Game 3 Craig
Graeme Craig

A huge opportunity for the Saskatoon Blades tonight.

The Memorial Cup hosts can book a ticket right to the final of the tournament with a win over Portland.

Former Bronco and current Blades defenceman Graeme Craig expects them to bring a physical edge to have success in the tournament.

"We're a big team and the crowd is feeding off the big hits," Craig said. "Absolutely it's part of our identity to be a hard, physical team to play against."

Despite low expectations from fans and pundits, the Blades maintain they have always believed in themselves.

"As a group we always knew that we could compete with these teams," Craig added. "The rough playoffs that we had... there was a lot of doubters out there. In our dressing room we always knew we could play with these teams and beat them."

The Blades were swept by Medicine Hat in the first round of the playoffs. They started the Memorial Cup with a 3-2 loss to London before bouncing back with a 5-2 win over Halifax.

The Moosheads won their other two games, while London finished with a 1-2 record. If Saskatoon beats Portland their victory over Halifax means they would jump to the Memorial Cup Championship game on Sunday. If Portland wins Halifax earns a bye to the final and the Blades would play London in the tie-breaking game on Thursday.

Craig joined the Blades in a trade from Swift Current this season for Brent Benson. The Red Deer native spent the first three and a half seasons of his WHL career with the Broncos.