ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Jhuwon Davis scored the golden goal 12:42 into overtime to lift the Metro Jets to a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Jr. Blues and the 2018 Fraser Cup national championship Saturday afternoon at Canlan Ice Sports.
The victory was retribution for the Jets, who lost in both the 2016 and 2017 championship games.
“The puck went up the wall to (Robby) Flannery and he threw it back down in the corner to (Rhett) Limback,” said Davis. “I saw two guys go towards Limbic and I went back to the front of the net. Limback sauces it over two guys and all I had to do was finish it, and it went through the goalie’s five hole. Couldn’t have done it without Limback.”
“After I scored, I kind of blacked out and wanted to share the enjoyment with my teammates. By far the biggest goal of my career.”
Jets captain Griffin Sawyer scored and added an assist, while Connor Inger also scored to back Andrew Kormos’ 35 saves in goal.
“I want to first congratulate the Jr. Blues and Chris Flaugher on a tremendous season and hard-fought game,” said Jets coach-GM Justin Quenneville. “I’m proud of the guys and of course, all the returners that fell short in the finals last year. I’m even more excited for Marc Schwartz and Robby Flannery, who have been in this exact game for three years. They get to go out on top and they deserve it. I also would like to thank my staff and coaches Randy Wilson, Jamie Lovell and Steve Kruk for all the hard work and dedication to the program. None of this is possible without all of the Jets family involved and of course, without the most important person in all of this, Pete Cammick. He is the reason we are here, and we are grateful to have him provide us with this opportunity to build a program for the players to succeed.”
“The Jets are national champions again and I feel privileged to add to the history. Once a Jet, always a Jet.”
The last time the Jets won a national title – over the Jr. Blues no less – Jon Cooper (Tampa Bay Lightning) was their coach and Paul Stastny (Winnipeg Jets) played for St. Louis.
“I have no words,” said Schwartz. “It doesn’t feel real yet.”
“There really isn’t a way to put it into words, but I guess if I had to, though, it’s pure adrenaline,” added Flannery. “This was for the boys on the team this year, the boys on the team last year, and the boys on the team two years ago. With each passing year, the need and want to win grew bigger, and it feels so good to bring it home after three years.”
For St. Louis, Will Baginski and Bud Winter scored, and Blake Bjella made 31 saves.
Inger, also named the tournament MVP, forward Reggie Millette and defenseman Trevor Mornot were named to the All-Tournament Team, along with Winter, Bjella and defenseman Mark Capkovic from St. Louis.
