D-DAY FOR MEMORIAL CUP HOST

MONTREAL – It’s decision day.

After months of waiting, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's Selection Committee will announce today who will be the host of the 2012 MasterCard Memorial Cup. A decision is expected to come at 1:00 pm during a press conference in Montreal.

Four teams have placed bids in – the Saint John Sea Dogs, Shawinigan Cataractes, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, and the Halifax Mooseheads. The Sea Dogs and Cataractes are considered the favourites going into today’s decision.

Buzzing the Net has a good breakdown of what Saint John and Shawinigan each bring to the table.

Sea Dogs majority owner Scott McCain had some interesting quotes in today’s Telegraph-Journal:

"Here's how I feel," he said. "When we started the process, I was 80-20, thinking we'd get it. It was pretty much a slam dunk. Then as time went on, I went down to 70-30. Lately, I've gone to 60-40, and now I'm at 50-50."

…

"I don't know how judges interpret legacy in terms of what is the best spot," McCain said. "Saint John will always have an advantage over Shawinigan. We'll always have Harbour Station. That's not going to change. We'll always have a better infrastructure. Is Shawinigan's infrastructure going to change that much in the next five or six years?"

…

"No matter how much I resent the decision, (if Saint John loses), and how much I don't feel they followed the criteria, the votes have been cast and we move on," McCain said. "We got what we wanted with the selection committee."

No matter what goes down today, it’s quite incredible to think about how far the Sea Dogs have come in just their sixth year in the league. There are not a lot of hockey teams that can say they had the first overall draft pick three straight years, back-to-back 50-win seasons, and were in contention to host a national championship in their first six years of existence.

Unfortunately, Lebron James will not be involved in today’s “decision”, meaning there will be no live television or webcast feed. Twitter will likely be your best option for breaking news.