OHL Cup Powered by Under Armour Final Minor Midget Top-10 Rankings

ALLIANCE’s Cambridge Hawks become final team to officially qualify through league competition

Tuesday’s Wild Card Play-In Matchups to determine final five tournament entries (full schedule)

Toronto, ON – The Ontario Hockey League today announced the seventeenth and final edition of the weekly minor midget rankings for the 2018 OHL Cup Showcase Tournament powered by Under Armour and hosted by the Greater Toronto Hockey League.

The 2018 OHL Cup powered by Under Armour and hosted by the GTHL is scheduled for March 13-19 and will feature 20 teams from across Ontario and the United States showcasing many of the top players eligible for the 2018 OHL Priority Selection.  All games will be played at Scotiabank Pond in Toronto until the Championship Final moves to the Mattamy Athletic Centre on Monday March 19 where it will be broadcasted nationally on Sportsnet.

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.

Final Minor Midget Rankings for the 2018 OHL Cup powered by Under Armour (Week 17):

*Officially qualified for 2018 OHL Cup Showcase Tournament Powered by Under Armour

The 17th and final edition of the weekly Top-10 sees the GTHL champion Toronto Marlboros remain in the top spot from start to finish this season. The OMHA Finalist Guelph Gryphons rise one spot to eighth on the list while the ALLIANCE champion Brantford 99ers make their debut at number nine.  Nine of the Top-10 teams have been assured 2018 OHL Cup Powered by Under Armour competition along with honourable mentions that include the ALLIANCE finalist London Jr. Knights and the Cambridge Hawks who defeated the Sun County Panthers in the ALLIANCE Semi-Final Wild Card Series to clinch their berth.  Detroit Little Caesars (7) plus honourable mentions the Peterborough Petes and Mississauga Rebels will compete for tournament entry in Wild Card Play-In Games on Tuesday.

Tournament Structure:

15 of the 20 spots in the 2018 OHL Cup powered by Under Armour were guaranteed through league competition.  The 15 guaranteed spots continue to include all four GTHL Semi-Finalists (Toronto Marlboros, Mississauga Reps, Toronto Jr. Canadiens, Vaughan Kings), and the top four teams that placed at the OMHA Championship (York-Simcoe Express, Guelph Gryphons, Oakville Rangers, Barrie Jr. Colts).  Three teams from the ALLIANCE were guaranteed a spot in the tournament including the Champion (Brantford 99’ers) and Finalist (London Jr. Knights), along with the winner of a best-of-three Semi-Final Wild Card Series (Cambridge Hawks) played between the losers of the two league Semi-Finals.  Also as in past years, two tournament entries are reserved for United States competition (Elite Hockey Group and TPH Thunder), while both an HNO (Thunder Bay Kings) and NOHA representative (Team NOHA) will also compete.  This season there will not be a representative from HEO.

Wild Card Games:

The final five entries at the 2018 OHL Cup powered by Under Armour will be Wild Cards determined among 10 teams that will play a one game ‘win and in’ scenario.  The 10 competing teams aiming for the final five tournament spots include the fifth place team at the OMHA Championship (Quinte Red Devils), and the loser of the ALLIANCE Semi-Final Wild Card Series (Sun County Panthers).  As introduced in 2016, two spots in Wild Card games are reserved for GTHL teams.  The two competing GTHL teams were determined through a pair of Wild Card Play-In Series matchups involving the four GTHL teams who qualified for the playoffs but lost in the first round (Mississauga Rebels and Mississauga Senators).  As introduced in 2017, one spot in a Wild Card was reserved for the winner of an OMHA SCTA Consolation Game that featured both teams who lost in the SCTA Tournament Semi-Final (Grey-Bruce Highlanders).  The OMHA teams eligible for this matchup were determined annually based on the league not hosting the OMHA Championship.  Finally, the five remaining teams to compete in the Wild Card matchups were named by the Tournament Selection Committee (Detroit Little Caesars, Don Mills Flyers, Niagara North Stars, Peterborough Petes, Toronto Titans).  The Committee evaluated and reviewed post-season success as the first criteria for selection, with additional criteria including regular season play and tournament play.  All five Wild Card games will take place on Tuesday March 13 with specific matchups and times of play determined by random draw among the 10 competing teams on Tuesday March 6.

History:

Last season the Mississauga Reps captured their first OHL Cup title, defeating the Toronto Nationals 3-2 on Dennis Golovatchev’s late game winner with nine seconds remaining in the third period.  Current Kitchener Rangers forward Mike Petizian led the showcase with 13 points (5-8—13) in seven games to earn the Tim Adams Memorial Trophy as tournament MVP.

The 2017 OHL Priority Selection featured 15 players chosen in the first round who competed for the OHL Cup including Ryan Suzuki (London Jr. Knights – 1st overall Barrie Colts), Tag Bertuzzi (TPH Hockey – 2nd overall Guelph Storm), Brandon Coe (Toronto Nationals – 3rd overall North Bay Battalion), Nicholas Porco (Vaughan Kings – 4th overall Saginaw Spirit), Philip Tomasino (Mississauga Rebels – 5th overall Niagara IceDogs), Graeme Clarke (Toronto Marlboros – 6th overall Ottawa 67’s), Blake Murray (Whitby Wildcats – 7th overall Sudbury Wolves), Jack Hughes (Toronto Marlboros – 8th overall Mississauga Steelheads), Jamieson Rees (Mississauga Reps – 9th overall Sarnia Sting), Ethan Keppen (Toronto Nationals – 10th overall Flint Firebirds), Connor McMichael (Ajax-Pickering Raiders – 11th overall Hamilton Bulldogs), Cody Morgan (Toronto Jr. Canadiens – 12th overall Kingston Frontenacs), Thomas Harley (Vaughan Kings – 14th overall Mississauga Steelheads), Nathan Staios (Vaughan Kings – 17th overall Windsor Spitfires) and Lucas Rowe (Mississauga Reps – 18th overall London Knights).

Notable OHL Cup graduates currently playing in the NHL include Travis Konecny (Elgin-Middlesex Chiefs/Philadelphia Flyers), Mitch Marner (Vaughan Kings/Toronto Maple Leafs), Connor McDavid (Toronto Marlboros/Edmonton Oilers), Max Domi (Don Mills Flyers/Arizona Coyotes), Sean Monahan (Mississauga Rebels/Calgary Flames), Taylor Hall (Greater Kingston Frontenacs/New Jersey Devils), Tyler Seguin (Toronto Nationals/Dallas Stars), John Tavares (Toronto Marlboros/New York Islanders), P.K Subban (Markham Islanders/Nashville Predators), and Steven Stamkos (Markham Waxers/Tampa Bay Lightning).

2018 marks the second season of a three-year partnership between the OHL and GTHL with Under Armour that includes title sponsorship of the OHL Cup Showcase Tournament.  The OHL and GTHL are also in the second season of a five-year partnership extension announced in 2017 that ensures the event will continue to be hosted by the GTHL through 2021.

For more information, please visit ohlcup.ca