Memorial Cup Preview

It’s hard to argue that the playoff are the most exciting time during the hockey season. Where the best of the best come to meet and battle it out for a chance to hoist the trophy with 23 of their closest brothers. Where all the blood, sweat and tears that went into that season are instantly wiped away with the thrill of winning. For junior hockey, particularly the CHL, there is nothing better than the Memorial Cup.

For 3 CHL teams who have already poured their heart and souls into winning their respective championships in their own leagues, they now have the opportunity to do it all again and prove they are the best Canada junior hockey players around with a Memorial Cup Victory.

Was that a nice and exciting way to set up the Memorial Cup tournament for you? I hope so! For those of you who don’t know, the Memorial Cup is a mini-tournament of sorts which features 4 CHL teams. The championship winning teams from the OHL, WHL and QMJHL all get to compete as well as the host team. This year the host team is London Knights.

Unfortunately none of the top draft picks for the upcoming 2014 NHL draft will be competing in the tournament. There are plenty of draft eligible competitors but none are expected to be taken inside the 5, so there will be no top prospect head-to-head action like last season.

However, as always when junior hockey players are playing for the draft and roster spots the Memorial Cup promises to be an incredible tournament. Aside from the Stanley Cup Finals, find me better hockey that young hockey players giving it their all for the Memorial Cup!

The 2014 Memorial Cup will get underway later tonight and we’ve got the breakdown here for y’all. The four teams that competing are as follows; The QMJHL Champions- Val d’Or Foreurs, The OHL Champions- Guelph Storm, the WHL Champions- Edmonton Oil Kings and the previously mentioned hosts, the London Knights.

Without further ado, let’s break down each team and their journey to the 2014 Memorial Cup before the puck drops.