The Canadian Hockey League crowned its champion on Sunday and the trophy doesn’t have to go very far. Bob Boughner and his Windsor Spitfires successfully defended their Memorial Cup championship with a 9-1 thrashing of the host Brandon Wheat Kings.

It was a really good tournament with Windsor going undefeated in four games, which included an OT tilt with Calgary. Calgary and Brandon both won twice; but poor Moncton went home with an 0-fer for the tournament. Oh well, at least they’ll have a shiny new QMJHL banner for their barn in the fall.

Also repeating is rumored No. 1 draft pick Taylor Hall as the MVP of the tournament. Master Hall is not only the first player to repeat as the most valuable player; but he scored nine points with five goals and four assists including three of those points in the championship game.

Speaking of the draft, the next thing on the junior hockey docket is the NHL Draft Combine that is being held this week in Toronto. The combine, which will run May 24-29, is an opportunity for teams to meet and interview prospects, which are the top 100 available in the world, as well as see them tested in an off-ice setting. And my boys have an attendee there: Goalie Kent Simpson who is ranked 83 on the list from NHL.com.

After the combine, we look to June and the draft, which will be in Los Angeles at the Staples Center; and I’m hoping I can somehow get there to see it. It’s so much fun to be there with a whole building of friends, families and fans to see these young men be chosen for a chance to play the greatest game in the world in the greatest league in the world.

So that is your update from the world of junior hockey … stay tuned for more.

Here are the awards from the Memorial Cup tournament:

2010 MasterCard Memorial Cup Awards:
Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy (Most Valuable Player) – Taylor Hall, Windsor Spitfires
Ed Chynoweth Trophy (Top Scorer) – Taylor Hall, Windsor Spitfires
George Parsons Trophy (Most Sportsmanlike Player) – Toni Rajala, Brandon Wheat Kings
Hap Emms Memorial Trophy (Outstanding Goaltender) – Martin Jones, Calgary Hitmen

2010 MasterCard Memorial Cup All-Stars:
Goaltender – Martin Jones, Calgary Hitmen
Defence – Travis Hamonic, Brandon Wheat Kings
Defence – Cam Fowler, Windsor Spitfires
Forward – Taylor Hall, Windsor Spitfires
Forward – Jimmy Bubnick, Calgary Hitmen
Forward – Matt Calvert, Brandon Wheat Kings

Photo: The Memorial Cup winning team by Getty Images via daylife.com.

It’s that time of the year again where the pitter-patter of hearts that belong to junior hockey players and fans go into overdrive as the Memorial Cup tournament begins. The Memorial Cup is the Canadian Hockey League’s version of the Stanley Cup and is not too far behind Lord Stanley’s bowl in the respect it garners in the hockey world.

It began in 1919 when it was donated by the Ontario Hockey Association to be awarded to the junior champion of Canada. The name Memorial Cup was to honor the fallen Canadian hockey players who had been killed in World War I, and there were several who were Canadian stars that had given their lives in service to His Majesty’s Forces. From its inception until 1971, the Memorial Cup was open to all Junior A teams in the country and was awarded following a series of league, provincial and regional playoffs. In 1972 it changed to a three-league tournament with the champions of the WHL, OHL and the QMJHL; and finally in 1983, the CHL included the host team to make it a four-team round-robin event.

The first American team to win it was the Portland Winterhawks in 1983, which was also the first year that the Hawks hosted it as well. That was a really great team that included Mike Vernon, Cam Neely, the Sutter twins and one of my personal favorites, “Chicken Parm: (aka Ray Ferraro). Quite a few NHL players have competed for the Memorial Cup over the years; and there have been a number of guys that have gone on to win the big bowl too like Scott Niedermayer, Brad Luckowich and Ray Whitney.

This year, the tournament is being hosted in Brandon, Manitoba by the hometown team, the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League. The Wheaties beat out both the Kelowna Rockets and my own Everett Silvertips for the honor of being the hosts after promising a whole bunch of money to upgrade their barn. Whatever … we have a nice new beautiful place that’s already hosted Skate America and an NHL exhibition game. It’s too bad, too, because since my boys were out after the first round, it would have been nice to see them playing again especially on such a grand stage. Besides Brandon there are the Calgary Hitmen from the Dub, the defending champions from Windsor called the Spitfires, who are from the OHL; and the Moncton Wildcats who are the Quebec League champs but play in New Brunswick.

It should be a good tournament and even though I think that Windsor has a really good chance to repeat; I won’t be surprised if they don’t. Only three teams have repeated in the last 30 years: Dougie Gilmour and Dale Hawerchuk were part of the Cornwall Royals in 1980 and 1981, the 1987 and 1988 Medicine Hat Tigers, who had my beloved Trevor Linden on board; and the Kamloops Blazers in 1994 and 1995, with Shane Doan, Jarome Iginla and (Goddess Kaatiya fave) Darcy Tucker.

If you would like to see this tournament and don’t live in Canada; never fear … it is being shown on the NHL network. Yay! It begins tomorrow afternoon and the final game is next weekend. Here’s the schedule:

Friday, 5/14: Windsor vs. Brandon, 5p PDT/8p EDT
Saturday, 5/15: Calgary vs. Moncton, 12p PDT/3p EDT
Sunday, 5/16: Brandon vs. Moncton, 12p PDT/3p EDT
Monday, 5/17: Calgary vs. Windsor, 5 pm/8p EDT
Tuesday, 5/18: Moncton vs. Windsor, 5 pm/8p EDT
Wednesday, 5/19: Brandon vs. Calgary, 5 pm/8p EDT
Thursday, 5/20: Tiebreaker (if necessary), 5 pm/8p EDT
Friday, 5/21: Semifinal, 5 pm/8p EDT
Sunday, 5:23: Championship final, 12 pm/3p EDT

Photo: The Memorial Cup from The Hockey Hall of Fame website.