Every once in a while, the best player in junior hockey makes it to the Memorial Cup tournament.

It doesn't happen as often as you would think.

Just ask the good folks in Quebec City what the ticket sales might have been like a year ago if Connor McDavid and his Erie Otters found a way to beat the eventual champion Oshawa Generals in the OHL final.

But this year is special. Red Deer, holding Alberta's first Cup in 42 years, lucked out. The best player is here.

London's Mitch Marner, whose every move is dissected and discussed by obsessive Maple Leafs fans, is the top teenaged junior player in the country.

His regular-season numbers the past two years have been ridiculous. His 44 points in 18 playoff games this spring bordered on the obscene.

He also happens to play on the best forward line in the junior game, alongside Arizona property Christian Dvorak and Matthew Tkachuk, a perfect blend of grit-and-skill who will soon make an NHL team that didn't win the draft lottery look awfully intelligent for picking him.

But that's not all.

You won't only get to witness the top skater and elite line at this moment. You will also get to see the best of what's to come.

Brandon's Nolan Patrick is the kid every big-league scout will be lining up to watch next fall.

The 17-year-old from Winnipeg, with hockey blood in his veins, was the Western Hockey League playoff MVP in the Wheat Kings' championship run. He also racked up over 100 points during the regular season.

He's not eligible for the NHL draft until next year. Now, that's a special talent.

It's a reminder of what happened at the Cup in Rimouski in 2009. Many locals were a tad ticked off Windsor made history by roaring back from an 0-2 start to win it all, but they raved about Spitfires star forward Taylor Hall.

Many of them were a little wistful -- wishing they could see him again in person the following season in his NHL draft year when he was a little bit older and at the height of his powers.

Hall, the future Oiler, did return to the Cup a year later, this time in Brandon, and dominated again to become the only player in history to win back-to-back tourney MVPs.

But this time, it's not simply about the players.

Every team in Red Deer deserves to be here.

Quebec champ Rouyn-Noranda ended the season as the Canadian Hockey League's top-ranked club. The host Rebels were knocked out in the third round, but it was to the Wheat Kings, so they lost to the best in the West.

The Knights reeled off 13 straight playoff wins to earn the franchise's fourth trip in five years. But the Cup can be cruel. They sent three good teams to the event from 2012-14 and came up empty.

"You can't look at anything you did before," said Marner, the 19-year-old Knights co-captain. "Whatever your record was in the past, that's gone now. You're going into a tournament that has all the best teams in it."

Marner already has Cup experience. He was a rookie in 2014, part of London's 0-3 shame on home ice.

"We hosted this a couple of years ago and weren't happy with the result," he said. "My first year, I realized how good this is and how hard everyone works. You need everyone on your team ready to play."

The big names add wattage to the spotlight.

"There's a lot of media and press, and a lot of eyes, too," he said. "You have to make sure you're focused on your team and go out and perform on the ice."

It's a special honour to be considered the best player at a prestigious hockey event.

But it's even better to be on the winning team.

LONDON KNIGHTS

Coach: Dale Hunter

Cup history: 5th appearance, all in past 11 years. Fourth trip in five seasons. One Cup win on home ice (2005).

Record: 51-14-2-1, 105 points. Second overall in OHL, finished one point behind league champ Erie.

Playoffs: 16-2 (to become second team in OHL post-season history with that mark, matching the 2005 Knights)

NHL alumni: Corey Perry, Brendan Shanahan, Darryl Sittler

NHL property: Eight, led by 2015 fourth overall pick Mitch Marner (Maple Leafs).

Notable: Swept through final three rounds (Kitchener, Erie, Niagara) en route to OHL record 13 straight playoff wins. The Knights were 9-0 on the road in the post-season.

Makeup: 11 players from Ontario, 9 from the United States and two Europeans.

Top line: Regular-season and playoff MVP Marner, Christian Dvorak and Matthew Tkachuk represent the best forward trio in junior hockey. The three world junior players combined for 344 points in the regular season, then scored 50 goals and 119 points in the playoffs.

Good at both ends: The Knights led the league in offence (319 goals) and defence (182 goals against) in the regular season. Their power play is the best in the junior game.

Quick hits: The Knights will have three players selected in first round of the 2016 NHL draft (Tkachuk, Olli Juolevi, Max Jones), tying their own record from 2013 (Bo Horvat, Max Domi, Nikita Zadorov) . . . Leafs prospect JJ Piccinich reaches the Cup a year after playing for the Boston University Terriers, NCAA runners-up in 2015 . . . G Tyler Parsons (2.15, .925 save %) improved on his league-leading regular-season numbers . . . Checker Owen MacDonald scored goals in five straight games during the OHL final and Western Conference final . . . Overage Jacob Graves anchors the Knights' D with Juolevi and speedy sophomore Victor Mete.

BRANDON WHEAT KINGS

Coach: Kelly McCrimmon

Cup history: 5th appearance, no wins. Lost 2010 final 9-1 on home ice to Windsor.

Record: 48-18-4-2, 102 points. First in Eastern Conference.

Playoffs: 16-5, including knocking out Cup host Red Deer in third round.

NHL alumni: Ray Ferraro, Brian Propp, Ron Hextall

NHL property: Six, led by Russian d-man Ivan Provorov, Flyers' seventh overall pick in 2015.

