OHL Commissioner and CHL President David Branch, along with members of the OHL’s Memorial Cup Selection Committee, made the official announcement Monday afternoon in Guelph.
“We are delighted to be able to announce that the 2002 MasterCard Memorial Cup will be held in Guelph, Ontario,” Branch said. “We are confident the community of Guelph and the Guelph Storm hockey club will do an excellent job in playing host to our championship tournament, which continues to grow every year.”
The OHL allowed the top four teams in each of its two conferences at the 30-game mark of the regular season to make bids to host the 2002 MasterCard Memorial Cup. The Guelph Storm, Erie Otters, Barrie Colts and Ottawa 67′s all made bids to the MasterCard Memorial Cup committee.
The committee was comprised of Paul Beeston, chief operating officer, commissioner’s office for Major League Baseball, Frank Bonello, director of Central Scouting for the National Hockey League and Bryan O’Neill, former Vice-President of the NHL and current NHL director of consulting services.
Gordon Kirke, Ontario Hockey League counsel, and Branch were non-voting members of the committee.
“The quality of the four bids we received were absolutely outstanding,” Branch said. “All of the OHL teams that bid realized the magnitude of hosting a Memorial Cup and their presentations to the MasterCard Memorial Cup committee reflected that.
“We are also confident that the fans, media and especially the players, will have a memorable experience at this year’s event.”
The 2002 MasterCard Memorial Cup will be the 84th edition of the national junior hockey tournament. The Memorial Cup has been in competition since 1919 and was presented in commemoration of the many great Canadian hockey players who made the supreme sacrifice in defence of their country in the First World War.
The Canadian Hockey League’s 55 member franchises in its three leagues – the OHL, the Western Hockey league and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League - compete annually for the championship. The three league champions, along with a host team, take part in the round-robin tournament.
The 2001 MasterCard Memorial Cup was held in Regina, Saskatchewan, with the Red Deer Rebels of the WHL winning last year’s tournament.
The 2002 MasterCard Memorial Cup will take place May 18-26, 2002 at the new Guelph Centre for Sports and Entertainment, a 5,026 capacity state-of-the-art facility. Ticket information and other details on the event will be announced in the next few weeks.
TITAN STILL LEAD BANK OF MONTREAL MASTERCARD TOP 10 RANKINGS
The Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League continues to top the Bank of Montreal MasterCard CHL Top 10 rankings in Week 14, as selected by a panel of National Hockey League scouts.
For the seventh consecutive week, The Titan is the country’s number one ranked team. Acadie-Bathurst continues to lead the way in the QMJHL standings with the most wins and the best winning percentage as they appear in the Bank of Montreal MasterCard Top 10 rankings for the 11th time this season.
The top five positions on the Bank of Montreal MasterCard Top 10 rankings remain the same as the last two weeks, with the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League second, the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League third, the Shawinigan Cataractes of the QMJHL fourth and the Barrie Colts of the OHL fifth.
Moving up into sixth spot on the list from 10th are the Red Deer Rebels of the WHL, who are on an eight game winning streak. Still in seventh spot are the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the OHL and in eighth once again are the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL.
Dropping down into ninth spot in the Bank of Montreal MasterCard Top 10 are the Regina Pats, who were ranked sixth last week. Making their debut on the list this week are the Chicoutimi Sagueneens of the QMJHL, who lead the East Division of the QMJHL and now have the third best winning percentage in the league.
Dropped from the list this week are the Kamloops Blazers of the WHL, who were ranked ninth last week.
The complete list from Week 14 of the Bank of Montreal MasterCard CHL Top 10 rankings follows. The rankings can also be found at www.chl.ca every week.
Rank Team/League W L T OTL Last Week Weeks in Rankings 1 Acadie-Bathurst Titan/QMJHL 37 9 4 2 1 11 2 Plymouth Whalers/OHL 29 7 8 2 2 14 3 Swift Current Broncos/WHL 30 12 3 3 3 10 4 Shawinigan Cataractes/QMJHL 32 12 4 1 4 13 5 Barrie Colts/OHL 27 11 6 0 5 7 6 Red Deer Rebels/WHL 30 13 6 0 10 13 7 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds/OHL27 14 7 0 7 5 8 Halifax Mooseheads/QMJHL 29 15 6 1 8 5 9 Regina Pats/WHL 27 13 4 5 6 3 10 Chicoutimi Sagueneens/QMJHL 31 15 1 2 Not ranked 1
