Memorial Cup Format Change

jason2020

Registered User
Sep 24, 2014
5,596
1
Who are you hearing this from?

It doesn't make sense to me. It's the CHL, it should be in a CHL city in a CHL barn. Not in Toronto or some city that doesn't care about junior hockey.

My fear is there will be a idea to host it in Toronto full time those will say it just makes sense.
 

denominator

Registered User
Sponsor
Apr 20, 2012
633
736
Fort St John
4 teams, host is in for sure, but it guarantees that the host is very strong. Only downside is that they wouldn't have a year to prepare.

That's the crux of the issue. A big sell of the Memorial Cup is that it is announced well in advance and the host city has lots of time to prepare and sell tickets, and most people decide whether they're going or not well before the season ends.

So you're stuck with the issue of whether to have a [potentially] poor host team in with 3 champions, or to have a strong team without the time to prepare that they want.

I know there is pressure to shorten the tournament, but I would ultimately like to see it lengthened and expanded to 8 teams. Take your 3 league champions, the 3 teams with the best record in their league, and the host. To make an even 8, have a wild-card of the highest regular season record that isn't already in the tournament, or do something like in curling where last year's Memorial Cup champion also gets a bye into this year's tournament.

With 8 teams, whether or not a host team is weak has less relevance than in a 4 team tournament. It also puts more local teams in (bringing nearby fans) as well as allowing out-of-market fans to see more players in the other leagues (I'd love to get to see McDavid play in junior, but short of planning a trip this spring, that's not going to happen).
 

SaskRinkRat

Registered User
Apr 1, 2010
502
0
I don't see why they couldn't just continue it as a real playoff series.

You could rotate each year which league gets the bye to the final and then have the other two leagues play a series to see who would play in the championship series.

It might have to be a shorter series, though.
 

Rocko604

Sports will break your heart.
Apr 29, 2009
8,562
273
Vancouver, BC
Tongue in cheek, but if the crusaders in the BOH CHL-lawsuit thread get their wish, the Memorial Cup will end up a best of 7 series anyway because there will only be about 20-24 teams left who can afford to be in the CHL.
 

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