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May 15, 2019

2019 CHL Memorial Cup tournament (in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada from May 17 to May 26) – the 4 teams: the Halifax Mooseheads, the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, the Guelph Storm, the Prince Albert Raiders.

By Bill Turianski on 16 May 2019; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.

-Scores: chl.ca. -en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Memorial_Cup#Schedule

    2019 CHL Memorial Cup tournament (in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada from May 17 to 26). The 4 teams: the Halifax Mooseheads, the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, the Guelph Storm, the Prince Albert Raiders.

Halifax Mooseheads (host team) (Halifax, Nova Scotia).
(It is the 25th anniversary of the Halifax Mooseheads (est. 1994-95). It is also the 50th anniversary of the QMJHL (est. 1969-70).) 2019 CHL Memorial Cup. May 17-26, 2019 at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Halifax, Nova Scotia, with a metro-area population of around 403,000, is the 13th-largest city in Canada, and is the largest city in the Maritime provinces. In 2018-19, the Halifax Mooseheads drew 3rd-best in the CHL, at 8,149 per game in the 10.5-K-capacity Scotiabank Centre.

Click on image below for full screen view.
halifax-mooseheads_scotiabank-centre_2019-chl-memorial-cup_k_.gif
Photo and Image credits above -
2018-19 Mooseheads jersey, from mooseshop.ca. Halifax, NS, aerial photo from wolterland.com. Scotiabank Centre, exterior shot, photo by Tony Webster at flickr.com. Scotiabank Centre, front entrance, photo by Greg Johnston at stadiumjourney.com. Samuel Asselin, photo from halifaxmooseheads.ca. Antoine Morand, photo from halifaxmooseheads.ca. Jared McIsaac, photo unattributed at signalhfx.ca. Alexis Gravel, photo from halifaxmooseheads.ca.

Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec).
Rouyn-Noranda is located 632 km (393 mi) NW of Montreal (by road). Rouyn-Noranda became populated after copper was discovered there in 1917. For forty years (1926-66), the area was completely governed by the Noranda mining company. Eight mines and the copper smelter are still in operation. The Horne smelter in Noranda is the largest smelter of precious metals in the world. Rouyn-Noranda sits among a string of mining towns (the Abitibi gold belt) in northeast Ontario/northwest Quebec that includes Timmins, ON, Kirkland Lake, ON, and Val d’Or, QC.

In 1996, the QMJHL team from Sainte-Hyacinthe (50 km/30 mi E of Montreal) moved to Rouyn-Noranda. The franchise moved up north to Rouyn-Noranda because it knew it would find solid support there, as well as a built-in local rivalry with the nearby QMJHL team the Val d’Or Foreurs (who are located 105 km (65 mi) E of Rouyn-Noranda). Rouyn-Noranda play in a tiny arena, Aréna Iamgold (aka Aréna Dave-Keon), which has just 2,150 seats, but they fill it up to standing-room-only on a regular basis.

The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies were the #1-ranked team in the QMJHL going into the playoffs. And the Huskies beat Halifax 4 games to 2 to win the 2019 President’s Cup (QMJHL title). Rouyn-Noranda have now won 2 QMJHL titles in 4 years.

Click on image below for full screen view.
rouyn-noranda-huskies_arena-iamgold_2019-chl-memorial-cup_r_.gif
Photo and Image credits above -
Rouyn-Noranda Huskies jersey (3rd/alt), photo from huskies-de-rouyn-noranda.monpanierdachat.com. Aerial shot of Rouyn-Noranda, photo by Point du Jour Avaiation, here via gigi461.canalblog.com. Shot of Rouyn-Noranda, photo by Mathieu Dupuis at ville.rouyn-noranda.qc.ca. Shot of Northern Lights above Rouyn-Noranda, photo by Charles Schiele Photography at coolnaturephotos.com/aurora-borealis-at-rouyn-noranda-qc-canada-by-charles-schiele-photography. Shot of exterior of Iamgold Arena, photo by Benjamin Mougin at flickr.com. Shot of interior of Aréna Iamgold, photo by François Fortin at . Huskies jersey, photo from collectosports.com. Peter Abbandonato, photo from chl.ca/article/huskies-peter-abbandonato-named-chl-player-of-the-week. Raphael Harvey-Pinard, photo from rds.ca/hockey/lhjmq. Noah Dobson, photo unattributed at chl.ca. Joël Teasdale, photo from rds.ca/hockey. Huskies celebrate winning the QMJHL title (2019 Presidents Cup), photo from twitter.com/[@Huskies_Rn].




Guelph Storm (Guelph, Ontario).
The Guelph Storm sit amidst the most concentrated area of major junior teams in Canada, with the Kitchener Rangers only about 28 km (17 mi) to the west of Guelph, and with the Mississauga Steelheads and the Hamilton Bulldogs both within 55 km (34 mi) of Guelph. The original OHL franchise from Guelph, ON was the Guelph Platers (7 seasons in OHL, from 1982-89, winning 1 OHL title in 1986). In 1989 the Guelph Platers moved to Owen Sound, ON, as the Owen Sound Platers (2000: name changed to Owen Sound Attack).

