Think of it as the Canadian Final Four.
Unlike our NCAA Basketball Final Four, however, our neighbors north of the border get a whole week of games instead of three games over three days as the annual MasterCard Memorial Cup begins Friday in Red Deer, Alberta.
The Rebels are the host team after falling to Brandon in the WHL Eastern Conference finals. The Wheat Kings went on to beat Seattle in five games in what was Brandon’s second consecutive trip to the WHL finals to reach the Memorial Cup.
The London Knights are the Ontario Hockey League’s representative, while the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies won their first-ever Quebec Major Junior Hockey League title to reach the final four.
The teams play a three-game round-robin tournament. The winner advances to the final while the second- and third-place teams play in a semifinal game. If tiebreakers are needed, they occur Thursday.
The tournament gets underway Friday at 5 p.m. PDT as the Rebels face off against the London Knights. In the U.S. the games will be shown on NHL Network.
The Silvertips have never been to the Memorial Cup. They were the closest in their inaugural season when they fell to Medicine Hat in four games in the WHL final. Everett also bid for the event several years ago, but were not awarded the bid.
In other news, the Vancouver Giants made a hire at general manager as Glen Hanlon agreed to take the position. Hanlon will now begin the search for Vancouver’s next head coach.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
