Patrick King

BRANDON, Man. -- Colby Robak is hoping a higher power is watching over the Wheat Kings.

The Brandon defenceman knows statistics and history are on his team's side when they take on the Windsor Spitfires for the national championship on Sunday. The previous two host teams from the Western Hockey League both won the MasterCard Memorial Cup in spite of not winning their league (Vancouver in 2007 and Kelowna in 2004).

"That's something we think about," Robak admitted Saturday. "Hopefully the hockey gods are in our favour and keep the streak alive."

What Robak and most of the players playing in this tournament don't know is that another streak is on the line. The WHL has won the most tournaments of the three leagues with 18 since 1972 and holds an impressive streak in defending its turf.

The last seven times the MasterCard Memorial Cup was hosted in the WHL, a team from that league has won. The last non-WHL team to win in WHL territory is the Guelph Platers, who captured junior hockey glory when the tournament was hosted by the Portland Winterhawks in 1986.

It's understandable that a player like Robak would not know the obscure reference as none of the players playing in this tournament were born before 1989. But the stat even caught Wheat Kings head coach Kelly McCrimmon off guard.

"Didn't know that till now," McCrimmon said after practice on Saturday. "Short answer is no, I wasn't aware of that. You guys have far more access to this information than I do. We're slugging it out day-to-day worrying about our own team."

A common theme amongst teams playing in this tournament is that they're representing not just their team and city, but also their league.

Which begs the question, are those rival teams now rooting for them in this tournament?

"I think 16 or 17 of them are," Spitfires head coach Bob Boughner said. "I could tell you two that aren't."

Windsor forward Kenny Ryan was less certain the number was even that high.

"The record the Spitfires have had the last two years, I don't know if we have a lot of friends in the league right now," he said.

Windsor has one at least one confirmed fan in Plymouth head coach Mike Vellucci. The bench boss of the rival team is in Brandon as two of his players were nominated for and won Canadian Hockey League awards Saturday.

Even though the Spitfires eliminated the Whalers in each of the last two seasons, there's no question which team Vellucci is pulling for in Sunday's final.

"Of course I root for Windsor," he said. "You're always rooting for the team in your league. Obviously if you're going to get knocked out, you want to get knocked out by the champions."

The Spitfires knocked out the Whalers, Erie Otters, Kitchener Rangers and Barrie Colts along the way in their championship run. As much as each team would love to trade places with the Spitfires, Taylor Hall indicated those teams can share in their success.

"I think they want to show they competed against the best this year," Hall said. "I think we had a pretty good year - we had some tough times - but certainly the OHL did a good job in preparing us."

The sentiment is shared by the Wheat Kings who feel like they could have turned into Hitmen fans had they lost to Calgary in the semifinal.

"I'd be rooting for Calgary if they were in the finals," Brandon forward Jay Fehr said.

"I always cheered for the WHL teams," Wheat Kings goaltender Jacob De Serres said. "You want your league to be known as the best league. I'm sure most of the guys will be cheering for us."

It's likely that the WHL teams will be pulling for the hosts. Regional pride transcends rivalries and since most players are familiar with each other off the ice, it becomes easier to root for a friend.

Teams from the host league always have advantages in the tournament. Not only are both teams familiar with the rink and its bounces, but they get the more favourable schedules in round robin play. None of the home league teams play on back-to-back nights while one of the visiting teams is forced to play three games in four days.

The Wheat Kings are hoping to become the third consecutive non-league champion host team to win in WHL territory, while the Spitfires are looking to become the first back-to-back tournament champion since the 1994-95 Kamloops Blazers.

"I know there's a ton of stats and history and numbers and everything," Boughner concluded. "If you win it you can enjoy it and look back and reflect, but right now it's about that first period, that first five minutes."

It remains to be seen if history will re-write itself in Brandon.