5/16/2018 6:39 PM
Edited Date/Time: 5/16/2018 6:59 PM
APLMAN99 wrote:
Are there really no Junior hockey fans around? Figured our Canadian brethren would be interested in the Royal Bank Cup.........
So far things are looking pretty decent for our Wenatchee Wild squad. The 5 teams all play each other once in pool play, then the top 4 play a single elimination bracket. After the first 3 games, our squad is unbeaten with their final pool play game on Thursday.
No American team has ever won the Canadian Junior A title before, could be a historic year!
gabrielito wrote:
Junior hockey is great but that is pretty low level. The WHL, OHL, and QMJHL are the leagues with the really good players that will become pros. When you consider also foreign leagues and the NCAA, that tournament would be like winning a schoolboy C class championship. So probably not a lot to talk about, it's cool for Wenatchee though.
Definitely not insinuating that these guys are NHL bound in the next season or two, but the majority of the players end up earning scholarships to play D1 hockey.
I'm not Canadian, and certainly don't spend a ton of time in the smaller towns in the northern parts of the provinces, but what we're told is that these junior teams are usually the "big entertainment draw" during the winters in those areas. That sounds about right, as it's certainly the case here. On weekend series, you can often actually find a fair number of fans that travel 5+ hours down here to root on their teams.
It's pretty decent hockey, even if it isn't NHL level.
And hopefully Sunday, they crown their first American champ!
One thing that's crazy is how close these teams are. All of them except for the host team, Chilliwack, had to win several series to get there, so they should obviously be top notch for that level. But so far, 5 of the 7 games played have went to either an overtime period or a shootout. No real routs have occurred yet, unless winning by a goal in regulation qualifies.
