The NHL playoffs have been incredible, but there’s always something special about the Memorial Cup.
The 2010-11 Stanley Cup playoffs have already exceeded expectations.
An amazing first round was followed by an intriguing second round and already the third round is showing signs of being a classic. I will continue to watch the NHL playoffs with great interest, but starting Friday, I will also be tuned in to watch the MasterCard Memorial Cup. For as great as the National Hockey League is, I have a special place in my heart for major junior hockey.
It stems from growing up in Burlington, Ont., where I was exposed to my all-time favorite team, the Hamilton Red Wings. Many Thursday nights when I was a kid my uncle would take me to the games in Hamilton at the old Forum, or as it was called by most, the Barton Street Barn. Then I would watch the replay of the game Sunday morning on CHCH TV; Norm Marshall calling the action with Sandy Hoyt providing the color commentary.
I couldn't get enough of Fred Speck - my favorite player - or Danny Lawson, Ed Hatoum, Sandy Snow, Lee Carpenter, Randy Manery, Rene LeClerc and goalie Gerry Gray. My team never made it to the Memorial Cup, but I loved them nevertheless.
The great thing about junior hockey, I have always said, is even when you watch a game between two bottom teams in the standings; you are seeing 40 kids working their tails off to make it to the NHL. The game has relevance. Try getting something out of a late-season game between the Atlanta Thrashers and Columbus Blue Jackets.
With junior hockey, there's always the potential for magic. Think back to last year when Taylor Hall was hammered into the boards early in the championship game. It looked like curtains for both he and his Windsor Spitfires. Not so quick, though. Hall stayed in the game and led the Spitfires to their second straight MasterCard Memorial Cup championship and was named most valuable player of the tournament for the second straight year.
I've had the good fortune of covering numerous Memorial Cups, mostly as a reporter with the Peterborough Examiner. Having moved to Peterborough in 1978 to cover the Petes, the timing was perfect. The Petes, having lost to the New Westminster Bruins in the Memorial Cup final the years before, won the only championship of their long and storied history.
The most obvious memory of that Sunday afternoon game in Verdun was Bob Attwell scoring the overtime goal, firing a shot past Brandon Wheat Kings goalie Rick Knickle. However, my second most lasting memory from that day was the unbelievable game played by Wheat Kings defenceman Brad McCrimmon. Beast, as he is known, played the entire game with the exception of a couple minutes spent in the penalty box. I'm not so sure the strategy of always playing your best player was a good one because McCrimmon probably spent too much time conserving energy rather than going all-out. Regardless, it was one of the most amazing individual efforts I've ever seen.
The next season's Memorial Cup was also memorable, but not for the right reasons. The Petes once again made it to the tournament, which was split between Brandon and Regina and again I was sent to cover it for The Examiner. The Petes were riding a 13-game winning streak and had guaranteed themselves a spot in the final when they had to play their final round-robin game against the Cornwall Royals. If they beat the Royals, they would face the hometown Pats in Regina. If they lost that Friday night game, it meant they'd play the Royals.
Weary of facing the Pats at home with Western Hockey League officiating, the Petes threw the game. It was shocking, if not disappointing. In the end the Petes got their wish…sort of. They faced the Royals in the final, but lost in overtime. It was the ultimate example of cheaters not prospering.
Without question my fondest memory of the Memorial Cup tournament came in 1989-90 when the Oshawa Generals met the Kitchener Rangers in an all-OHL final. It was a tight game, but the Generals thought they were cooked when starting goalie Kevin Butt left the contest in the third period with an injury. In came rookie Fred Brathwaite who had won 11 games in the regular season.
Could the kid handle the pressure? Darn right he could! Brathwaite played superbly under ominous circumstances as the Generals, courtesy of a Bill Armstrong floater from the left point, shocked the Rangers. Armstrong had just two goals in the regular season and none in the OHL playoffs, but he found the net at precisely the right time. That said, while many were at Copps Coliseum to see a young stud named Eric Lindros play, it was Brathwaite who stole the show.
Who will make magic this year? I can't wait to find out.
