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The quest for Canadian Hockey League glory is down to just four teams.
Those four teams will battle it out in the Mastercard Memorial Cup in Regina, starting tonight and culminating with a new champion next Sunday.
The first game is tomorrow. The score clock in the @BrandtCentre is looking good! #MMC100 pic.twitter.com/ScdeXjfcKL
— 2018 MC Memorial Cup (@MCMemorialCup) May 17, 2018
Competing for the illustrious trophy this year is the host Regina Pats, Swift Current Broncos, Hamilton Bulldogs and Acadie-Bathurst Titan.
The Broncos (4), Titan (6) and Bulldogs (8) all finished the regular season in the top 10 of the CHL rankings, while the Pats were on the outside looking in.
The Bulldogs even managed to knock off the nation’s top rated team, the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, in the Ontario Hockey League finals.
Top Dogs:
— CanadianHockeyLeague (@CHLHockey) May 16, 2018
Despite an air of mystery about them to begin the season @BulldogsOHL were full value for their @OHLHockey championship and #MCMemorialCup berth.
READ: https://t.co/YDAE1lD9Bh via @ByPeterRobinson pic.twitter.com/5Fy42dmG6N
While the Broncos and Titan are considered the favourites heading into the tournament, the first game of the round robin will be between the Pats and the Bulldogs tonight.
If you’re looking for specific players to watch over the next week, there’s no shortage of those.
For the Broncos, Edmonton Oilers’ prospect Stuart Skinner is one of the top goalie prospects in the world and has been a treat to watch all playoffs long.
The #Oilers have signed Stuart Skinner to a three-year, entry-level contract, fresh off the goaltender capturing @TheWHL championship with the @SCBroncos last night. pic.twitter.com/k4CwayT1uo
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) May 14, 2018
On the host Pats, it’s hard to miss Anaheim Ducks’ first round pick, Sam Steel, who won WHL Player of the Year in 2016-17 and won gold with Team Canada at the World Junior Championship.
For the Bulldogs, another gold medallist from Team Canada’s World Junior team is Robert Thomas, who was acquired from London at the trade deadline and has helped Hamilton reach this point.
And finally, Noah Dobson is the Titan to watch, as the defenseman plays a great all around game and will almost certainly be a top 10 pick in this year’s NHL entry draft.
Congrats to PEI boy Noah Dobson @_ND53 and the @ABTitan on winning Presidents Cup. Memorial Cup bound. #PEIpride pic.twitter.com/hfJSK7n9Nu
— Hockey PEI (@HockeyPEI) May 13, 2018
Any of these four teams has the ability to get hot and win this tournament, which is part of the reason the Memorial Cup is must watch hockey every year.
So sit back over the next nine days and enjoy some of the best young players in the world battle it out for a chance to write their names in the history books!
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