Memorial Cup Spots on the Line

I will get to the Portland-Edmonton series on Friday, when I make my predictions.  However, there are two other spots on the line for the Memorial Cup tournament, and those will be taken by the champions in the OHL and the QMJHL.

OHL Championship (J. Ross Robertson Trophy)

(1) London Knights vs. (2) Barrie Colts

The Knights had little trouble getting to this point, sweeping Saginaw in the opening round, disposing of Kitchener in the following round, and beating Plymouth on the way to defending their championship.  The best team on offense and the third-ranked team on defense (only Owen Sound and Belleville posted better numbers), the Knights have some players, as Max Domi, Seth Griffin, and Chris Tierney lead the way up front while Olli Maatta and Scott Harrington lead a stout blue line.  Anthony Stolarz has shined in his first season with the Knights.  The Knights are coached by Dale Hunter, who briefly led the Washington Capitals to a playoff berth last year.

The Colts led the Eastern Conference in goals scored while being tied for fourth in the league in goals against.  Sweeps against Kingston and Oshawa were followed by a hard fought seven game series win against Belleville, and the Colts are lead by Mark Schiefele, Zach Hall,  and Mathias Niederberger.  Dale Hawerchuk is the head coach of the Colts.

QMJHL Championship (President Cup)

(1) Halifax Mooseheads vs. (2) Baie-Comeau Drakkar

The Mooseheads are the only team in all three leagues to not have lost a playoff game so far.  Sweeps against Saint John, Gatineau, and Rouyn-Noranda have led the Mooseheads to an almost certain spot in the Memorial Cup.  It's no secret that the Mooseheads are led by potential first overall picks in Jonathan Drouin and Nathan MacKinnon, as a whopping 347 goals in the regular season (13 more than the Winterhawks) will attest.  But don't sleep on the defense, as they led the league in that category, too, and Zachary Fucale, another 2013 NHL Draft prospect, is a major reason for that.  Dominique Ducharme is the head coach of the Mooseheads.

The Drakkar were tied for second in offense and were second in defense, and had a slightly harder time getting to this point.  Sherbrooke and Victoriaville were victims of sweeps before the Drakkar were taken to six games by Blainville-Boisbriand in the semifinals.  Zach O'Brien led the team in points while Philipe Cadorette helped backstop the team to victory.  Eric Veilleux is the head coach.