Ted Pritchard/Herald Photo Halifax Mooseheads' Jonathan Boone watching team practice from the bench last week, was a spark plug for the Ottawa 67's last year as they won the Memorial Cup. Jonathan Boone displays the championship ring he won at last year's tournament. The Canadian Press Ottawa 67s' coach Brian Kilrea reacts happily as his team scores a goal against the North Bay Centennials in Ottawa earlier this season. Ottawa won making Kilrea junior hockey's winningest coach (742 career wins). Ottawa won last year's memorial Cup.

By Willy Palov / Herald Sports MEMORIAL CUP MEMORIES

If there's one thing Jonathan Boone can provide for a hockey team it's spark.

The energetic winger always seems to make his shifts count, even if he only gets a few all game. The 1999 Memorial Cup was no different.

Playing for the eventual champion Ottawa 67's, Boone only dressed for one game all tournament. But he made his presence felt with his trademark intensity.

"I played the game against Belleville. That was the game we had to win on the Saturday to get in (the final)," said Boone, who now plays for the Halifax Mooseheads. "I don't know how I got in the game. The coach just called me into his office and told me I'd be playing. Then on my first shift I almost scored a goal.

"First I laid a few bodychecks and then the fans were going crazy. Then I was skating over the red line, heading back towards our zone, and (Ottawa defenceman) Brian Campbell picked up the pick and I curled back around and he gave it to me.

"Then I went in one-on-one against (Belleville defenecman Branislav) Mezei and I was just a load of energy. My feet were moving so fast and I made a couple of moves and I had him. But where I thought because he was so big and would probably cut back over some, I cut back the other way and almost got past him. I took a shot and it just went wide."

Though he didn't score on that first shift, Boone polished the play off in typical fashion.

"After I shot, he (Mezei) went in and got the puck and I creamed him," says Boone with a satisfied laugh. "So that first shift was a pretty good shift."

Boone, who watched his team's first two games from the stands, also remembers the excitement of hearing the public address announcer at the Ottawa Civic Centre introduce him at the start of that crucial outing against Belleville.

"When I went on the ice and they announced my name, my heart was up in my throat. The announcer said, 'Number 21, Jonathan Boone' and I skated out on the ice and all the lights were flashing and the music was going. It was unreal."

But nothing, Boone says, compares to the post-game celebration when the host 67's edged the Calgary Hitmen 7-6 in overtime in the championship game.

"To be there and win it, that's just an unreal feeling. Our coach (Brian Kilrea) jumped up over the boards and ran onto the ice with everyone. It was crazy. Everyone was going wild in the dressing room after, drinking champagne. Then right after the game, after we got all our gear off, the whole team ran down and jumped in the Rideau Canal. It's a feeling you can't describe, really. It's something everyone should get to experience."