The London Knights as an organization will never replicate the Everest-like highs they’ve experienced in 24 hours.

Any hockey organization would be hard-pressed to replicate what the Knights have gone through in those 24 hours.

Monday night, the Knights defeated the Barrie Colts 3-2 ending an emotional, once-every-20-year, seven-game series with an Ontario Hockey League championship.

They head to the 2013 Memorial Cup in Saskatoon this week.

Tuesday morning, the Knights were announced as the winning bid for the 2014 Memorial Cup.

“I’m numb,” said Knights’ general manager Mark Hunter early Tuesday. “It’s pretty amazing, everything that’s happened.”

It’s more than amazing. Just think of where the Knights’ franchise was in 2000 when Mark and Dale Hunter and Basil McRae became new owners. This is like Disneyland.

The Knights had never won an OHL title. They were playing in an old building that promised nothing for the future. If there is a hockey fairy tale, the Knights are living it.

In 13 years, the Knights have won multiple division and conference titles, two OHL crowns and a Memorial Cup and will now hold their second Memorial Cup tournament in eight years.

“It’s been quite a run,” Hunter said. “No, I didn’t get much sleep. There’s just too much to think about, too much to do. It’s a good problem to have.”

The Knights won the bid over Barrie and Windsor. The Knights held the Memorial Cup in 2005, while Barrie has never held it and Windsor last held it in 1981.

Awarding London the event so soon after the 2005 tournament will cause some hard feelings.

It will be viewed as the big-money, big-arena, big-city team getting what they want again.

Hackles are raised when the Knights convince a big-time player to opt for their team, rather than go somewhere else.

Winning the tournament again is not going to boost the Knights’ popularity around the league at all. But OHL commissioner David Branch said money is not the determining factor deciding where the tournament will go. He said that the difference between the bids was the quality of the on-ice product.

Branch offered hope for so-called smaller-market teams.

“If, for example, any one of the other two bid proponents had the returning roster of the London Knights, they would have been awarded the privilege of hosting this event,” Branch said. “That’s what it came down to in this instance. It wasn’t a case of small market/large market. All the bids were the same largely, save and except the projection of the returning team for London.”

Branch said financial guarantee or arena size was not the determining factor. “We seen before and we’ve seen in this process that that does not deter a team having the opportunity to host the event. It’s not all about dollars and cents, either. It’s about (the quality of the host team). You have that enthusiasm. You aren’t being embarrassed, all those things.”

Branch’s message to the other bidders is simple: put together a strong team and it won’t matter what size of city you play in: “We can’t forget that we are a league . . . of mostly medium- and smaller-market teams.”

That said, the London bid included more than cash, arena and a quality team. They unveiled a unique and intelligent theme. The legacy they hope to leave revolves around the OHL alumni, often a forgotten aspect of junior hockey. The plan is to create an OHL Hall of Fame, Alumni Association, and OHL Alumni Foundation.

It is understandably difficult for other organizations to accept that the Knights have won another Memorial Cup bid. Given the quality of the facilities, fans, accommodations, money, London could win the bid every time it is in the OHL. The only variable is quality of team and the Knights have proven that for the most part, they are competitive. It would be wonderful if every OHL centre were able to host a Memorial Cup, but no team should be punished for being successful. Hate the franchise all you want, but the Knights have earned their success.

They’ve earned the right to celebrate the most amazing 24 hours in the franchise’s history.

The Knights earned their way into the 2013 Memorial Cup.

According to the rules of the game, they’ve earned the right to host the 2014 event.