Picking a MasterCard Memorial Cup favourite no easy task this time

There’s the team that has been the class of the Ontario Hockey League for more than a decade.

There’s the team everyone and their uncle thought would win the Western Hockey League title.

There’s the team and finished first in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League standings and is making a 3,000-kilometre journey to Red Deer, Alta, for its first national championship appearance.

And there’s the team tasked with representing Alberta as tournament hosts for the first time under this format.

The 2016 MasterCard Memorial Cup has plenty of intriguing narratives ahead of the first puck drop on Friday. But who has the upper hand when it comes to potentially lifting the trophy on May 29? Here’s how things stack up.

4. Red Deer Rebels

The rundown: That the Rebels enter the Memorial Cup as the biggest underdog shouldn’t come as a surprise. As is often the case for the host team, the Rebels did not win a league championship. They didn’t even finish in first place in their division.

However, the Rebels did win two playoff rounds before losing out in the Eastern Conference final to the eventual-champion Brandon Wheat Kings. The Rebels surely would have preferred to grab their first WHL crown since 2001, but getting as far as they did makes them respectable opponents.

A couple extra weeks of rest may even help as the tournament makes its first appearance in Alberta since 1974.

Player to watch: G Rylan Toth. Rebels owner-GM-coach Brent Sutter opted not to upgrade his goaltending before the WHL trade deadline in favour of Toth. But then the 19-year-old sustained a high-ankle sprain in February, an injury that ended his regular season. Toth returned midway through a second-round series against the Regina Pats, but couldn’t lead the Rebels past Brandon. With all due respect to some of their best skaters – defenceman Haydn Fleury, and forwards Luke Philp, Adam Helewka, Jake DeBrusk, Michael Spacek and Ivan Nikolishin – it’s Toth’s performance that matters most.

Top 2016 NHL draft prospect: D Josh Mahura. A knee injury cost Mahura all but two games this season. He was able to return in time for the playoffs and recorded two goals and two assists in 17 games. A strong showing in the Memorial Cup is paramount for his draft stock.

Storyline to watch: To say it’s been a challenging year for centre Conner Bleackley is a massive understatement. He was stripped of his captaincy after wearing the ‘C’ for two years. He sustained a knee injury, which forced him out of 15 games. His NHL rights were traded to Arizona from Colorado. And, to top it off, he had to have wrist surgery to repair a severe cut caused by a skate blade in March. Bleackley hasn’t played since, but is now skating. A return to action isn’t likely, a shame for a player trying to sign his entry-level contract by June 1. But even if he doesn’t play he’ll definitely make a mark. For every goal the Rebels score, Bleackley has vowed to donate $20 to the Canadian Red Cross to assist with the wildfire recovery in Fort McMurray, Alta.

3. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies

The rundown: The Huskies lost only nine games during the regular season and finished ranked as the Canadian Hockey League’s top team. They then were defeated a mere four times in the playoffs, claiming their first Quebec league title since moving to Rouyn-Noranda in 1996. They could very well be the team to beat.

The Huskies are led by their top line of Francis Perron, Timo Meier and Jean-Christophe Beaudin. The former two forwards in particular are forces to be reckoned with. Perron, an Ottawa Senators prospect, finished second in QMJHL scoring with 108 points this season before topping the list in the post-season with 33 points in 18 games. Meier was acquired before the deadline from Halifax and posted 23 points in 18 playoff contests. He is a power forward drafted ninth overall by the San Jose Sharks last June. A.J. Greer, a Colorado Avalanche pick who left Boston University in January, tallied 22 points in the playoffs.

Player to watch: D Jeremy Lauzon. Multiple reports out of Red Deer indicate Lauzon will make his return to game action for the first time since sustaining a cut to the neck in the second round. That’s huge news for the Huskies. Lauzon, a Boston Bruins prospect and Canadian world junior camp attendee, is their best defenceman and registered 50 points in 46 games during the season. Coming off a scary injury is tough enough. Doing it in a tournament of this magnitude is even tougher

Top 2016 NHL draft prospect: D Jacob Neveu. The 6-foot-2, 194-pound blueliner had 16 points in 59 games for his hometown team. Neveu is ranked 107^th among North American skaters by NHL Central scouting. Standing out in this tournament certainly wouldn’t hurt.