In 1991, two years after losing their OHL team, the city of Guelph was able to lure another OHL franchise, and the Guelph Storm were established in 1991-92. The franchise the city of Guelph lured began as the storied Toronto Marlboros (1904-1989), who won 5 Memorial Cup titles (1955, 1956, 1964, 1967, 1973). The Toronto Marlboros (1904-89) were a minor league affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs for 40 years (to 1967); and were in the OHA/OHL (from 1937-89). The Marlboros franchise had moved to Hamilton, ON in 1989, as the Dukes of Hamilton, but that did not work out. Two years later in 1991, the franchise moved to Guelph, filling the void left there by the Platers’ move.

The Guelph Storm won an OHL title in their 6th season (1997). In 2000, in their 9th season, the Guelph Storm moved into the new Sleeman Centre, built on the site of a former Eatons department store, in a shopping mall, in downtown Guelph. The Sleeman Centre has a seated capacity of 4.8 K, and has a nice set-up that boasts steeply raked seating and a concourse above the seating bowl that allows a view of the ice (and ample standing-room space). The Guelph Storm usually draw around 4 K per game; in 2018-19, en route to a 2nd-place finish, Guelph drew 4,146 per game (which was a solid 91.5 percent-capacity).

In the 2019 OHL playoffs, the Guelph Storm were comeback-kings. In the 1st round, Guelph swept the Kitchener Rangers. Then in the next three rounds Guelph came back from multiple-game deficits. In the 2nd round, Guelph came back from 3 games down, to upset the London Knights. Then in the 3rd round/Western final, Guelph fell behind the Saginaw Spirit 3-1, before winning three straight. And then in the OHL Championship Series, Guelph lost the first two against the Ottawa 67′s, but then won four straight, to win the OHL title (2019 J. Ross Robertson Cup). Guelph Storm have now won 4 OHL titles (1997, 2004, 2014, 2019). Four OHL titles in 28 seasons is a pretty decent run.

Click on image below for full screen view.
guelph-storm_sleeman-centre_2019-chl-memorial-cup_d_.gif
Photo and Image credits above – Guelph Storm jersey front, paste-up including illustrations from sportslogos.net. Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate church, photo from guelphtoday.com. Exterior shot of Sleeman Centre, photo by Tabercil at File:Sleeman Centre in Guelph ON 3.jpg (commons.wikimedia.org). Nate Schnarr, photo by Terry Wilson/OHL Images via guelphmercury.com. Nick Suzuki, photo by Tony Saxon/Guelph Today at guelphtoday.com. Isaac Ratcliffe, photo by Terry Wilson/OHL Images via guelphmercury.com. Dmitri Samorukov, photo by Tony Saxon/Guelph Today at guelphtoday.com. Storm players including Suzuki, Ratcliffe, Samorukov, celebrate, photo from twitter.com/[@Sportsnet].

Prince Albert Raiders (Prince Albert, Saskatchewan).
Prince Albert, SK is known as the “Gateway to the North”…it is the last major centre along the route to the resources of northern Saskatchewan. Prince Albert (with a metro-area population of 42,600), has supplanted Moose Jaw as the 3rd-largest city in Saskatchewan. The Prince Albert Raiders play at the 2.5-K-capacity Art Hauser Centre. Prince Albert fills their small arena the best of all the 60 teams in the 3 leagues of the CHL, at 101.35 percent-capacity in 2018-19.

The Raiders were established in 1971 as a junior hockey team, in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. The Raiders junior team won 4 titles in 6 seasons (from 1977 to 1982). This was good enough to get the attention of the WHL. And so in 1982, the city of Prince Albert was granted an expansion franchise in the WHL. Three years later, the Prince Albert Raiders were WHL champions, and then the Raiders won the 1985 Memorial Cup (beating Shawingun 6-1 in the final).

The 2018-19 Prince Albert Raiders were the #1-ranked team going into the WHL playoffs. They came through in the end, but almost stumbled in the Championship series, losing a 3-games-to-1 lead to the Vancouver Giants. In the 7th game, up in Prince Albert, it went to overtime, with the winning goal scored 18 minutes into OT, by Dante Hannoun {see screenshots below}. So the Prince Albert Raiders won their first WHL title in 34 years.

Click on image below for full screen view.
prince-albert-raiders_art-hauser-centre_2019-chl-memorial-cup_d_.gif
Photo and Image credits above – Raiders jersey illustration from sportslogos.net. Prince Albert, Saskatchewan skyline and the North Saskatchewan River, photos uploaded by Rhino at skyscrapercity.com/[thread: Prince Albert Saskatchewan. Exterior shot of Art Hauser Centre unattributed at stadiumjourney.com. Dante Hannoun scoring & celebration, 1st screenshot from globalnews.ca; 2nd screenshot from twitter.com/[@TheWHL] via bardown.com/prince-albert-raiders-win-whl-championship…. Dante Hannoun, photo from whl.ca. Brett Leason, photo by Marissa Baecker/Getty Images via gettyimages.com. Noah Gregor, photo unattributed at bladesofteal.com. Ian Scott, photo by Lucas Chudleigh/Apollo Multimedia via raiderhockey.com/article.

___
Thanks to the contributors at 2019 Memorial Cup (en.wikipedia.org).
Thanks to QMJHL, OHL, WHL.

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