2014 Memorial Cup Location

[GBFP]

Im not going to disagree with what youve said Jackman as I agree with the quality of team issues), but sometimes other factors get pulled into play

I've heard from non-hockey folks who work for the city here in Windsor that "certain promises" were made when the city agreed to spend $60M of tax payers dollars to build the new arena.

Conflict came up in last time because "certain promises" were made to Melynk as well for bailing out the league on a couple occasions.

 

[hockeylegend11]

What was Sakastoons situation when they were awarded Tourney? Did they have a better roster on paper than the Spits (ie. more drafted, rated for draft players, top end guys ect..) Just curious as Im not sure but thought I heard they had a good group of vets already NHL drafted.

Again I wont be surprised if they win the bid or get passed over. Not sure how the factor Ive alluded to will play out (not a player signing) Personally, I wouldnt take it into consideration but the CHL may have a different outlook

While the Spits are not returning a roster as strong as say London overall,the fact that

eight defensemen with Ohl experience are returning plus 2 goalies,along with Rychel
Johnson,Vail,Marchese,Giftopoulous,Hosang,plus others,along with 2 or 3 possible o/a
not yet acquired,2 euro 1st rd picks,wont be overlooked
London gets it for the forwards back,goaltending vs Windsor not proven to be better or worse,Pavelka/Dekort,vs Patterson/Stolarz,team records not relevant,and defence where the Knights only have 4 returning with OHL experience excluding O/As,Mermis,Zadorov,Liberati,and Maata
Gueplh and Barrie may/lwill lose their starting goalies,Barrie to me has the weakest
lineup in regards to players current point totals returning
At the end of the day London in my view has the best lineup returning overall
followed by Windsor,Guelph and then Barrie
If the committee goes by talent London wins,everything else considered Windsor wins
My feeling is that the so called Ace in the hole is that Spits will sign Nick Schmaltz,and he along with HoSang will be tapped as going in the top 10 NHL draft
and the Mem Cup will be a perfect showcase
I admit the fact the Spits will probably miss the playoffs does not help the process,
but 8 returning D,and the fact the Spits have had 2 of their best D out the past 2 plus weeks has knocked out of playoff contention
Spits were 6-0-0-1 after the trade tradeline and then the injuries,suspensions hit
and has been the main reason for their recent troubles,Spits have not dressed 20 players for 16 consecutive games

 

[aresknights]

I was wondering about Saskatoons roster compared to the Spits. Thought I heard Saskatoon had a big group of NHL drafted kids, Ill look at it after Knights game today.

You mention all the Spits returnees but more goes into it. How many are top level kids?
Youve given London the adv at F. Thats obvious. The skill the Knights return along with PO experience is huge and far beyond that of any other squad (even if they fall ealry in this years POs)
On D Id take Matta (1st rd) Zadarov (projected late 1st rd) Mermis, Liberati over Spits top 4 D any day. London has a chance at Sefton returning as well, plus more assets than the Spits to move.
Stolarz, Hebrst (former 1st rd) and Patterson over DeKort and the ever incomsistent Pavelka any day. (thou I hope they keep Pavelka as it burns a couple options ffrom a roster point of view)
Just MO

 

[StormSurge9]

"The Guelph Storm will issue a press release Tuesday regarding their Memorial Cup bid. One suspects it is to announce they are not going to be making one." - Storm Writer, Tony Saxon.

Guess we're going to have to make it the hard way.

 

[hockeylegend11]

I was wondering about Saskatoons roster compared to the Spits. Thought I heard Saskatoon had a big group of NHL drafted kids, Ill look at it after Knights game today.

You mention all the Spits returnees but more goes into it. How many are top level kids?
Youve given London the adv at F. Thats obvious. The skill the Knights return along with PO experience is huge and far beyond that of any other squad (even if they fall ealry in this years POs)
On D Id take Matta (1st rd) Zadarov (projected late 1st rd) Mermis, Liberati over Spits top 4 D any day. London has a chance at Sefton returning as well, plus more assets than the Spits to move.
Stolarz, Hebrst (former 1st rd) and Patterson over DeKort and the ever incomsistent Pavelka any day. (thou I hope they keep Pavelka as it burns a couple options ffrom a roster point of view)
Just MO

