PREVIEW: Storm vs. Knights

by Eric Balnar, Guelphstorm.com

The round robin portion of the 2014 Mastercard Memorial Cup comes to an end on Wednesday night with a tilt featuring two teams heading in vastly different directions.

One team is already in the final. The other is on the verge of elimination. Both teams are part of one of the fiercest rivalries in the OHL. How’s that for a hockey-heaven recipe? We know we can’t wait for 7:00 PM on Wednesday evening.

The Guelph Storm (2-0) can breathe easy knowing they have already clinched a spot in Sunday’s final.

But the London Knights (0-2) are in a fight for their Memorial Cup lives. The hometown team has struggled to generate enough offense thus far, dropping 1-0 decision to Val D’or and a 5-2 contest to the Edmonton Oil Kings.

Now London must defeat the Guelph Storm, the team that eliminated them in the OHL Playoffs, to advance to a Thursday tiebreaker. That means London needs four straight wins for the Knights if they wish to hoist the Memorial Cup on home ice.

Just because Guelph has already guaranteed their spot in the final game doesn’t mean Wednesday is meaningless. It fact, it’s everything but.

Guelph has a chance to eliminate one of their three opponents and become one of the last three standings.

In the 2009 Memorial Cup, the Kelowna Rockets entered their final game with a perfect 2-0 record, a guarantee in the Finals and a chance to eliminate the 0-2 Windsor Spitfires. The Rockets lost to Windsor, the Spitfires rolled off three straight wins to advance to the championship and then beat the Rockets to claim the Cup.

Better beat them when they have the chance.

Guelph will look to continue their offensive outpour – they’ve scored at least 5 goals in their first two games. The Storm beat Edmonton 5-2 in their opener before handing Val D’Or a 6-3 loss.

There’s lots on the line for both teams in the final round robin game. Here’s what to look for:

THE PLAYERS

Guelph: Zach Mitchell – Guelph’s all time games played leader has carried his play over to the Memorial Cup from a dazzling playoffs. He’ll look to use his experience vs. London to his advantage. Mitchell had 3 goals, 4 assists in Guelph’s second round series vs. London. Mitchell burst his way onto the score sheet by recording a goal and two assists in the 6-3 win over Val D’or. What makes him so dangerous is his unpredictability when blazing down the rink. He has a wicked shot, a powerful body and unbelievable chemistry with linemates Robby Fabbri and Kerby Rychel. Pass or shoot, he’s always a threat.

London: Bo Horvat – What’s going on with Bo? There are few players with as much experience as the Vancouver Canucks top draft pick in 2013. Horvat is playing in his third straight Memorial Cup and has the experience, pedigree and talent to cause some damage to opponents. But in the first two games Horvat has been held scoreless. Granted, Horvat and the Knights have ran into two hot goalies, but Bo needs to get scoring to increase his team’s chance. Dating back to the playoffs, Horvat has been held scoreless in four games because he failed to record a point in Games 4 and 5 vs. Guelph..

THE GAME

Familiarity Factor: After playing two games vs. two unknown opponents, the Highway 401 rivalry is renewed. Guelph and London battled back and forth all year, splitting the season series by winning three games each. Then Guelph bounced the Knights from the playoffs in five games. This will be the 12^th time Guelph has played London in the 2013-2014 season – and no game is bigger than this. Guelph holds a 7-3-1-0 record over London this season and even won two games on the road. With the spotlight of the hockey world focused on these two teams the rivalry is taken to the next level with their first ever Memorial Cup meeting. Will tensions boil over? Will it feel any different? One things for sure – the fans can’t wait!

Fight for the First: In five Memorial Cup games so far, four of the five winning teams have scored the first goal. In fact, dating back to the start of the 2013 tournament, the team that scores first is 11-3. Great teams play well with leads and this tournament is full of Champions. Get up early, play your game, win the contest.

Shots, Shots, Shots, Everbody: It’s pretty mind-boggling when you think that a London Knights team with the likes of Chris Tierney, Josh Anderson, Bo Horvat and Max Domi only has two goals in two games while playing at home. It’s even more incredible that they’ve fired 91 pucks on net. Law of averages says London will eventually begin to score but they’ll have to do it against one of the best defensive teams in the country. According to stats guy Brian Taylor, Guelph has allowed just over 6% of their opposition’s shots find the back of the net. With an offense as potent as Guelph’s, London will just have to keep firing (and hoping!) away.

THE FINAL WORD

It’s not often you get to play one of your biggest rivals on the biggest stage in Major Junior Hockey.

If Guelph and London already play physical, spirited and emotionally charged hockey in the regular season and have bitter feelings from a second round playoff match-up, what will this game be like?

Only one way to find out.