Three Flyers Prospects to Play For a Memorial Cup

The Memorial Cup is a week away and the Philadelphia Flyers will have three prospects participating in the tournament. Denver Barkey, Oliver Bonk, and the London Knights nearly swept their way through the OHL playoffs. Alexis Gendron and the Drummondville Voltigeurs came one win away from sweeping the QMJHL playoffs.

The Saginaw Spirit are the host team, so they automatically earned a bid despite losing to the Knights in the OHL Western Conference Finals. The Moose Jaw Warriors are the fourth squad after finishing a sweep of the Portland Winterhawks in the WHL. Carter Sotheran, another Flyers' prospect, was out due to an injury he suffered at the end of the conference finals.

The tournament, beginning May 24, will see each team face off to determine seeding for the semi-finals. A tiebreaker game is scheduled if necessary. But this is how the four teams will play to determine the final seeding

May 24: Moose Jaw vs Saginaw

May 25: London vs Drummondville

May 26: Saginaw vs Drummondville

May 27: London vs Moose Jaw

May 28: Drummondville vs Moose Jaw

May 29: Saginaw vs London

The if necessary tiebreaker game will follow the last game of the preliminary round. The semi-finals begin on May 31 with the championship game on June 2. Last year's winner was the Quebec Remparts out of the QMJHL. None of the teams from last year's tournament made the cut this year. London barely missed out, losing in the OHL Championship to the Peterborough Petes, while Saginaw lost to the Sarnia Sting in the semi-finals. Drummondville fell in the semi-finals in the QMJHL to the Sherbrooke Phoenix. Moose Jaw was also defeated in the semi-finals of the WHL by the Winnipeg Ice.

For London, Barkey finished second in the team in points (27) and assists (21). He had six goals in 18 playoff games. Barkey had a goal and two assists in the championship game. Bonk finished fourth in goals (7), with six on the power play. He had 16 points in those 18 games. 10 of his 16 points were on the power play while he scored the game-winning goal in three games.

In Drummondville, Gendron was second on the team in goals (11) and fourth in points (19) in 15 games. Eight of his points came on the power play. Gendron had a hat trick to begin the series and later added two assists in the championship game.

There is a chance that Barkey and Bonk could face off against Gendron to win a Memorial Cup. We'll find out in a little over a week.