2011 Memorial Cup

[OMMF]

Isn't Kootenay one of the teams that might pack up and move to Chilliwack? Hm, just realized that the whole Western Canadian Sub-NHL Carousel just got messed up with the Moose no longer moving.

Chilliwack already has a team to fill Prospera Centre. The Quesnel Millionaires of the BCHL are moving back to Chilli to become the Chiefs again. I think that the W is done in the Fraser Valley as long as the Heat are in Abby.

[Jer15]

Unless something else comes up I'll be volunteering at the event. Should be quite the experience (and I'm not just talking about commuting to that place from Downtown Toronto 8-10 times during the tournament. Ughhh.

What are you doing?

I volunteered to drive the players around. Should be fun. Did this for the Canadian Open too, some of the golfers were really cool guys.

[Neon_Matrix]

Unless something else comes up I'll be volunteering at the event. Should be quite the experience (and I'm not just talking about commuting to that place from Downtown Toronto 8-10 times during the tournament. Ughhh.

What are you doing?

I volunteered to drive the players around. Should be fun. Did this for the Canadian Open too, some of the golfers were really cool guys.

I can't remember the name of it and am too lazy to find it but it's the fan experience area in the venue. Games, exhibits, etc, should be an interesting time. As long as I get to meet people who can help me in my career aspirations...

[Jer15]

Unless something else comes up I'll be volunteering at the event. Should be quite the experience (and I'm not just talking about commuting to that place from Downtown Toronto 8-10 times during the tournament. Ughhh.

What are you doing?

I volunteered to drive the players around. Should be fun. Did this for the Canadian Open too, some of the golfers were really cool guys.

I can't remember the name of it and am too lazy to find it but it's the fan experience area in the venue. Games, exhibits, etc, should be an interesting time. As long as I get to meet people who can help me in my career aspirations...

Trust me man, these things are just awesome.

Generally everyone is friendly because they all want to be there and you get to meet some awesome people.

[OMMF]

In double OT, Saint John wins. Here are your 4 teams for the Memorial Cup starting Friday:

• Kootenay (WHL)
• Saint John (QMJHL)
• Owen Sound (OHL)
• Mississauga (Host team)

[NEW.ERA]

Lets go Ice!

[zer0dotcom]

Saint john and Mississauga open the round robin on Friday, and The Majors will be wearing their yet to be revealed memorial Cup Uniforms for the game.

just watching the Highlights on TV, with Saint John and Gatineau playing each other, both team wear the same template...odd to see such a unique template used by two different teams in the same series...

[Roger Clemente]

This more logo related, but the OHL finalists Owen Sound and Mississauga are wearing the Memorial Cup patch.

Finalists in all 3 league do that. That's why you see game worn jerseys of teams that didn't make the Memorial Cup with the patch on there.

I've seen a bunch of them lately while researching for the site; St. John, Shawinigan, it's kind of cool, but sucks if your team is only a finalist and doesn't make the actual tournament.

So, the league finals could be finished soon. Mississauga only needs one more win to beat Owen Sound, Saint John is finally on the cusp of winning. They lost last year in the finals, now they can bump Gatineau.

and Kootenay is ready to return to the Cup, they need one more to knock off Portland in the WHL.

So our 2011 Memorial Cup looks like it will be won by one of Mississauga, Owen Sound, Kootenay or Saint John. This could be only the second time in History a Quebec based team was not present in the Memorial Cup (The other being 2007 when Lewiston won the QMJHL title.)

Actually Moncton was the only team last year from the Q in the Memorial Cup tournament.

[zer0dotcom]

That's true Roger, I mixed that one up rather badly. Two straight years then without a Quebec club.

Well, game one goes tonight, Saint John will face Mississauga in the tourney opener where we will get a look at The Majors' MemCup uniforms (odd they haven't been shown before hand...)

[twi]

Does anybody else dislike the amount of redundant games in this tournament? Even if I concede that the OHL finals weren't completely meaningless, you're still left with a semi final game after the round robin (and possibly a tie breaker game between 3rd and 4th too). That just seems odd to me. A team can get swept in the league final, finish in a tie for third after the round robin, but still win the whole thing. Has the CHL never never heard of a tiebreaking procedure?

[OMMF]

Does anybody else dislike the amount of redundant games in this tournament? Even if I concede that the OHL finals weren't completely meaningless, you're still left with a semi final game after the round robin (and possibly a tie breaker game between 3rd and 4th too). That just seems odd to me. A team can get swept in the league final, finish in a tie for third after the round robin, but still win the whole thing. Has the CHL never never heard of a tiebreaking procedure?

