I'm going to be working on a few Memorial Cup related tidbits over the new few days, as Canadian junior hockey's championship tournament gets underway in Kitchener on Friday.

The entrants
WHL champ: Spokane Chiefs
OHL champ: Kitchener Rangers
QMJHL champ: Gatineau Olympiques
OHL runner-up: Belleville Bulls

Would be glad to hear from anyone that's a fan of one of these teams, or just those out there that are interested in junior hockey.

Spokane went 16-5 in the playoffs, while Kitchener was 16-4, Gatineau was 16-3, and Belleville was 15-6 and lost in the OHL final to the Rangers on Monday.

In the final regular season rankings in the CHL, Kitchener was first, Spokane second, Belleville third and Gatineau ninth.

Schedule	Time
Fri. May 16 Gatineau vs. Kitchener	7:00 PM ET
Sat. May 17 Belleville vs. Spokane	4:00 PM ET
Sun. May 18 Kitchener vs. Spokane	4:30 PM ET
Mon. May 19 Belleville vs. Gatineau	7:00 PM ET
Tue. May 20 Spokane vs. Gatineau	7:00 PM ET
Wed. May 21 Kitchener vs. Belleville	7:00 PM ET
Thurs. May 22 Tie Breaker - IF NECESSARY	7:00 PM ET
Fri. May 23 Semi-Final - TBD vs. TBD	7:00 PM ET
Sun. May 25 Championship - TBD vs. TBD	4:30 PM ET

The tournament's going to be broadcast on Sportsnet in its entirety, and as one of the premier hockey events on the calender, it's well worth watching.

To give you an idea of what you can see, I was at the tournament final last year in Vancouver, and Milan Lucic was the star for the hometown Giants en route to a big win. A few months later, he was turning heads in the NHL with Boston.


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