Even if the Ottawa 67’s lose, the Memorial Cup will be a win-win situation.
The crown jewel of the junior hockey world, set for May 15-23 at the Ottawa Civic Centre, is what every young hockey player dreams of winning aside from their NHL aspirations.
But the hardest part is actually making it to the final-four tournament.
The cup consists of the winners of the Ontario Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Western Hockey League and the host team which rotates each year between leagues.
Last year Spokane, Wash. hosted the tournament.
In 1997 the Hull Olympiques were chosen to host.
During both those years, the 67’s went into the playoffs favoured to qualify for the cup but lost both times in the OHL finals.
You could almost hear the collective sigh of relief come from 67’s headquarters at Lansdowne Park when the selection committee chose Ottawa as a host, because now there’s one less worry for the team.
Barrie, Plymouth, and Sarnia also made presentations to the OHL to host the tournament but never really had a chance against Ottawa.
Ottawa really is the only option. The 67’s are by far the best in the country, our arena can hold thousands more fans then any of the other cities and we have hundreds more hotel rooms for visitors.
The bottom line: the other cities just couldn’t top what Ottawa has to offer.
Now without looking too far ahead, there’s still the issue of actually winning the darn thing.
Scenario number one: Ottawa wins the Memorial Cup.
If this happens, 67’s head coach Brian Kilrea will finally be able to lead his hometown team to victory and put the final piece of the puzzle into his already outstanding career.
It will also give players like Nick Boynton, the 67’s captain who is in his last year of junior eligibility, a much-deserved moment in the sun.
It will give the top-ranked team even more respect and add more tradition to the already envied franchise.
It will give team owner Jeff Hunt a sense of self-satisfaction, knowing that all the time and money he’s put into the team has finally paid off.
Oh yah, we’ll also get that great big beautiful trophy.
Scenario number two: Ottawa loses the championships.
If this happens the city will still have millions of dollars pumped into it through tourism revenue.
The management, players and fans will still be able to sleep at night knowing that they were in the upper echelon of junior hockey.
It has been 15 years since Ottawa won the Memorial Cup and it has been 27 years since Ottawa has hosted the tourney.
Team management, league officials, the media and the selection committee have all done their parts to get the championships here in Ottawa.
Now, it’s time for the boys in black, red and white to take the reins.