Except that the only way a team could get swept in the league final and still make it in to the tournament is if they were the host team or they were playing the host team in the league final. Either way, it's not like they don't belong in the tournament.

And are you suggesting that the winner of the round robin should be declared champion? If you are going to do that, then you should play 2 games against each team.

[twi]

Does anybody else dislike the amount of redundant games in this tournament? Even if I concede that the OHL finals weren't completely meaningless, you're still left with a semi final game after the round robin (and possibly a tie breaker game between 3rd and 4th too). That just seems odd to me. A team can get swept in the league final, finish in a tie for third after the round robin, but still win the whole thing. Has the CHL never never heard of a tiebreaking procedure?

Except that the only way a team could get swept in the league final and still make it in to the tournament is if they were the host team or they were playing the host team in the league final. Either way, it's not like they don't belong in the tournament.

And are you suggesting that the winner of the round robin should be declared champion? If you are going to do that, then you should play 2 games against each team.

I realize that only in certain situations could a swept team get in.

I still like a championship game, I just think they should take teams 1 and 2 after the round robin and skip the 2nd and 3rd place play in. Just way too many second chances in this tournament, imo. Reduces the importance of the games.

[zer0dotcom]

Game 1 is in the bag, Saint John takes down Mississauga 4-3. the Majors had their memCup unis going, using Pittsburgh's 2011 Winter Classic template.

http://www.mastercardmemorialcup.com/photo_gallery/gallery/id/2372

http://auction.chl.ca/iSynApp/auctionDisplay.action?auctionId=11074

From the auction page:

The opening game jerseys were designed by the Canadian Hockey League in conjunction with the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors in honour of the memory of Canadian soldier Marc Diab, a Mississauga native. Diab fought and died in Afghanistan for his country, the soldier depicted comes from an image of Marc. The Maple Leaf is from the Toronto Scottish Regiment logo. The Toronto Scottish was an armed forces unit based out of Mississauga that fought in World War 1. Additionally, the four blue stripes on the sleeves and bottoms of the jersey represent the four Memorial Cups won by the St. Michael's Majors in their history. The Memorial Cup was originally donated in 1919 by the Ontario Hockey Association as a memorial to those young men and women who had given their lives in the defence of Canada during World War I. In 2010 the Memorial Cup was rededicated to the memory of all fallen Canadian Military Personnel."All proceeds from this auction will go towards supporting the Dominion Command Poppy Trust Fund. The poppy fund is designed to support veterans and their families, buy hospital equipment, support cadet groups, and provide student bursaries.

[Neon_Matrix]

If anyone happened to be there today (Sunday May 22), you'd have seen me as Riley the Raccoon. Never been a mascot before but I thought, what the heck, try something new. Must say... new appreciation for those inside those hot, hot, hot costumes.

[chrysleraspen08]

Saw a link to this on the OHL website. Nice.

http://www.ontariohockeyleague.com/article/hershey-canada-reveals-chocolate-replica-of-memorial-cup

[OMMF]

Huberdeau has been coming up huge for Saint John the whole time so it's only fitting he gets the OT goal tonight. Despite my sig, I would be thrilled for the Sea Dogs to win the Cup and give DeSerres a great end to his career. A career that took him from the Pacific coast to the shores of the Atlantic.

[FrankCostanza]

Huberdeau has been coming up huge for Saint John the whole time so it's only fitting he gets the OT goal tonight. Despite my sig, I would be thrilled for the Sea Dogs to win the Cup and give DeSerres a great end to his career. A career that took him from the Pacific coast to the shores of the Atlantic.

He is just one win away now. Sea Dogs clinch a berth in the Finals, still could play anyone in that game.

[twi]

To everyone's annoyance, I will again post that it is asinine that a team can finish fourth in a round robin and still have a chance to win. That makes no sense!

[DEAD!]

To everyone's annoyance, I will again post that it is asinine that a team can finish fourth in a round robin and still have a chance to win. That makes no sense!

... and to that point Kootenay would now have to beat Owen Sound, Mississauga and St John in that order to win... since the Majors beat the Attack tonight.

[DEAD!]

While the Lightning were playing the Bruins, the Majors beat the Ice to advance to the final against St John. Too bad the Ice Dogs left, it could have been Ice vs Ice Dogs and Ice Dogs vs Sea Dogs.