If you’ve caught your breath from the hockey week gone by, inhale deeply, as the 2011 Mastercard Memorial Cup begins tonight at Mississauga.
The host St Michael’s Majors will open the tournament tonight by hosting the highly touted Saint John Sea Dogs, winners of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
And of course tomorrow night, the Ontario Hockey League Champion Owen Sound Attack play their opener when they face the Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey League.
With no offense to the Memorial Cup, I’m not sure the tournament can surpass the OHL Final for pure excitement, a final in which the unheralded Attack scored a dramatic overtime win on Sunday in Game 7 at the Hershey Center in front of a pro-Owen Sound crowd.
In fact, fairly or unfairly, I think the Owen Sound Attack, believe it or not, will make or break this tournament.
Distance prevents only the most rabid Sea Dog & Ice fans from being there.
St Mike’s ? Truthfully, I thought their fan base did a magnificent job, just trying to match Owen Sound’s massive number of supporters in noise level on Sunday.
Plus in terms of a storyline, I can’t imagine Kootenay, St John or St Mike’s creating nearly the buzz the OHL Champion Attack have generated.
So good luck to the Owen Sound Attack. The Mastercard Memorial Cup needs you.
I’m Fred Wallace