be the most talented of the other defenseman, I think he is absolutely more important to his team. Homestead struggled this year but if you look at their results they had some close games that came down to the wire and the theme in those was that they were low scoring games. Homestead’s D-corps, of which Loxton is the leader, was a big reason why they were in those games. As a more defensive-defenseman, it’s difficult to quantify Loxton’s game so we have to rely on the eye test for him, and I would find it hard to believe that anyone who watched 30 of 33 games like I did this year would dispute the notion that Loxton is among the top blueliners in the league. To back up my claim, the coaches gave Loxton his due as well, naming him to the Second Team All-City (behind his teammate who missed a third of the season so take from that what you’d like).
Honorable Mentions: Davis Cline, Carroll; Riley Murphy, Leo; Sam Krauhs, Carroll
Goaltender: Brody Rosswurm (Vipers)
Again see above for comments on Rosswurm, can’t have the goaltender of the year not be my All-City goalie obviously.
Honorable Mention: Drew Baumert, Leo
Official All-City Teams (as voted on by Head Coaches):
First Team:
F: Dylan Braun (CAR), Colten Calhoun (LEO), Carter Gnau (CAR)
D: Cam Hurley (HOM), Michael Scully (FWV)
G: Brody Rosswurm (FWV)
Second Team:
F: Jackson Bertels (FWV), Colin Robison (LEO), Nick Vanryn (FWV)
D: Davis Cline (CAR), Henry Loxton (HOM)
G: Drew Baumert (LEO)
