Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire “, brought to you by Hal Wright Chevrolet-Cadillac-GMC-Buick on the Sunset Strip in Owen Sound.
I find it amazing that with decades of following hockey and with all the knowledge I’ve accumulated through the years, the OHL has never ONCE called me for a suggestion, for advice or simply for my opinion.
Amazing.
Still, good-guy-that-I-am, I’ve never once withheld my viewpoint.
Today, I want to talk about the Memorial Cup and the hosting process.
London was the winner of the bid process for 2014 and the prevailing buzz is that the fix is in for Kitchener in 2018.
My suggestion is to do away with the bid process entirely.
Truthfully, the bid process is a sham, a transparent joke- just ask anyone in Barrie. Or Sarnia. Or Windsor.
To this point in the century, the OHL, which hosts the Memorial Cup every third year, will have staged the Memorial Cup in exactly 4 centres in an 18 year span, if the Kitchener rumour for 2018 comes to be.
A twenty team league where 1/5th or less of the franchises can host the Cup…..that’s not right.
So my suggestion is to award the Memorial Cup hosting rights, not one year in advance, but rather three years in advance and award the hosting rights to the winner of the Robertson Cup.
So for example, by virtue of winning the OHL Championship in 2011, the Owen Sound Attack would have earned/won the right to host the Memorial Cup in 2014.
In that fashion, it would give an organizing committee, three years, not one, to prepare to host.
And furthermore, it would give the hosting franchise three years to build their club into a viable contender, not only to host the Memorial Cup, but also be capable of winning it.
I await the call from the Canadian Hockey League…..
I’m Fred Wallace