Will Olivier Roy and Lucas Lessio live up to the hype, not to mention packages they were traded for, in the new season? Are the Portland Winterhawks and Saskatoon Blades on a collision course? Is this the year for a championship in Montreal?
Our CHL columnist addresses these and more burning questions.
1. Will the Kitchener Rangers see the returns of Jeff Skinner and Jeremy Morin? Many felt the Rangers were a year ahead of schedule when they nearly usurped the eventual MasterCard Memorial Cup champion Windsor Spitfires in the Western Conference finals. Kitchener led the series 3-0 before the clock struck midnight. Now the Rangers could be on the verge of suffering the biggest losses of any junior team if Skinner and Morin both stick in the professional ranks.
2. Which team will win the right to host the 2012 MasterCard Memorial Cup? Shawinigan, Cape Breton, Halifax and Saint John each filed letters of intent to host the tournament. Each has something working in its favour with Saint John rumoured to have an inside track. The hosting rights will be awarded in April of this season.
3. Will the OHL streak of first-overall picks end? An OHL player has been selected first-overall in each of the last four NHL drafts. There is no consensus pick heading into this year, but CHL contenders vying for the pick include Red Deer's Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Drummondville's Sean Couturier and Kitchener's Ryan Murphy.
4. Playing with heavy hearts. The Chicoutimi Saguenéens will be playing for the memory of Gervais Munger, a co-administrator of the team who died while on a boating trip in September. The team is off to a hot start and should be fun to watch, but a banner season is a tall order.
5. How big an impact will Lucas Lessio have in Oshawa? The 17-year-old forward, who was contemplating joining Michigan next season, finally decided on his hockey future this summer. Lessio came at quite the price - three second-round picks and a conditional third- and fourth-rounder - after failing to join the Niagara IceDogs, the team that drafted him in 2009. He's not the reincarnation of John Tavares, but will be expected to lead the Generals back to the playoffs.
6. Can the Portland Winterhawks capture their first WHL title since 1998? There's no better time than now for the surging Winterhawks. Assuming Ryan Johansen and Nino Niederreiter return from NHL camps, this team is the odds-on favourite to win the WHL this season.
7. Can Olivier Roy perform miracles for Acadie-Bathurst? Not considered an elite team heading into the season, the Acadie-Bathurst Titan shocked the junior hockey community by acquiring goaltender Olivier Roy for two firsts, a second, a third and fifth round picks. Given the current makeup of the team, it would be asking a lot of the 19-year-old goaltender to turn this team into a contender.
8. Are the Kingston Frontenacs ready to emerge? Frontenacs fans are used to mediocrity. New hope was found when the team acquired German goaltender Philipp Grubauer from the Windsor Spitfires in June. Kingston has the talent on paper to be successful, but fans are hopeful for different results than the status quo.
9. Can the Saskatoon Blades emerge as a contender? The Blades are anxious to relinquish their status as an answer to the trivia question: which CHL team has the longest championship drought. The Blades hold this distinction by virtue of never having won a championship in their 43-year history. Saskatoon has a solid team built from the goaltender out, but playoff success continues to elude them in recent years.
10. Are the Halifax Mooseheads ready to drop their cellar-dweller status? The rebuild in Halifax can be traced back to a single trade: the one which brought in Brad Marchand three seasons ago. Halifax went for broke trying to win a championship that year and in two seasons hasn't fully recovered after dealing so many future assets in the deal. The Mooseheads should be stronger this season, but it remains to be seen if they're good enough to become a playoff team and beyond.
11. Can the Peterborough Petes take the next step? Peterborough was one of the hottest teams in the league down the stretch last season before being swept by the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors. They should be able to fill the net with the likes of Austin Watson, Ryan Spooner and Matt Puempel. The biggest question mark is in goal, where the team appears to be going with an inexperienced tandem.
12. Will the Regina Pats regret not dealing Jordan Eberle and Colten Teubert at last year's trade deadline? The Pats were criticized for holding on to both Eberle and Teubert last season, especially since the team still failed to qualify for the playoffs. With another non-playoff year likely in their future, critics will be hard to silence when considering what the team may have been able to acquire to expedite the rebuild.
13. Are the P.E.I. Rocket ready to take off? Hockey fans in Canada's smallest province have reason for cautious optimism regarding their team. The team has won just one playoff series in the seven seasons it has called Charlottetown home. This team has the talent on paper to at least duplicate their first season in P.E.I., their most successful season and the only such time they won a playoff series.
14. What kind of reception will the QMJHL's new playoff format receive? Division rivalries and geography will take a back seat when the QMJHL's playoffs begin. The format was heavily criticized last year when the first-round matchups consisted of divisional meetings. As a result, the Moncton Wildcats had perhaps the toughest road to a championship in league history.
15. How will the Plymouth Whalers move on to life without Tyler Seguin? Although there's still a chance Seguin could return to junior, the Whalers aren't counting on it. It's always hard to lose a player of his stature, but the Whalers are never interested in rebuilding. That just may be harder to avoid if Seguin does not return.
16. Will the Medicine Hat Tigers remain perennial contenders now that Willie Desjardins moved on? The team's long-time head coach and general manager departed for the Dallas Stars this summer, which could prove to be a big loss. Under Desjardins' guidance, the Tigers went from league doormat to two-time league champions. Desjardins left the team in good hands and a down year is not anticipated.
17. Will the Guelph Storm load up or ship out? After last season's disappointment in Guelph, management may not have as much patience with a slow start. The core group of 1991-born forwards, Taylor Beck, Peter Holland and Michael Latta, will either lead them contention of become trade fodder at the deadline. This is a make or break year for the franchise any way you look at it.
18. Are the Juniors ready to become Montreal's team? Relax, Habs fans. The Canadiens will always be Montreal's team. But the Juniors have the potential to make this season memorable, particularly with Habs prospect Louis Leblanc in the fold. The only thing that has escaped head coach and general manager Pascal Vincent's career is a championship. This is his best shot.
19. Are the Calgary Hitmen finally in a rebuild? One of junior hockey's best-run franchises might finally find itself in a rebuild after winning the WHL title last season. Calgary has not finished with fewer than 80 points in each of its last seven seasons. The cyclical nature that is junior hockey may have finally caught up to this juggernaut.
20. Will the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors open up the offence? It's hard to argue with success, and under head coach and general manager Dave Cameron's guidance, the Majors have had plenty. But now that the pressure is now on this team in the year it's hosting the MasterCard Memorial Cup, will Cameron opt for more offence? The Majors have more of skill up front than in any other year, but Cameron's teams are known for their defence-first mentality. The answer might prove how far this team goes.
