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WATCH: William Dufour Scores Sweet Goal in Memorial Cup Opener

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New York Islanders Prospect William Dufour of the St. John Sea Dogs

New York Islanders prospect William Dufour had himself a regular season for the St. John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL. In the 66-game regular season, the 20-year-old Dufour notched 56 goals along with 60 assists for 116 points as he won the 2022 Michel-Briére Trophy as MVP of the league.

In the first round of the postseason, William Dufour scored twice and added two assists in five games, as the St. John Sea Dogs were eliminated by the Rimouski Océanic in the best of five series (3-2).

However, that did not mean their season had come to an end.

Because the Sea Dogs were the chosen host team for the Memorial Cup, they received an automatic bid into the tournament. And on Monday night, the battle for the Memorial Cup began as the underdog Sea Dogs began their round-robin play, with a bout against the OHL champions in the Hamilton Bulldogs, who hoisted the Ross Robertson Cup (OHL) back on June 15.

In a shocking result, the St. John Sea Dogs came away victorious, defeating the OHL champs by a score of 5-3.

William Dufour netted the Sea Dogs third goal of the contest at 10:49 of the second period on a play that showed off a variety of skills. After helping to deny a Bulldog offensive-zone entry earlier in the shift, Dufour received the puck at the Hamilton blue line. His quick no-look drop pass to teammate Philippe Daoust allowed for a speedy entry into the offensive zone.

Dufour then stayed high on the rush while Daoust tried to feed teammate Ryan Francis far post, but the pass did not connect. However, the puck made its way back to Daoust behind the Bulldog net. And in a split second, Daoust connected with Dufour, who had not only crashed the net but had established inside positioning in front of Bulldog netminder Marco Costantini.

A quick chip shot over Costantini’s glove gave William Dufour his first goal of the tournament.

“We wanted to go hard in the first five minutes, and that’s what we did,” Dufour said following the win. “We played a pretty good game. We played against a really good team.”

“We work our ass off, and it’s nice so…but tomorrow is going to be a different day, but we are proud tonight.”

William Dufour and the St. John Sea Dogs continue their round-robin play on Wednesday, June 22 at 7 PM against the Edmonton Oil Kings, the champions of the Western Hockey League.

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