Storyline to watch: Can the Huskies get the QMJHL back on top? When Halifax won the 2013 tourney it marked the third straight Memorial Cup title for the Q, which for many years was seen as the CHL’s weak link. No Q squad has been back to the final since.

2. Brandon Wheat Kings

The rundown: Even though the Wheat Kings reached the WHL final last season – before being swept – this is the year owner-GM-coach Kelly McCrimmon was building towards. That doesn’t mean it was easy. Losing NHL draftee Ryan Pilon at the start of the year to retirement in September was a blow (he’s still playing for fun and taking psychology courses at the University of Saskatchewan, according to the Prince Albert Daily Herald’s Brett Smith). Consistency for most of the season was a bit of an issue, too.

But by the time the playoffs rolled around, the Wheat Kings were the team everyone thought they would be – after they dropped the first two games to Edmonton that is.

The Wheat Kings have the most veteran goaltender in the tournament in Jordan Papirny and three standout defencemen in Philadelphia Flyers first-rounder Ivan Provorov, captain Macoy Erkamps and soon-to-be NHL pick Kale Clague. Up front, they rely on the likes of Nolan Patrick, John Quenneville, Jayce Hawryluk, Tim McGauley and Reid Duke.

Player to watch: C Nolan Patrick. A year after being the first 16-year-old rookie to score 30 goals since Brett Connolly in 2009, Patrick netted 41 goals and 102 points this season. He then tallied 13 goals and 30 points in 21 post-season contests. The Memorial Cup will be a nice audition for the presumptive No. 1 NHL draft pick in 2017.

Top 2016 NHL draft prospect: D Kale Clague. Clague endured a slow start to the season offensively coming off a season in which he was limited to 20 games due to injury. He wound up with 43 points in 71 games. Clague, who broke Dion Phaneuf’s Alberta bantam scoring record, is projected to be a second-rounder by NHL Central Scouting.

Storyline to watch: Can the Wheat Kings finally win the ultimate prize? They are making their fifth appearance in the tournament and first since hosting in 2010. They’ve been the finalists twice. In 1979, they set a CHL record for regular season points but lost in overtime to Peterborough. In 2010, they were crushed 9-1 by Taylor Hall, Ryan Ellis and the Windsor Spitfires.

1. London Knights

The rundown: There isn’t a hotter team coming into Red Deer than the one from London. The Knights, who tied the Erie Otters for the most points in the OHL during the regular season, established a new league record by winning their final 13 playoff games. They lost just twice overall, the same amount as the 2005 powerhouse Memorial Cup-winning squad.

When discussing the Knights the first name to mention must be Mitch Marner. The OHL’s regular-season playoff MVP racked up 44 points in 18 games in the latter session. The Toronto Maple Leafs’ prized prospect plays on the most dangerous line in major junior hockey along with Arizona Coyotes pick Christian Dvorak and 2016 draft hopeful Matthew Tkachuk. Defenceman Olli Juolevi and goaltender Tyler Parsons are among the other notable names that will have to play key roles if the Knights are going to be successful.

Player to watch: Marner. Were you really expecting someone else? Leafs management and fans – and hockey fans in general – will be looking on with great anticipation to see if he scores another goal like this one.

Top 2016 NHL draft prospect: Tkachuk or Juolevi. Depends who you ask or maybe, more appropriately, what the team picking fourth overall needs more. (Right now that’s the Edmonton Oilers). Tkachuk had 107 points in the regular season and 40 more in the playoffs. Juolevi was named top defenceman at the World Junior Championship as a 17-year-old as Finland won gold on home ice.

Storyline to watch: Can the Knights possibly keep this up? Three teams, including Erie and Niagara, couldn’t beat them. Can any of the CHL’s elite?