OHL Announces Minor Midget Top-10 Rankings for OHL Cup Showcase Tournament, News, Minor Midget, 2013-2014, Pavilion (Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario)

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Mar 04, 2014 | webamster | 1143 views
OHL Announces Minor Midget Top-10 Rankings for OHL Cup Showcase Tournament
Kitchener Jr. Rangers officially qualify for 2014 OHL Cup

Toronto, ON – The Ontario Hockey League today announced the seventeenth edition of the weekly minor midget rankings for the 2014 OHL Cup Showcase Tournament hosted by the Greater Toronto Hockey League.

The weekly rankings are determined by a panel of OHL Central Scouting Staff and represent the top teams that are competing to play in the annual year-end championship tournament which takes place March 11-16, 2014, at Buckingham Arena in Toronto, ON. 

Minor Midget Rankings for the 2014 OHL Cup Showcase Tournament – Week 17

RANK

TEAM

LEAGUE

LAST WEEK

WEEKS RANKED

1

Toronto Jr. Canadiens

GTHL

1

17

2

Toronto Marlies

GTHL

2

17

3

Detroit Honeybaked

USA

3

17

4

Mississauga Senators

GTHL

4

17

5

Waterloo Wolves

ALLIANCE

5

15

6

Vaughan Kings

GTHL

6

17

7

Whitby Wildcats

OMHA

7

11

8

Ottawa Valley Titans

OEMHL

9

7

9

Southern Tier Admirals

OMHA

10

13

10

Hamilton Jr. Bulldogs

OMHA

-

13

Honourable Mention

Don Mills Flyers

GTHL

-

0

Ottawa Jr. 67's

OEMHL

8

16

Kitchener Jr. Rangers

ALLIANCE

-

0

Eight teams have now officially qualified for the 2014 OHL Cup most recently including the Kitchener Jr. Rangers who reached the ALLIANCE Finals and are currently facing the previously qualified Waterloo Wolves for the league title.  The OEMHL will be represented by the Champion Ottawa Valley Titans and finalists the Ottawa Jr. 67’s.  Those four teams join four GTHL teams who were among the first to qualify including the Toronto Jr. Canadiens and the Toronto Marlies who are currently competing for the league title, along with Semi-Finalists the Mississauga Senators, and the Vaughan Kings. 

The OHL in association with Rogers TV is also pleased to announce coverage of the OHL Cup on Rogers TV Cable 10/63 in Toronto/Scarborough.  Broadcast coverage will include nightly games from the round-robin along with both Semi-Final matchups and the Championship Final.  Schedule details are available at www.RogersTV.com/ohlcupAdditional airtimes will also be available on Rogers TV Sports+ for Rogers digital customers across Ontario on channels 368 (SD) and 369 (HD).  Visit www.rogerstv.com/sports for complete broadcast schedule.

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The 2014 OHL Cup will once again include 20 participating teams from across Ontario and the United States however a new tournament structure has been introduced for this season.  17 of the 20 spots will be guaranteed through league competition with the final three spots earned in a new Wild Card series of games.  The 17 guaranteed spots will include all four GTHL Semi-Finalists, and the top four teams that place at the OMHA Championship.  Three teams from the ALLIANCE will be guaranteed a spot in the tournament including the Champion and Finalist, along with the winner of a best-of-three Semi-Final Wild Card Series to be played between the losers of the two league Semi-Finals.  The OEMHL Champion and Finalist will also be guaranteed spots in the tournament, along with two United States entries, one HNO representative, and one NOHA representative. 

The final three Wild Card spots will be determined among six teams that will play a one game ‘win and in’ scenario on Tuesday March 11 prior to the start of the tournament.  The six competing teams aiming for the final three tournament spots will include the fifth place team at the OMHA Championship, the loser of the ALLIANCE Semi-Final Wild Card Series, and four teams named by the Tournament Selection Committee based on regular season, playoff, and tournament play.  All three Wild Card matchups and times on Tuesday March 11 will be determined by random draw among the six competing teams. 

 

Last season the Oakville Rangers captured their first OHL cup title with a 5-1 win over the Toronto Marlies led by tournament MVP Adam Craievich who was later selected in the third round of the 2013 OHL Priority Selection by the Guelph Storm. 

 

A total of 13 players that competed in the 2013 OHL Cup were selected in the first round of the OHL Priority Selection including nine of the top 10 players such as Travis Konecny (Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs - 1st overall to the Ottawa 67’s), Dylan Strome (Toronto Marlies – 2nd overall to the Erie Otters), Matthew Spencer (Oakville Rangers – 3rd overall to the Peterborough Petes), Lawson Crouse (Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs – 5th overall to the Kingston Frontenacs), Hayden McCool (Whitby Wildcats – 6th overall to the Niagara IceDogs), Kyle Capobianco (Oakville Rangers – 7th overall to the Sudbury Wolves), Mitchell Stephens (Toronto Marlies – 8th overall to the Saginaw Spirit), Nikita Korostelev (Toronto Jr. Canadiens – 9th overall to the Sarnia Sting), and Brett McKenzie (Oakville Rangers – 10th overall to the North Bay Battalion).

 

Three of the last six players selected first overall in the NHL Draft are OHL and OHL Cup graduates including Taylor Hall of the Edmonton Oilers, John Tavares of the New York Islanders, and Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning.  2011 NHL Rookie of the Year Jeff Skinner of the Carolina Hurricanes also competed in this event, as did 2010 OHL Cup MVP Sean Monahan currently starring with the Calgary Flames in his first NHL season.  Monahan was one of five OHL Cup graduates selected in the first round of the 2013 NHL Draft along with current OHL stars Darnell Nurse of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Bo Horvat and Max Domi of the London Knights, and Jason Dickinson of the Guelph Storm.

 

For more information please visit www.ohlcup.ca.