Eight returning D-men is hard to overlook,especially when they are Koekkoek,Seiloff,Ebert,Murphy,Bateman,plus Sanvido,Brown and Bowen,in my mind its beats only 4,only 1 has more then 1 year exp which is Maata,the others are rookies in this league,talented no doubt but raw,the combined experience as of now before this year is Windsor 7 London 1, afterwards it would be 14 -5,windsor big difference
Like I said i did not mention O/A possibles for either,I dont think Sefton returns for a 5 th season,San Jose will sign him,London would definiitely add 1 maybe 2 O/A on the
back end depending on if Griffth returns,Broadhurst pretty much guaranteed
As for goaltending both teams have returning goalies,Herbst cant be considered has yet to play,Kuchmey who has 2 years jr b experience would be Windsor 3 rd goalie
but at least he has played unlike Herbst and I know for a fact they are concerned going forward with Herbst,with knees u never know,especially a goalie
At the end of the day unless something is in the wind that we dont know about
London will get to host,especially if Guelph is not in the mix
Is it right yes and no,they would put on a great show,building would be filled no doubt,talent is pretty good,the league likes london more then Windsor,Windsor overall has less talent returning though things can change in a hurray,other then the fact London hosted less then 10 years ago it should be theirs
We will see

 

[RayzorIsDull]

That's the biggest issue Legend if London gets it. If they get it 9 years after hosting their last Memorial Cup it discourages other franchises in the future from bidding and by all talk to put in a bid it costs between $40-50 grand that goes to the league. If London gets it I fear you see only London, Kitchener, Ottawa wanting to bid all the time. We already know the Memorial Cup will never be in Plymouth, Saginaw, and Erie. There's a reason why teams like Belleville, Owen Sound, Brampton/NB won't bid. Will Kingston ever bid especially if they don't have the corporate support in the city? Even this year if Guelph doesn't want to bid for the cup you have to ask the question when would they do it again considering they have a very nice roster. OHL might be making a huge mistake if they give the Memorial Cup to London.

 

[hockeylegend11]

That's the biggest issue Legend if London gets it. If they get it 9 years after hosting their last Memorial Cup it discourages other franchises in the future from bidding and by all talk to put in a bid it costs between $40-50 grand that goes to the league. If London gets it I fear you see only London, Kitchener, Ottawa wanting to bid all the time. We already know the Memorial Cup will never be in Plymouth, Saginaw, and Erie. There's a reason why teams like Belleville, Owen Sound, Brampton/NB won't bid. Will Kingston ever bid especially if they don't have the corporate support in the city? Even this year if Guelph doesn't want to bid for the cup you have to ask the question when would they do it again considering they have a very nice roster. OHL might be making a huge mistake if they give the Memorial Cup to London.

Rayzor

Good pts made especially about Guelph,though if they lost Sparks huge hole to fill
but your reasoning is sound
The absence of Guelph not bidding makes it interesting,I dont think Barrie matches
up to Windsor in any category,Windsor is behind London in terms of overall
projected talent returning,but everything else they have done city/team wise lines up
as them to give to
If London had not hosted recently I would award it to them,but because they have
I would not for the reasons you gave

 

[Bubba P]

Rayzor

Good pts made especially about Guelph,though if they lost Sparks huge hole to fill
but your reasoning is sound
The absence of Guelph not bidding makes it interesting,I dont think Barrie matches
up to Windsor in any category,Windsor is behind London in terms of overall
projected talent returning,but everything else they have done city/team wise lines up
as them to give to
If London had not hosted recently I would award it to them,but because they have
I would not for the reasons you gave

What makes you think an under acheiving team like Windsor will be any better next year. They have all those players this year and might not make the playoffs .

 

[hockeylegend11]

What makes you think an under acheiving team like Windsor will be any better next year. They have all those players this year and might not make the playoffs .

Because when all the players were in the lineup after the trade deadline they went 6-0-0-1 thats why
A fully healthy lineup makes a big difference,especially on the backend
This year 8 defencemen are 18 and younger,with 4 of them 18,3 of them the best 3
on the team are 18,and 2 of the best have missed significant time since the deadline
Koekkoek has missed 16 games,Seiloff has missed 7,and spits are 8-9-0-1 in that stretch,including a current 5 game losing streak
The 1st 39 games would be classified as underacheiving,after the changes at the deadline,the last 18 games post tradeline,would be not because of underacheiving
for the most part but because of a injury riddled,suspension laden lineup,missing 2 of their best D

 

[GBFP]

Because when all the players were in the lineup after the trade deadline they went 6-0-0-1 thats why

That record includes Khokhlachev and Aleardi of course.

 

[hockeylegend11]

That record includes Khokhlachev and Aleardi of course.

Yes it does and most people had Koko been here at the start of season it is unlikely
the Spits would be in this situation
As I mentioned the record was after the deadlne when changes and additions occurred
moves made to correct an underacheiving group

 

[RayzorIsDull]

What makes you think an under acheiving team like Windsor will be any better next year. They have all those players this year and might not make the playoffs .

