Knights Advance To Memorial Cup

The London Knights will be the Saint John Sea Dogs’ first opponent at the 2012 MasterCard Memorial Cup.

The Knights advanced to the Memorial Cup with a 2-1 win in Game 5 of the Ontario Hockey League Championship over the Niagara IceDogs. They won the series 4-1.

London had the best record in the OHL’s regular season, going 49-18-0-1 for 99 points. They outscored opponents 277-178. In the playoffs, the Knights went 16-3 en route to an OHL championship.

The Knights have been a top team all season and finished third in the final BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings.

Saint John will play London next Saturday, May 19 at 8pm in Shawinigan. It will be the first game of the tournament for both teams.

Some stuff:

• CHL Commissioner David Branch made the huge mistake of declaring – not just calling but declaring – London the capital of hockey. This will surely end well.
• How long before the “Nathan Beaulieu grew up a Knights fan” stories start up?
• Lots of big market teams at the Memorial Cup this year. Will be interesting to see how the Shawinigan media reacts to that.
• There will be unlimited Dale Hunter references during this year's broadcasts on Sportsnet. Prepare yourself. 

So, Shawinigan, Saint John, and London are confirmed for the Memorial Cup. The Western Hockey League Championship has yet to be decided. The Edmonton Oil Kings lead that series 3-2 over the Portland Winterhawks heading into Game 6 tomorrow night.