Next Stop: Memorial Cup 2005
Friday, May 20, 2005
Posted by Kerrzy
 | The defending Memorial Cup Champions; the first team to be ranked #1 in the CHL every week of a season; the team with the biggest name in junior hockey; the team coached by the winningest coach in CHL history… |
The Ottawa 67’s were this year’s runners-up in the OHL, having lost to the London Knights in the finals, but qualify because the Knights automatically qualify as the host and are looked at early on as the “dark horseâ€, having gone 34-26-7-1 in the regular season and losing 4-1 in the OHL best-of-seven finals. The 67’s are the only team in the tournament to not finish first place in their respective league or win a final by at least a four-games-to-one margin, but they are led by the winningest coach in CHL history; will his experience be enough to lift them?
The Kelowna Rockets (45-13-12-2) are representing the WHL for the third time in as many years after going 16-8 in the post-season and come into the tournament as the defending Memorial Cup Champion, having hosted and won the tournament last year. The Rockets don’t seem to have the apparent firepower of the Oceanic or the Knights and don’t have a player in the top 20 in regular season WHL scoring; their top playoff scorer, Justin Keller, sitting at just 22 points in 23 games.Another problem for the Rockets will be the absence of their starting goaltender Derek Yeomans who was injured during the WHL Championships that saw the Rockets down the Brandon Wheat Kings in 5 games. The CHL has allowed Mike Wall of the Everett Silvertips to join the team strictly as an emergency backup to current starter Kristofer Westblom and can only play should Westblom suffer an injury. Yeomans will travel with the team to London and is expected to be cleared to play at some point during the tournament at which time he’ll take over.
Rimouski’s QMJHL Championship run saw their star player tally up 31 points (14g, 17a) in a thirteen game space that saw them lose only once. The Oceanic (45-17-5-3) had the CHL’s leading scorer in both the playoffs (by points per game) and the regular season as Sidney Crosby finished with 168 points (66g, 102a) in 62 games. All eyes will be on the QMJHL’s representatives to see how they handle the more physical styles of the WHL and OHL teams, but they’ll also be on Crosby, Roussin and Pouliot of the Oceanic who finished 1-2-3 in league scoring combining for 398 points in 201 games.Corey Perry of the London Knights won’t let you think that Crosby is the only one who can score though, coming just shy of a 50-goal season this year, netting 47 goals and adding 83 helpers for a 130 point season, and 38 points (11g, 27a) in 18 games so far in the playoffs. Another interesting statistic to consider is that the London Knights (59-7-2) have only lost at home on two occasions all season, including the playoffs; and they have home-ice all tournament.
The tournament opens on Saturday night at 7pm EST with the Knights and the Oceanic, and continues on Sunday at 4pm when the Rockets go head-to-head with the 67’s. Out of the 4 teams, every one but the Knights have won a Memorial Cup (1999–Ottawa 67’s, 2000-Rimouski Oceanics, 2004-Kelowna Rockets); will this be their year? I can’t wait to find out.
KERRZY’S PREDICTION: Too bad Caroline Marcil is still on the IR list with a sore tailbone, because this tournament will ONLY have the Canadian National anthem…I think that home-crowd advantage will be huge for the Knights given their home-record, but the Oceanic will give them a run for their money with the 67’s being the possible surprise team.