The OHL’s extra Memorial Cup berth, and renewed hope for a ‘hard-luck five’

In 2011, the last time the Ontario Hockey League hosted the MasterCard Memorial Cup, the Owen Sound Attack scored one for small-market teams by qualifying for the tournament when it won the Western Conference. The story only got better when the Attack, representing the smallest city in the OHL, upended the tourney host Missisauga Majors in a seven-game final while their fans turned the Hershey Centre into 'Bayshore South.'

One league having two teams in the season-end tournament rankles some purist sensibilities, but it's a fixture of the Canadian Hockey League's business model. It will never please everyone. If the host team goes through the front door as league champion, it's because it was supposed to. If it gets eliminated before the final, it doesn't deserve to be there. If it reaches the final, then the league championship is redundant since the media and public are conditioned to think only the Memorial Cup matters.

Had the Majors got the bounce in Game 7 overtime instead of Owen Sound and Jarrod Maidens (who's had his struggles since not long after that), it would have created the OHL's third consecutive non-host, non-league champion entry at the Memorial Cup. Current Colorado Avalanche rookie head coach Patrick Roy steered the Quebec Remparts to victory at the 2006 Cup, but that was an exception to the rule. All time, 'league reps' are 13-22 in the Memorial Cup with a minus-37 goal differential. Some, like the 1990 Kitchener Rangers, nearly won the grand prize; others went three-and-out faster than the Buffalo Bills.

As it happens, the OHL has that extra berth in a season where a few teams whose supporters can wear the "long-suffering" cliché adjective are set up for a successful season. Odd timing, that. That's not to say this is a ranking of who's most likely to join the host London Knights at the Budweiser Gardens next May. The Barrie Colts, for instance, are on the shortlist to come out of the Eastern Conference. Between its two league runner-up finishes in the past four years, a 2000 OHL title and only one playoff miss in 18 seasons, the Colts fans' plates have been piled high. Nor is it a suggestion the entire league is playing for second place while loaded London will steamroll the OHL on its way to three-peat that makes a cruel joke out of the phrase competitive balance. I gave up long ago on having people interpret meaning as intended.

Hope is eternal, that's what I meant.

Erie Otters — By no means is this a suggestion Connor McDavid is going to lead Erie from 19th overall to a league championship in one short year. Reaching Round 2 of the playoffs for the first time since spring 2004, when McDavid was a lad of seven, would suffice. The Otters have amassed some acclaimed offensive talent to complement McDavid with the acquisitions of Washington Capitals first-rounder Andre Burakovsky and 16-year-old Dylan Strome. Coach Kris Knoblauch says he established rapport in the dressing room after being airlifted in last November. Moreover, 19-year-old Columbus Blue Jackets-drafted goalie Oscar Dansk might be due for the great leap forward European import goalies are known to make in their second season.

Guelph Storm — The Storm, as befits a team whose arena is inside a mall, haven't pushed the emotional needle in any direction for a good half-decade. Guelph has gone out in the first round for five years running and 7-of-8 while playing in the often tough Midwest Division. It's subpar for a city which celebrated championships in 1998 and 2004 and also has the Kitchener Rangers for a convenient comparison.

Like the 2011 Attack, coach Scott Walker's Storm boast an older group which has yet to share a success. An injury last season to No. 1 defenceman Matt Finn, who was limited to 41 regular-season games, also hurt their final standing. If their core with Dallas Stars late first-rounder Jason Dickinson and Winnipeg Jets pick Scott Kosmachuk break out, Guelph could be dangerous.

Kingston Frontenacs — Coach Todd Gill's charges, with four 16-year-old regulars and a half-dozen 17-year-olds, were above .500 when they woke up on New Year's Day 2013. It takes time to build up the stamina to last over the long haul of 68 games, though, and as Niagara coach-GM Marty Williamson noted recently, Kingston's "young kids hit a wall." Shutdown defenceman Mikko Vainonen, a Nashville Predators prospect, was also lost to a slump-exacerabating 10-game suspension.

Since eking out a playoff berth, Kingston has seen sophomores Sam Bennett and Roland McKeown win two under-18 gold medals for Canada, while wing Spencer Watson was the team's top point-getter in the Ivan Hlinka tourney earlier this month. General manager Doug Gilmour might have won the off-season, upgrading goaltending by adding overage Matt Mahalak, buttressing skill with good-sized forwards Lawson Crouse and Conor McGlynn, and by retaining Vainonen and leading scorer Henri (Hank) Ikonen as 19-year-old imports. Having the younger and older players be good at the same time could help Kingston end a 14-year playoff series win drought.

Saginaw Spirit — The Spirit's loyal fans have seen second-round playoff hockey only three times in 11 seasons. Much like Erie, the bar is set reasonably: just making the third round would do. Nineteen-year-old Jake Paterson, a Team Canada incumbent after being the third-stringer in Ufa last Christmas, is a proven money goalie. Ninety-seven-point scorer Eric Locke is even money to be the OHL's top overager, provided he's returned to junior after the Buffalo Sabres nabbed him in the seventh round in June. Adding stable vets such as Cody Payne (45 points in Plymouth as an 18-year-old), Kristoff Kontos and Sean Callaghan signal Saginaw is serious. Saginaw coach Greg Gilbert is also flush with a strong group of 17- and 18-year-olds such as forwards Jimmy Lodge, Nick Moutrey and D-man Brandon Prophet.

Sudbury Wolves — Someone has to win the Eastern Conference, eh? The Wolves are (thanks for the reminder) the longest-standing OHL team which has never won the league title or played in the Memorial Cup. (They nose out Kingston by a year.)

The East is wide-open. Sudbury comes into the season with an established overage goalie, Franky Palazzese. They lack a superstar, but a dozen 18- and 19-year-old mainstays took on key roles last season, particularly centre Mat Campagna and Buffalo Sabres-drafted wing Nick Baptiste. How Sudbury, which is playing in the Junior Club World Cup, adapts under first-time head coach Paul Fixter could be its X-factor.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet. Please address any questions, comments or concerns to btnblog@yahoo.ca.