The Memorial Cup is coming to London next year.
The Ontario Hockey League announced Tuesday that London and the London Knights will host the 2014 MasterCard Memorial Cup.
The Barrie Colts and the Windsor Spitfires also submitted bids to the selection committee in April.
“The quality of a MasterCard Memorial Cup host team is one of the principal criteria for a successful bid,” says OHL Legal Counsel Gord Kirke. “The Site Selection Committee determined that while all three clubs possess sufficient elements for a suitable host city, it is the projected quality of the London Knights Hockey Club next season that is the decisive factor.”
The Knights plan on 22 players returning next season from their 2012-13 roster that captured the Hamilton Spectator Trophy as regular season champions before winning their second straight Robertson Cup title as OHL Champions.
“The London Knights are honoured to have the privilege of hosting this prestigious event again in 2014, and promise to make it the best ever,” says Trevor Whiffen, Knights governor and chair of the 2013 MasterCard Memorial Cup Host Committee.
The 96th edition of the Memorial Cup will take place May 16-25, 2014, at Budweiser Gardens and will feature the champions of the Ontario Hockey League, the Western Hockey League, and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
It’s the second time the Knights will host the event. The first time was in 2005, when the franchise won their first Memorial Cup title on home ice in a 4-0 win over the Rimouski Oceanic.
There are lots of fond memories of the 2005 Knights' Memorial Cup victory, something many Londoners would liek to see duplicated.
"Danny Syvret brought the cup over here after the Memorial Cup and brought it around the restaurant, he was covered in champagne and everything like that, it was amazing," says Jim Davies of J Dee's Market Grill on King St.
"The place was packed. The restaurant was full all day," beamed Davies.
But London doesn't plan to rest on laurels.
"How can we involve the whole community? And as you know, people went nuts in 2005. They're going to go even nutser (sic) - sort of- this time around," says Mayor Joe Fontana.Tourism London officials say it may not bring in quite the same cash - or international exposure - as other events, but the 2014 Memorial Cup will be one for the ages.
"It's about community pride, it's about economic impact, and its just the feeling of being successful at putting on events of this caliber," says John Winston of Tourism London.