Why did the Memorial Cup committee give Rimouski the Memorial Cup in 09 after being under .500 as a team the year before?

 

[OHLTG]

An interesting point was made yesterday at the rink:

IF Windsor gets the Memorial Cup, do you think it's remotely possible Boston goes "Alex has a chance at a Cup, so let's leave him in Windsor to get huge minutes, instead of third or fourth line minutes in Providence"? I doubt it, but I can understand the logic.

 

[Torts]

An interesting point was made yesterday at the rink:

IF Windsor gets the Memorial Cup, do you think it's remotely possible Boston goes "Alex has a chance at a Cup, so let's leave him in Windsor to get huge minutes, instead of third or fourth line minutes in Providence"? I doubt it, but I can understand the logic.

don't think providence is that stacked up front. koko probably a top 6 with them.

 

[Kingpin794]

We already know the Memorial Cup will never be in Plymouth, Saginaw, and Erie.

Plymouth I'll agree with you because their building is awful.

But why Can't Saginaw or Erie host? I understand that an American city hosting doesn't appeal to Canadian sponsorship but the WHL has had an American city host several times.

 

[OHLTG]

I wouldn't rule out Saginaw as they have the facilities and the talent to get the job done. Erie has a respectable arena, but I question the media facilities and the team is seriously lacking. I'd imagine that they'll get some festivities during the McDavid-era, but Memorial Cup? I don't know.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

Plymouth I'll agree with you because their building is awful.

But why Can't Saginaw or Erie host? I understand that an American city hosting doesn't appeal to Canadian sponsorship but the WHL has had an American city host several times.

I believe the last time an american team hosted it was back in 98. I was told by somebody in 2003/2004 who's very close to the selection process that the very reasons you mentioned is the reason why an american team will not host the cup.

 

[Kingpin794]

I wouldn't rule out Saginaw as they have the facilities and the talent to get the job done. Erie has a respectable arena, but I question the media facilities and the team is seriously lacking. I'd imagine that they'll get some festivities during the McDavid-era, but Memorial Cup? I don't know.

My response was mainly aimed at Rayzor saying that Saginaw could NEVER get the memorial cup not necessarily this one.

 

[Jackman]

"The Guelph Storm will issue a press release Tuesday regarding their Memorial Cup bid. One suspects it is to announce they are not going to be making one." - Storm Writer, Tony Saxon.

Guess we're going to have to make it the hard way.

Did the Storm issue this press release?

 

[Percyma]

Airport Access

I'm not sure this is a deal breaker either (although Mississauga did mention it in their video). Of the remaining teams those with an advantage would include, in order: Ottawa, Guelph, Barrie. Honourable mentions to Oshawa and Windsor (I know Detroit is right there, but that doesn't have easy flights to most Canadian centres like Toronto and Ottawa do).

Windsor International Airport is served by Air Canada, Porter and WestJet so there would be no difficulties at all for people trying to Windsor from all over Canada. Many Americans prefer to fly out of Windsor to Canadian destinations rather than use Detroit airports. And a cup-winning team at a Windsor tournament may even consider flying out of Windsor on Sunwing to party in locales such as Cuba or Mexico.

 

[StormSurge9]

Did the Storm issue this press release?

He said they we're going too, but it didn't happen. Second thoughts maybe?

 

[StormLifer]

This just released on Guelph Storm website:

The Guelph Storm Hockey Club has decided not to further pursue the 2014 Mastercard Memorial Cup host bid.

Although we were excited about the possibility of hosting the event once again, we have, upon thorough review of the competitive landscape around the bid, determined that for a variety of reasons our organization could not be successful at this time.

As we fully understand that our fans and supporters, as well as the City of Guelph, would love to host the Mastercard Memorial Cup once again, we will continue to work in the future to return the event to Guelph.

 

[Ward Cornell]

This just released on Guelph Storm website:

I guess the Hunters stagedy of outbidding everyone is scary some away. IMHO they are just pompous jerks!

 

[RayzorIsDull]

I guess the Hunters stagedy of outbidding everyone is scary some away. IMHO they are just pompous jerks!

That's their plan because the city of London isn't pitching anything in.

 

[aresknights]

I guess the Hunters stagedy of outbidding everyone is scary some away. IMHO they are just pompous jerks!

Reading between the lines? Fair enough.

Maybe they bailed because they know the Spits have a cooked deal with the O? Maybe Mark has put the bid outta reach. Shouldnt he put his best bid forward?