There was a sense of déjà vu for North Bay's Matt Marquardt.
The current assistant coach with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League was on the losing end of the Memorial Cup on Sunday in the final which took place in Kamloops, B.C.
Marquardt's Thunderbirds were blanked 5-0 by the Remparts, coached by Patrick Roy, who last won a Memorial Cup with the Remparts back in 2006.
That 2006 season, Matt Marquardt was part of a Moncton Wildcats team that made it all the way to the Memorial Cup final before bowing out the Remparts coached by Roy who was in his rookie coaching year in the Q.
See related: Marquardt nets winner in Memorial Cup semi-final
Marquardt scored a game-winning goal in the Memorial Cup semi-final in 2006 as his Wildcats edged the Vancouver Giants 4-1 on May 26, 2006.
Marquardt broke a 1-1 tie with a goal that the North Bay product celebrated standing on top of the glass with the hometown Moncton fans cheering.
The Wildcats scored a pair of empty netters to ice the victory.
Marquardt's Wildcats team featured Bruins star Brad Marchand while Roy's Remparts were led by tournament MVP Alexandre Radulov.
In that game, the Remparts pulled out a 6-2 win in the final in the first chapter of the Roy-Marquardt finals clash.
Marquardt Coaching Success
The Thunderbirds got through to the Memorial Cup knocking off the Memorial Cup host Kamloops Blazers in the Western Conference final, and then took care of the top-seeded Winnipeg Ice in the WHL final in five games to book their ticket to the Memorial Cup in B.C.
The TBirds edged the Peterborough Petes 4-1 in the Memorial Cup semi-final on Friday night.
Marquardt, in his second season as an assistant coach behind Thunderbirds head coach Matt O'Dette, helped guide the Thunderbirds to an impressive 54-11-1-2 for 111 points in the 2022-23 regular season.
Last season, the Thunderbirds won the Western Conference before falling in six games in the 2021-22 WHL final to the Edmonton Oil Kings.
'In Matt We Trust'
Regardless of the outcome, North Bay and Marquardt's family are proud of Matt's accomplishments.
"Heads up high, hell of a season boys," said Matt's younger brother Cory Marks, a Canadian country-rock singer and songwriter on social media Sunday night.
"Seattle Thunderbirds, so proud."
Marquardt, 35, was hoping to be able to bring the Memorial Cup back to North Bay. Last season former North Bay Trappers forward Nico Laforge brought the Cup to his hometown of Temiscaming, Quebec as he was part of the Saint John SeaDogs 2021-22 Memorial Cup winning squad.
The last time a North Bay player won the Memorial Cup was back in 2015 when Oshawa Generals goalie Ken Appleby won the title and shared it with the community.
