Before the Memorial Cup Round Robin concludes tonight with the all-West game between Portland and host Saskatoon, I wanted to backtrack and explain why I felt ( why I knew ) that Barrie had NO chance to win the 2013 OHL Championship.
Actually, take Barrie out of the equation.
As it stands today, no team from the East has a chance, which makes the Barrie attempt this year so remarkable and so impressive that they almost did it.
We’ve been over how the trend is your friend; that is, how the West has won every Robertson Cup, except one, in the last TWELVE years !!
And the biggest factor in this Eastern Conference losing streak is…..the East themselves.
Look at the lineup for the OHL Champion Knights;
At a glance, Domi ( Kingston ), and half the defence Maatta ( Barrie ), Zadorov ( Peterborough ) & Sefton ( Sudbury ) all have roots to the Eastern Conference.
Furthermore, everyone in the East, and the West for that matter, allowed Scott Harrington to drop to London @ # 20 in his draft year, instead going 2nd behind Daniel Catenacci as projected.
So, the trend is your friend, and until the operators wise up, especially those in the Eastern Conference, we’ll see the West win the OHL Championship again & again & again.
I’m Fred Wallace