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With the Memorial Cup set to begin on Friday, we are going to take a one day break from our draft previews and bring you a quick guide to the 2013 tournament. The Memorial Cup is one of the oldest and most sought after trophies in hockey, and one of the best traditions in Junior hockey. This year’s tournament is scheduled to start on Friday in Saskatoon, and the final is scheduled for May 26th. A big time story in this tournament is that it features all 3 of the consensus top 3 picks in the 2013 NHL Draft. Fans will get to see Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin take on Seth Jones in the second game of the tourney on Saturday Night. So without further ado, lets take a look at the participants in the 2012 Memorial Cup.

The teams are ordered geographically from East to West, and not based on who we think will win the tourney.

Halifax Mooseheads

Record: 58-6-3-1, 1st place in the QMJHL, Won QMJHL Presidents Cup with a five game victory over the Baie-Comeau Drakkar. 16-1 in the Playoffs

NHL Prospects: Martin Frk (Detroit), Konrad Abeltshauser (San Jose), Brent Andrews (Nashville),

Top 2013 Draft Eligible Prospects: Jonathan Drouin, Nathan MacKinnon, Zach Fucale,

The Mooseheads feature LWOS’ top two ranked prospects in Jonathan Drouin and Nathan MacKinnon. They play on the first line with Detroit’s 2012 2nd round pick Martin Frk, creating the best line in junior hockey. With these three leading the way, the Mooseheads have the best offence in the QMJHL, and have scored at will this season. They rely on Darcy Ashley, Stephan Fournier, Stephen MaCauley and Matthew Boudreau to provide secondary offence. Backing this all up is the top goaltender for the 2013 Draft in Zach Fucale. He is the youngest starting goalie in the tourney, but he also might be the best goalie in the tournament. The Mooseheads defence isn’t flashy or as hyped as the forwards and goaltenders (or as the other three defence corps in this tourney), but led by Konrad Abeltshauser, a German born player drafted by San Jose, Mac Weegar, and Trey Lewis they get the job done.

London Knights

Record: 50-13-2-3, 1st place in the OHL, Won the J. Ross Robertson Cup 4-3 over Barrie (16-5 in playoffs)

Top NHL Prospects: Scott Harrington (Pittsburgh), Olli Maatta (Pittsburgh), Anthony Stolarz (Philadelphia), Seth Griffith (Boston), Alex Broadhurst (Chicago), Chris Tierney (San Jose), Josh Anderson (Columbus), Ryan Rupert (Toronto), Justin Sefton (San Jose)

Top Draft Eligible Prospects: Max Domi, Nikita Zadorov, Bo Horvat, Jake Patterson

This London Knights team set a CHL Record with a 24 game winning streak at mid-season. The Knights are led by their defensive core. In the big three of Scott Harrington, Olli Maatta, and Nikita Zadorov, along with contributors like Tommy Hughes, they have a shut down group that can play Hunter style hockey. Defense first, limit your mistakes, and be gritty, intimidating, and physical. Add in a touch of offensive flair when you get the opportunity, and the defence corps plays hockey the Hunter way. Up front the Knights can certainly score, and the offense is led by 2013 Draft eligibles Max Domi (team leading scorer), Bo Horvat (16 goals in 21 OHL playoff games) and Bruins prospect Seth Griffith. Add in players like the Rupert brothers who exemplify that Hunter style and you’ve got a very strong team.

The key question in this tournament concerns the goaltending. Anthony Stolarz has had the majority of work in the playoffs, but Jake Patterson has played as well. If there is an achilles’ heel on the Knights this may be it. This isn’t to say their goaltending is weak, it isn’t, just that it is not as good as the other teams in the tournament. The Knights lost the Memorial Cup final in Overtime to Shawinigan last year, and the returning players have made their motto for the season all about “unfinished business.”

Saskatoon Blades

Record: 44-24-2-4, 6th overall in WHL, first in the East Division, suffered a first round sweep at the hands of Medicine Hat. Qualified as Memorial Cup Hosts.