Notable: All three championships have been won on American soil (2016 in Seattle, '96 at Spokane, '79 at Portland)

Makeup: 13 players from Manitoba -- fitting for province's lone WHL club.

Cardiac kids: Won the first three games of the league final vs. Seattle by a 3-2 score, all in overtime.

Unfinished business: Brandon was built to win last year, too, but fell in the WHL final to Memorial Cup runner-up Kelowna.

Big offence: The Wheat Kings scored 319 goals this year -- same as London, but in four more games.

Quick hits: Nolan Patrick, the WHL playoff MVP with 13 goals and 30 points, isn't eligible for NHL draft until 2017 . . . John Quenneville, who scored 16 post-season goals, is second cousin to Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville . . . Panthers prospect Jayce Hawryluk led the way with 47 goals and 106 points in 58 games. He had a hat trick and five points in title-clinching win. Patrick was second (41 goals, 102 points in 72 games) . . . Provorov provided 21 goals from the back end . . . Veteran goalie Jordan Papirny has averaged 53 games in the Wheaties' net the past three years.

ROUYN-NORANDA HUSKIES

Coach: Gilles Bouchard

Cup history: First appearance in 20-year Huskies history. Franchise won three Memorial Cups as the Montreal Junior Canadiens.

Record: 54-9-3-2, 113 points. First in the Quebec league by 11 points.

Playoffs: 16-4. Only team to win championship on home ice this year.

NHL alumni: Mike Ribeiro, Nikita Kucherov, Pascal Dupuis

NHL property: Seven, led by Timo Meier, Sharks ninth overall pick last year.

Notable: They finished this season as the top-ranked team in the Canadian Hockey League, according to a weekly poll of NHL scouts.

Makeup: The team is dominated by Quebeckers with 19 players hailing from the home province.

Hot stick: Playoff MVP Francis Perron, the team's captain, established a franchise post-season record with 12 goals and 30 points in the playoffs (passing Sven Andrighetto's 30 points three years ago).

Quick hits: Perron, the Q's regular-season MVP, too, led team with 41 goals and 108 points . . . Swiss F Timo Meier racked up 51 points in 29 games after trade from Halifax, then posted 23 more in 18 playoff games . . . Chase Marchand (1.35, .946) recorded six shutouts and went 215 minutes without allowing a goal in the post-season . . . AJ Greer left Boston University and scored 16 goals in 33 games before adding another 12 in the playoffs . . . Leafs' Latvian prospect Martins Dzierkals had a productive first major junior season with 24 goals and 67 points in 59 games . . . Overage D Nikolas Brouillard played for '15 Memorial Cup host Quebec Remparts last season.

RED DEER REBELS

Coach: Brent Sutter

Cup history: Won once in 2001 at Regina.

Record: 45-24-1-2, 93 points. Second in Central Division, one point behind Lethbridge.

Playoffs: 9-8. Lost Eastern final to Brandon in five games.

NHL alumni: Cam Ward, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Dion Phaneuf.

NHL property: Seven, led by Hurricanes' 7th overall pick and d-man Haydn Fleury.

Notable: The Rebels' last game was April 29, so they shouldn't have to scrape off a ton of rust heading into the tournament. No host team has made the final since Shawinigan in 2012.

Makeup: The majority of the roster is from Alberta with 15 players from Wild Rose Country.

Welcome back: This is the first Cup to be held in Alberta in 42 years.

Keeping up: The Rebels scored 260 goals this season. That's 42 behind Rouyn-Noranda's output and light years behind London and Brandon. They have the least dynamic offence of the four teams.

Quick hits: Forward Jake Debrusk's father Louie, a former Oiler, played for the London Knights from 1988-91) . . . This is d-man Nelson Nogier's second crack at a Cup with the host team. He skated for Saskatoon in '13 . . . 6-foot-4 forward Taden Rattie's older brother Ty was a standout for Portland at that Cup in Saskatoon . . . Ivan Nikolishin led Red Deer in scoring (31-51-82) in the regular season, but former Spokane Chief Adam Helewka paced the club in the playoffs (9-9-18 in 17 games). Helewka scored 26 times in 34 games after coming over in a trade . . . Arizona prospect Conner Bleackley, a former Colorado first rounder, missed the entire playoffs after being cut in the wrist with a skate blade . . . Rebels assistant coach Jeff Truitt led Kelowna to 2005 tournament in London. The Rockets finished 0-3.

FIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH . . .

(At the 98th Memorial Cup in Red Deer May 20-29)

Mitch Marner, F, Knights : He already has the OHL regular season and playoff MVPs. If he adds the Cup crown, it's the best individual season in London history -- and right up there in junior annals.

Olli Juolevi, D, Knights : He was a world junior all-star for the gold medal-winning Finns. He could cap a tremendous season with a Cup and be the first defenceman selected in the NHL draft.

Nolan Patrick, F, Wheat Kings : He racked up 13 goals and 30 points as the Western league's playoff MVP -- and he's not eligible for the NHL draft until 2017. He provided the series-clinching goal to put Brandon over the top.

Francis Perron, F, Huskies : The Senators draft pick was named Quebec league player of the year after finishing second with 108 points. Then, he grabbed the playoff MVP in Rouyn-Noranda's historic title march, becoming the first double winner since Jonathan Drouin in 2013.