We have now reached the point in the CHL season where we are ready to determine respective league champions.
In the QMJHL, Halifax will try and make its way through the front door as host of the 2019 Memorial Cup. In the OHL, the Guelph Storm have won seven straight elimination games en route to their first trip to the league final since 2014.
The Western Hockey League has held true to form with its two top-ranked teams set to compete for the Ed Chynoweth Cup. Prince Albert has captured the hearts of their community, while Vancouver is back in prominence for the first time in almost a decade.
With all three league finals set to get underway this week, here are a few storylines to follow in each of the three leagues.
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QMJHL
Host team in through the front door: For the first time since 2015, the Memorial Cup host team will play in its respective league final. The Quebec Remparts hosted the 2015 Memorial Cup and wound up playing arch-rival Rimouski in the President Cup Final. Rimouski won, but not without a fight. More on that later.
What’s nice about Halifax playing for a title is, at least for this year, we can put the “host team not earning its way in” narrative to bed. Over my 14 Memorial Cups the host team has won its league title just once — Kitchener in 2008. However, the host team has played in the league final on multiple occasions (Moncton 2006, Vancouver 2007, Mississauga 2011, and Quebec in 2015).
Why Try?: If you’re thinking both teams will float through the President Cup Final trying to go into the Memorial Cup unscathed, you’re mistaken. Some of the best league finals came as a result of the combatants already having been guaranteed a spot in the Memorial Cup.
Medicine Hat needed double overtime fighting through the fog at their old arena before disposing of the Vancouver Giants in 2007. Jarrod Maidens’ overtime winner in Game 7 in Mississauga allowed Owen Sound to return home to a number of parades up Highway 10 in 2011. The 2015 final between Quebec and Rimouski was one of the very best in the 50-year history of the league. Rimouski’s Michael Joly won it in the second overtime period, in a game that was played just four nights before the start of the Memorial Cup.
I wouldn’t expect anything less than a lengthy knock-down, drag ’em-out series between Halifax and Rouyn-Noranda. Huskies head coach Mario Pouliot is trying to put his stamp on history, attempting to win both the President and Memorial Cups in two straight years with two different teams. Meanwhile, Halifax bench boss Eric Veilleux is trying to become a two-time Cup winner seven years apart with two different teams — both as the host team.
Top Dogs: In 2016 we witnessed one of the best Memorial Cup championship games in recent memory. Matthew Tkachuk’s overtime game-winner led the London Knights to the top of the mountain over the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. Just three years later, the Huskies are back.
This season, the Huskies tied a CHL record with 25 straight wins from Jan. 3 to March 6. They ended the season with a QMJHL record 59 wins, 32 of which came at home. Their playoff run, albeit bumpy early, now has a 10-game winning streak. The Huskies are led by the league’s top point-getter in Peter Abbandonato and the league’s best goaltending tandem, which is comprised of Samuel Harvey and Zachary Emond (combined 2.00 GAA and .920 SV%). Mid-season additions Joel Teasdale, Noah Dobson and Louis-Filip Cote have helped round out a solid lineup that can win in a variety of ways.
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OHL
Has the Storm Surged?: In an amazing turn of events, the Guelph Storm is back playing for an OHL title after going through a five-year re-build. Head coach and general manager George Burnett went out and added seven players at the trade deadline to create a super-team of sorts. Between injuries and trying to find chemistry, the Storm ended up fourth in the OHL’s Western Conference, but in my opinion they are the best team in the OHL.
Down 3-0 in their series against London, the Storm came all the way back, capped off by a Game 7 win at Budweiser Gardens to advance to the conference final. Then came the high-flying Saginaw Spirit, and once again the Storm had their backs up against the wall, trailing the series 3-1 before winning three straight to earn its way into the OHL final.
Is it possible the Storm has anything left in the tank for the OHL’s top-ranked team, the Ottawa 67’s, who have gone 12-0 en route to the Bobby Orr Trophy?
No Holes in Ottawa: The Ottawa 67’s haven’t played for a league title since 2005. That season they had the misfortune of contending against the London Knights, a team that wound up being named the CHL’s Team of the Century.
The 67’s go into this championship series as the OHL’s top team. They’re undefeated through 12 playoff games and have a goal differential of plus-38. They have the Cup-winning experience of Michael DiPietro in goal. Arizona prospects Noel Hoefenmayer and Kevin Bahl anchor the back end. Up front, Ottawa’s veterans have been carrying the load. Dallas prospect Tye Felhaber had 59 regular season goals and is tied for third with 21 playoff points. He’s joined by San Jose prospect Sasha Chmelevski and undrafted Lucas Chiodo who also have 21 points. Kyle Maksimovich has 19, while rookie sensation Marco Rossi has 15 points, but was banged up in the Oshawa series. Point being, there are no holes on this Ottawa team and they play disciplined and structured hockey.
Tricky Nick: The hottest player in all the CHL is Guelph’s Nick Suzuki. The Montreal prospect got off to a blazing start, putting up seven points in Guelph’s first round sweep of Kitchener. The London Knights held him pointless in the first two games of the second round before he rattled off five straight multi-point efforts. All told, Suzuki is riding a 12-game point streak leading into the OHL final. He scored the game winner to eliminate Saginaw and overall leads the CHL with 31 playoff points.
WHL
Raiders Magic: As a franchise, the Prince Albert Raiders have won 50 regular season games on four occasions. In two of the three previous times they did it, they reached the WHL semifinals and were defeated, but won the league title and the franchise’s only Memorial Cup in 1985.
This year, with a 54-10-2-2 record, the Raiders were dominant all season, including a 22-game unbeaten streak that ended Dec. 9. The Raiders became a target in the second half as teams used them as a measuring stick. Playoff wins against Red Deer, Saskatoon and Edmonton tested the Raiders, but overall their run has provided a perfect balance of rest and play.
Head coach Marc Habscheid has been there before, as bench boss of the 2004 Kelowna Rockets who won the Memorial Cup on home ice. GM Curtis Hunt was on that ’85 Prince Albert team and knows what another league title and berth in the Memorial Cup would mean to the town.
Bo Knows Hockey: Sensational Vancouver Giants defenceman Bowen Byram didn’t have far to go, but he has risen up draft rankings everywhere. During the 2016-17 season, Byram played 11 regular season games as an affiliate player and then-head coach Jason McKee claimed Byram was the best defenceman in the games he played.
Last year Byram put up 27 points and added seven more in seven playoff games. His 2018-19 season got off to a great start as a gold medal winner at the Hlinka-Gretzky Tournament. He went on to lead all CHL defencemen with 26 goals this season, nine of which were game-winners and six of which were scored in overtime. He has not let up in the playoffs and leads all WHLers with 18 points. Byram’s job will get increasingly difficult with a big and heavy Prince Albert team poised to game plan against him.
Aliaksei the Great: The reigning CHL Player of the Week, Aliaksei Protas scored 11 times in 61 regular season games for Prince Albert. The big Belarussian winger shoots and protects the puck well and he’s been producing at an alarming rate in the playoffs. Protas was ranked 44th in NHL Scouting’s final draft rankings among North American skaters, which is up from his mid-season ranking of 77 — and he’s looking to improve on that even further.
Back-to-back hat tricks in Games 5 and 6, helped eliminate the Edmonton Oil Kings. All told, Protas has three multi-goal playoff games when he didn’t have one all season. He’s matched his regular season goal total in 45 fewer games. Protas takes the puck to the net and plays well on a line with Sean Montgomery and Brett Leason. Protas will be challenged by a quick Vancouver team, but he’s become a legit threat on a deep Prince Albert squad.