NHL Prospects: Darren Dietz (Montreal), Dalton Thrower (Montreal), Duncan Siemens (Colorado), Josh Nicholls (New York Rangers), Matej Stransky (Dallas), Shane McColgan (Rangers), Michael Ferland (Calgary), Andrey Makarov (Buffalo), Lukas Sutter (Winnipeg),

2013 NHL Draft Eligible: Nick Zajac,

Its been a weird season for the Blades. They started out the season really slow, and there was even a time when there was genuine fear if the Memorial Cup hosts would even be able to make the WHL playoffs. Then in January and February the club put together an 18 game winning streak, and their solid play led them to the top of the WHL`s East Division. However just as it appeared the team was rolling heading into the postseason it all came to a screeching halt at the hands of the Medicine Hat Tigers, who swept the Blades in four games. Now with nearly 7 weeks between their last playoff game and their first Memorial Cup game, its anyone`s guess as to which side of the Jeckyl and Hyde club will show up in the tournament. The Blades could get blown out of the water, or they could win the whole thing and atone for their disappointing playoff just like the Shawinigan Cataractes did last year. Thats part of the beauty of this tournament with 1 game elimination games in the playoffs.

The Blades are led by a strong defence featuring Siemens, Dietz, and Thrower who provide both strong defensive play, and plenty of offence from the backend. Experienced goaltender (and 2 time WJC medalist) Andrey Makarov backstops the club, and so we know that they can play effective shutdown hockey. Upfront the offence is led by Josh Nicholls and Matej Stransky along with Brendan Walker and Michael Ferland two players acquired from the Brandon Wheat Kings in separate trades this year, with the goal of beefing up this offence specifically for this tournament. The grouping gives the Blades two solid scoring units.

Portland Winterhawks

Record: 57-12-1-2, 1st in the WHL, won the Ed Chynoweth Cup 4-2 over Edmonton, (16-5 in the playoffs)

Top NHL Prospects: Brendan Leipsic (Nashville), Ty Rattie (St. Louis), Troy Rutkowski (Ottawa), Taylor Leier (Philadelphia), Derrick Pouliot (Pittsburgh), Tyler Wotherspoon (Calgary), Mac Carruth (Chicago)

2013 NHL Draft Eligibles: Seth Jones, Nicolas Petan, Oliver Bjorkstrand,

Perhaps the most well balanced team in the tournament, the Portland Winterhawks are a major threat. Up front they feature a dominant number one line in Ty Rattie (the All-time leading scorer in the WHL Playoffs). His linemates are Brendan Leipsic and Nicolas Petan, who both scored 120 points this season and tied for the WHL scoring lead. Oliver Bjorkstrand and Taylor Leier provide secondary scoring. Meanwhile a defence featuring many analysts pick for #1 in the NHL in Seth Jones, Penguins top prospect Derrick Pouliot, and Troy Rutkowski just adds to the offence. The top 4 defence is rounded out by Tyler Wotherspoon who is amongst the best shutdown defenders in the CHL. Backing it all up is Mac Carruth who had a .929 Save Percentage this season, and .937 in the WHL Playoffs.

Prediction

The fans in Saskatoon may end up disappointed, but the fans watching on TV won’t be to see Portland and Halifax face off on the 26th with the Memorial Cup on the line. The Mooseheads win a close game, and hoist their first Memorial Cup. Jonathan Drouin takes tourney MVP honours.

Finally I leave you with the schedule.

1 Fri May 17 London 0 Saskatoon 0 08:00 EDT 0 2 Sat May 18 Portland 0 Halifax 0 07:00 EDT 0 3 Sun May 19 Saskatoon 0 Halifax 0 07:00 EDT 0 4 Mon May 20 Portland 0 London 0 08:00 EDT 0 5 Tue May 21 Halifax 0 London 0 08:00 EDT 0 6 Wed May 22 Saskatoon 0 Portland 0 08:00 EDT 0 7 Thu May 23 Tiebreaker If Necessary 0 08:00 EDT 0 8 Fri May 24 3rd Place 0 2nd Place 0 08:00 EDT 0 9 Sun May 26 Game 8 winner 0 1st Place 0 07:00 EDT 0

Don’t forget to check back tomorrow when we will back to the Prospect Rankings at #37.

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