Toronto, ON – The Ontario Hockey League today announced the final edition of the weekly minor midget rankings for the 2012 OHL Showcase for the OHL Cup, hosted by the Greater Toronto Hockey League.

The weekly rankings are determined by a panel of OHL Central Scouting Staff and represent the top teams that are competing to play in the annual year-end championship tournament March 13-18, 2012, at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, ON.

The 2012 OHL Cup includes six teams from the GTHL including league champions the Toronto Marlies and GTHL finalists the Mississauga Rebels, along with wildcard invitees the Don Mills Flyers, North York Rangers, Toronto Young Nationals, and Vaughan Kings.  The tournament also includes ALLIANCE champions the London Jr. Knights Gold and finalists Sun County Panthers, along with wildcard invitee the Huron Perth Lakers.  Representing the OMHA are league champions the Whitby Wildcats, the second place Hamilton Jr. Bulldogs, third place Southern Tier Admirals, and wildcard invitee York Simcoe Express.  Representing Ottawa are the ODMHA champions the Ottawa Jr. 67’s and finalists the Ottawa Valley Titans.  Furthermore, the Thunder Bay Kings will represent Hockey Northwestern Ontario while the Great North Midget League Selects will represent the NOHA, with three select teams competing from the United States including the Detroit Little Caesars Selects, New Jersey’s Elite Hockey, and TPH Thunder.

Minor Midget Rankings for the 2012 OHL Cup Showcase Tournament – Week 20

The puck drops on the 2012 OHL Cup with four games tonight beginning with the Vaughan Kings and the Hamilton Jr. Bulldogs at 6:45 pm with round-robin action continuing through Friday at the Hershey Centre.  The top two teams in each division qualify for one of the four Quarter-Final matchups on Saturday morning, with Semi-Final games played Saturday night at Hershey Centre.  The Championship Final is set for 3:00 pm at Herb Carnegie Arena in North York.

Rogers TV will be broadcasting select games of the 2012 OHL Cup.  Please check www.rogerstv.com for your local airtimes.

The 2012 OHL Cup is proudly supported by affiliate sponsor Jack Link’s.  Please visit www.jacklinks.com for more information.

Last season the Toronto Marlies won their third OHL Cup title in seven years with a thrilling 5-3 win over the Don Mills Flyers.  First round OHL picks David Perklin of the Marlies and Max Domi of the Flyers were named Players of the Game in the Championship Final which was broadcast live on Sportsnet Ontario.

A total of 147 players that competed in the 2011 OHL Cup Showcase Tournament were selected in the 2011 OHL Priority Selection including 16 players chosen in the first round.  The Marlies led all minor midget teams with 13 players that were later selected in the 2011 OHL Priority Selection including first round picks Nicholas Ritchie who was selected second overall by the Peterborough Petes, Jordan Subban who was selected fifth overall by the Belleville Bulls, and Perklin who was chosen 17^th overall by the Ottawa 67’s.  The Flyers had 12 players selected including first round picks Max Domi, Adam Bateman, and Darnell Nurse who was the third overall pick to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.

Three of the last four players selected first overall in the NHL Entry Draft are OHL and OHL Cup graduates including Taylor Hall of the Edmonton Oilers, John Tavares of the New York Islanders, and Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning.  2011 NHL Rookie of the Year Jeff Skinner of the Carolina Hurricanes also competed in this event.

For more information please visit www.ohlcup.

Toronto, ON – The Canadian Hockey League today announced the BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings for week 24 of the 2011-12 season.  The weekly rankings of the Canadian Hockey League’s Top 10 teams are selected by a panel of National Hockey League scouts.

BMO CHL MasterCard Top 10 Rankings – Week 24

This post is by the OHL/CHL’s, Paul Krotz.

Toronto, ON – The Ontario Hockey League today announced the nineteenth edition of the weekly minor midget rankings for the 2012 OHL Showcase for the OHL Cup, hosted by the Greater Toronto Hockey League.

The weekly rankings are determined by a panel of OHL Central Scouting Staff and represent the top teams that are competing to play in the annual year-end championship tournament March 13-18, 2012, at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, ON.

Last week it was announced that eight teams from across Ontario including six teams listed in the current rankings had officially qualified for the annual showcase tournament by virtue of advancing to the championship round within their respective leagues including the GTHL’s Toronto Marlies and Mississauga Rebels, the ALLIANCE’s London Jr. Knights Gold and Sun County Panthers, and the ODMHA’s Ottawa Valley Titans and Ottawa Jr. 67’s.

Furthermore, the Thunder Bay Kings will officially represent Hockey Northwestern Ontario in the event, while the Great North Midget League Wolves will represent the NOHA.  The remaining 12 teams to compete in the 2012 OHL Cup will consist of the finalists in the OMHA along with 10 wildcard teams as identified by the tournament selection committee.

The remaining tournament representatives will be announced next Monday March 12.

Minor Midget Rankings for the 2012 OHL Cup Showcase Tournament – Week 19

*officially qualified for 2012 OHL Cup

Last season the Toronto Marlies won their third OHL Cup title in seven years with a thrilling 5-3 win over the Don Mills Flyers.  First round OHL picks David Perklin of the Marlies and Max Domi of the Flyers were named Players of the Game in the Championship Final which was broadcast live on Sportsnet Ontario.

A total of 147 players that competed in the 2011 OHL Cup Showcase Tournament were selected in the 2011 OHL Priority Selection including 16 players chosen in the first round.  The Marlies led all minor midget teams with 13 players that were later selected in the 2011 OHL Priority Selection including first round picks Nicholas Ritchie who was selected second overall by the Peterborough Petes, Jordan Subban who was selected fifth overall by the Belleville Bulls, and Perklin who was chosen 17^th overall by the Ottawa 67’s.  The Flyers had 12 players selected including first round picks Max Domi, Adam Bateman, and Darnell Nurse who was the third overall pick to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.

Three of the last four players selected first overall in the NHL Entry Draft are OHL and OHL Cup graduates including Taylor Hall of the Edmonton Oilers, John Tavares of the New York Islanders, and Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning.  2011 NHL Rookie of the Year Jeff Skinner of the Carolina Hurricanes also competed in this event.

This post is by the OHL’s Paul Krotz.