In what is expected to be the final game of his junior career, Denver Barkey decided to go out with a bang.
Barkey has come to play every time the Knights have been in the playoffs, which happens to be every season he has been with the team. He has 73 points in 53 playoff games. In the Memorial Cup, Barkey has 11 points in nine games. Talk about rising to the occasion. He's a large part of London's back-to-back OHL championships. But the one thing he has not been able to capture is a Memorial Cup title.
The London Knights returned to the Memorial Cup final for the second straight year, this time matching up with the Medicine Hat Tigers. They came into the tournament with revenge on their minds. They fell short of a championship last season, dropping a heartbreaking 4-3 contest to the Saginaw Spirit. The game-winning goal came with 22 seconds remaining.
Not willing to face the same fate again, Barkey made sure the game would not be in question by the time the final buzzer went off. The Knights' captain scored twice in the second period, one in which London scored three of their four goals.
On his first goal, Sam Dickinson poked the puck away and sent Barkey off to the races. He drove in, went to the backhand, and fit it between the five-hole of Tigers' goaltender Harrison Meneghin.
On his second goal and the one that truly put the game away, Barkey had the puck at the point on the power play. He skated in and fired a simple floater on the net. Give credit to Sam O'Reilly, who took away the eyes of Meneghin. Not easy to see when a 6'0" player is standing in front of you. But Barkey put the puck in a perfect area, getting it over the shoulder of Meneghin.
The Tigers would break the shutout in the third period. But it was too late by then. It's the perfect ending for Barkey in his fourth and final season with the Knights. He's won two OHL championships, has been named to the league's Second All-Star team twice, and is now a Memorial Cup champion.
The next mission? Make the Flyers roster. It won't be an easy task for Barkey, as there aren't many available spots on the roster. The difference between him and the situation faced by Jett Luchanko last season is that Barkey can be assigned to the Phantoms roster if he does not make the NHL roster.
If Barkey shows he needs more time, the Flyers won't lose the chance to call him up during the season. He will certainly need to bulk up to withstand the play at the NHL level. But he has shown time and time again that he can play well above his size.
Watching him up close is going to be a lot of fun.