Handicapping the 2019 Memorial Cup

The 101st Memorial Cup Tournament begins tomorrow in Halifax, NS, and as is tradition, the host team will kick off the tournament in their special Memorial Cup themed uniforms. The tournament will also feature the QMJHL champion, OHL champion, and WHL champion, so who fills those roles? Let's look at the teams vying for the ultimate prize in major junior hockey.

Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL)-The Mooseheads are the host team this year, which ensured their berth into this tournament. However, don't think of them as a pushover, as they actually made the QMJHL finals, falling in six games. Their NHL prospects to watch for include Jared McIsaac, Benoit-Oliver Groulx, and Antoine Morand. They are led by overager Samuel Asselin, and are backstopped by Alexis Gravel, who is a Chicago Blackhawks prospect. As with any host team, the Mooseheads are all in this year, and given that they made the league finals this year, have a great shot at skating away with the Memorial Cup.

Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (QMJHL)-The QMJHL champion, they were the hottest team entering the league's playoffs, and this is their second appearance in four seasons, having fallen short in 2016 to London in the Memorial Cup final. Led by coach Mario Pouliot, who will look to win his second straight Memorial Cup (he accomplished the feat last year with Acadie-Bathurst), the Huskies rely on the overagers, with Peter Abbandonato Jacob Neveu, and Samuel Harvey leading the way. However, it is New York Islanders prospect Noah Dobson who is the team's best player, having also won with Acadie-Bathurst last year.

Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)-The Ed Chynoweth trophy winner, the Raiders actually had the most difficult path of the four teams, being challenged by Saskatoon, Edmonton, and Vancouver before claiming their spot in an overtime game 7 in the finals. Led by Ian Scott in goal and a glut of forwards such as Dante Hannoun, Noah Gregor, Parker Kelly, and Cole Fonstad, the Raiders are well-tested and will look to give the WHL their third Memorial Cup championship in 11 years.

Guelph Storm (OHL)-The most resilient team in the tournament, the Storm had to win three game 7s, needing to come back from a 3-0 series deficit against London and a 3-1 deficit to Saginaw in two of those series before ultimately overcoming a 2-0 series deficit to Ottawa in the finals to win the championship in 6 games. They have counted on a bounty from Owen Sound in Nick Suzuki, Sean Durzi, and Markus Phillips, as well as holdovers in Isaac Ratcliffe and Dmitry Samorukov to carry the team. The player to watch is Alexey Tropochenko, who has had a breakthrough year while impressing St. Louis Blues brass.

The Memorial Cup Field

Over the weekend, the Memorial Cup field was set, as the OHL, QMJHL, and the WHL determined their champions to join this year's host the Red Deer Rebels for the chance to hoist the Memorial Cup and declare themselves the Canadian Hockey League champions. Let's look at each team and what they need to do to be this year's Memorial Cup champions.

ROUYN-NORANDA HUSKIES

How they got here: They began their run by sweeping Drummondville in the opening round, were met with slight resistance from Blainville-Boisbriand in five games, needed six games to put away Moncton in the Conference Finals before putting down Shawinigan in five games to win the Presidents' Cup.

Why they can win the Memorial Cup: They are led offensively by Francis Perron, but don't forget about Timo Meier and A.J. Greer, two key players picked up either prior to the season or in mid-season trades. In goal, Chase Marchand has held down the fort quite nicely, as he posted impressive GAA numbers en route to pushing the Huskies to their first championship since landing in Rouyn-Noranda 20 years ago.

LONDON KNIGHTS

How they got here: Their stiffest challenge came in the opening round, as they needed six games to put away Owen Sound in the opening round. However, since winning game six of that series, the Knights reeled off 13 consecutive wins, including that game 6 win, sweeping past Kitchener, Erie, and Niagara to claim their third J. Ross Robertson Trophy in five years and securing a spot in the Memorial Cup tournament for the fourth time in that same span (they hosted in 2014).

Why they can win the Memorial Cup: It begins up front, as Mitch Marner and Christian Dvorak lead the charge up front. Having players such as Matthew Tkachuk and Max Jones helps, too. Tyler Parsons is one of the more underrated goalies in the field, as the guys up front get all the press, but he's been proven to be mentally tough even in the face of rough starts, as the game 4 against Kitchener showed.

BRANDON WHEAT KINGS

How they got here: A slow series start against Edmonton saw them begin in a 2-0 series hole. However, they climbed out emphatically, winning the next four games. Their next three series saw them win by identical 4-1 series scores, as Moose Jaw, Red Deer, and Seattle fell to the Wheat Kings on their way to the Ed Chynoweth Trophy.

Why they can win the Memorial Cup: Like the London Knights, the Wheat Kings are loaded up front, as Jayce Hawryluk and John Quennville are the veteran presences there. However, it's the young guy in Nolan Patrick that truly makes things go there, as he took home the Playoff MVP Trophy there. Defensively, they are well-balanced, as both Kale Clague and Ivan Provorov lead the way there. Jordan Papirny doesn't get the press he deserves, but he's shown mental toughness, bouncing back from bad games to give the Wheat Kings the boost they needed. Also, the Wheat Kings have shown a killer instinct, winning the series clinching games by the scores of 10-3, 7-3, 5-2, and 8-4.

RED DEER REBELS

How they got here: The Rebels are hosting this year's Memorial Cup tournament. In the WHL playoffs, they handled Calgary in five games, but needed all seven games to finally put away the Regina Pats. They met their end in the Conference Finals when they lost to Brandon in five games.

Why they can win the Memorial Cup: Mid-season acquisitions Adam Helewka and Jake DeBrusk are the best offensive options on the squad, with Helewka nearly willing the Rebels to wins at times while DeBrusk has rediscovered his game after struggling for much of the regular season. Any Brent Sutter-led team has to be strong defensively, and that is where having the likes of Haydn Fleury and Nelson Nogier help. When their goaltending is on, there are few teams that can match the veteran talent of Trevor Martin and Rylan Toth.

Ice Rink Problems in the Q

The QMJHL was once again faced with an ice rink problem over the weekend, as game 2 of the Finals was postponed between the Shawinigan Cataractes and the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. The full details:

Game 2 of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League President Cup final between the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and Shawinigan Cataractes was postponed on Friday.

The game was postponed due to a problem with the pipes under the ice at the Aréna Iamgold in Rouyn-Noranda, Que.

According to the QMJHL, the rule 1.5.6, rescheduling of a game, in the case where 20 minutes or more have been played, the game will continue and be clocked with the remaining time before the original game was stopped.

With that, if Game 2 gets back underway at 4 p.m. on Saturday, the game will start in the second period with Rouyn-Noranda leading Shawinigan 2-1.

Mind you, this wasn't the first time ice rink problems  have plagued a QMJHL game, as a February match between the Baie-Comeau Drakkar and the Charlottetown Islanders was called in the third period in which the Islanders would take it 5-2 in a rather strange way to end the game. The story to that can be found here.

If there's something for all of the teams in the QMJHL to sort out, getting your home ice situation under control would be a great start. Oh, and Rouyn-Noranda would win the game and now have a 2-0 series lead over Shawinigan.