Mr. Speaker, four teams, three provinces and the best up and coming talent the Canadian Hockey League has to offer. I am talking about the Memorial Cup tournament.
Poet Robert Frost wrote about the road less travelled; well, Windsor's Spitfires took the road to the cup never travelled. Showing a toughness locked deep in the City of Windsor's DNA, the Spits became the only team in CHL history to lose the first two tournament games and come back to win the Memorial Cup, the first in the cup's 91 year history and the tournament's 37 year history.
It was a fitting end to a near record season that saw the end of the big red barn, the honouring of the late Mickey Renaud, and an OHL championship.
Hats off to the teams from Kelowna, Drummondville, and the host team Rimouski for determined, gritty play and sportsmanship.
Congratulations to Spits GM Warren Rychel, CHL coach of the year Bob Boughner, the people and the City of Windsor, and the hardest working hockey players in the CHL, the Memorial Cup champs, our Windsor Spitfires.