It may be difficult for Prince George hockey fans to watch this year’s Memorial Cup because there was a belief or at least a realistic hope for a lengthy period of time that the P.G. Cougars would be a participant in the four-team tournament.
The Cougars were #1 in the final CHL rankings on March 26th at the close of the regular season and reached the WHL Final 4 before losing the Western Conference Final in six games to the Portland Winterhawks.
With Portland losing to the Moose Jaw Warriors in four straight in the WHL Championship it is clear Moose Jaw is the best team in the league and deserves all of the accolades that come with it.
By the way, the rankings are not only objective but can be misleading.
Case in point, the Warriors were not even listed in the top 10 in the final CHL rankings.
The 10-day Memorial Cup begins tonight (Friday) with Moose Jaw against the host Saginaw Spirit.
The other two teams play Saturday in the round robin with the OHL Champion London Knights against the QMJHL Champion Drummondville Voltigeurs.
If you are curious, London was ranked 2nd, Saginaw 3rd and Drummondville was 8th in those final national rankings.
London beat Saginaw in six in the OHL semis before sweeping 10th-ranked Oshawa Generals in the final.
Drummondville swept 4th-ranked Baie-Comeau Drakkar in the QMJHL championship series.
The four teams are well-rested with more than a week off.
This is the first time the three league champions all had sweeps in the same year in championship series.
Moose Jaw (16-4 in the playoffs) will try to become the first WHL team in 10-years to win the Memorial Cup.
The last to do it was the Edmonton Oil Kings who beat the Guelph Storm in the 2014 final.
Even though the WHL is in a drought, they still have the most championships.
Since the tournament adopted its current round-robin format in 1972, WHL teams have won the title 19 times, compared to 17 for OHL teams and 14 for teams from the QMJHL.
.@theTonyFerrari gets you set for the #MemorialCup in Saginaw with a mega preview:
– Team-by-team breakdowns
– NHL prospects
– X-factors
– Sleeper playershttps://t.co/zsoifN05GR— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) May 23, 2024
The Memorial Cup is prestigious and has a long history of over 100 years as the trophy was first awarded in 1919.
Having said that it is my belief that winning a league championship is more impressive and holds more weight than winning the Memorial Cup.
Obviously, capturing both, like the Quebec Remparts (QMJHL) did a year ago is the ultimate prize.
Quebec, coached by Patrick Roy, beat the WHL champion Seattle Thunderbirds 5-0 in the 2023 final.
There really was not an argument last year that Quebec had the top team among 60 in the country.
But let me ask you this; would you rather have your team win the Memorial Cup or a league title if you could not have both?
Sometimes, a host team wins this tournament without winning a league title.
Just two years ago, the Saint John Sea Dogs won the Memorial Cup championship on home ice after losing in the first round of the QMJHL playoffs.
I am not suggesting the national title should have an asterisk beside it, but the Sea Dogs’ accomplishment that year was less the Shawinigan Cataractes, who won the QMJHL title, but did not reach the Memorial Cup final.
Winning a league championship over four series and a 7-week grind is considerably more notable that winning a 10-day tournament with no best-of-7 series.
Having to battle through injuries, travel and intangibles to get to 16 victories to become a league champion is much more difficult than actually winning the Memorial Cup, where the winner may have had only four or five wins (two or three in the round robin, plus semi final and final) with days off in between and no bus rides.
It would be a nice choice to have, a Memorial Cup or a league title, but although you always want to win your last game, the pride of being the best in your league, should be number one.
The Warriors are coming off their first WHL title in the team’s 40-year history.
They could bomb out at the 2024 Memorial Cup (I don’t think they will) but that will not diminish their Ed Chynoweth Cup one little bit.
By the way, the 2025 Memorial Cup, which will be the 105th edition of the event, will be hosted by the Rimouski Océanic of the QMJHL.
In 2026, it should return to the WHL.
The P.G. Cougars should consider putting in a bid.
Both of their super rookies this season, sniper Terik Parascek and fan favorite goalie Joshua Ravensbergen will be 19 then, so they already have the makings of another solid team for the 25-26 season.
(They will most certainly be strong contenders in 24-25).
Yes, the Cougars future appears to be bright, and a Memorial Cup appearance, in one form or another, would be the ultimate dream payoff.
Memorial Cup Schedule pic.twitter.com/0svkdqX4m3
— HockeyProspect.com (@ScoutingService) May 16, 2024
FROM THE QUOTE RACK:
Employers at Old Faithful National Park agree that the most constant and predictable thing in their lives is a Toronto Maple Leafs playoff failure.
*Contributor Bill Littlejohn of South Lake Tahoe, California
Apparently per ESPN “The Shohei Ohtani bobblehead giveaway snarled traffic outside Dodger Stadium on Thursday.” As opposed to traffic normally only being snarled on days ending in Y. Guess ESPN doesn’t get to Dodger Stadium much.
*Comedy writer Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com
Ex-NFL receiver Rob Gronkowski and about 20 unidentified drinking buddies recently racked up a bar tab of over $100,000. I’m guessing Gronk wasn’t the only tight end.
Hartley Miller is the news and sports director/supervisor plus morning news anchor for 94.3 the GOAT and Country 97fm. He has just finished his 11th year as the radio colour commentator for the Prince George Cougars home games. Hartley has been on the airwaves in PG since 1979 and is the author of You Don’t Say (sports quotes).
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].