MEM Cup Note: Wright is generally ready to go first in the NHL Draft

SAINT JOHN, N.B. — The odds are pretty good .. Shane Wright, a forward to Kingston Frontenax, will be the first person to be called to stage by the Montreal Canadians in the NHL Entry Draft next Thursday.

The Canadians are talented people who have had a great season in Ontario Hockey, having removed the first overall selection in just over a year after competing in the Stanley Cup finals. The alliance is expected to move forward.

18-year-old Wright scored 32 goals and 94 points for Frontenac in his two years at the club. A product of Burlington, Ontario, Wright was given an extraordinary position by OHL and was able to play a major junior at the age of 15.

"I'm excited and looking forward to it," Wright said at the CHL Awards before the Memorial Cup final between Hamilton Bulldog and St. John Seadog. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It's like a child you dream of achieving, and I look forward to it every second.

"I'm looking forward to experiencing the draft after virtualizing it for two years. Fortunately, I'm looking forward to experiencing it. That's what I look forward to above all. I think that's what it is. ”

Wright is the No. 1 pick of consensus throughout the season, and the Canadians have the right to choose to win first in the draft draw. New Jersey Devil's chooses 2nd place and Arizona Coyotes chooses 3rd place.

The Canadians have not been the first to be selected as a whole since 1980, centered around Regina Pat and Doug Wickenheiser.

Wright was selected as the leading candidate for CHL in the NHL draft. This is a previously awarded award by Alexis Lafreniere, Bowen Byram, Andrei Svechnikov, Nolan Patrick, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Connor McDavid.

"This is a great honor for me," Wright said. "I'm proud to be recognized as a top draft outlook by my colleagues and CHL. I'm very grateful and proud of what I've achieved, as it's something I've been working on throughout my career. "

Wright is expected to have a large delegation at the Bell Center in Montreal for Draft Day. The COVID-19 outbreak brings teams and players together for the first time in three years in one place for an annual event.

"I'm looking forward to this experience. It's really in my head that I can hear my name in the draft and put the jersey on my head, and I've done it to the end. It's been a few weeks, "Wright said. "That's what I'm most looking forward to.

" At this point in the draft process, it's out of my control. We season, combine, everything. So it's really out of my control and it's up to the staff of Montreal and NHL clubs, and what they want to do. "

Return to lineup

Hamilton Bulldogs Forward Lawson Shark did not play against his host, St. John Seadogs, in the opening game as he watched the first two games of the 2002 Memorial Cup from the stand.

However, 19-year-old Shark returned to the final in hopes of making a difference in the club.

"The first few games weren't the best to see from the stand," Shark said before the contest. "But coming back is very exciting. Especially getting the chance to play the biggest game in my life is very exciting. I'm crazy about playing."

Shark, Halton Hills, and Ontario products had a different view that Bulldog lost to Seadog 5-3 to open the tournament.

"A bird's-eye view of the game is a bit different from being on the ice," he said. "You can take a closer look at their system and see how fast they are and the different things they do. That's good because I think there's a little advantage."

The Memorial Cup final was confused by the COVID-19 outbreak, ending the longest junior hockey season in history and pushing the schedule up almost in July.

"I think it was really hard for the group physically. Playing 90 games has beaten a lot of people," Shark said. "We had that determination as a group. This is really good. There is another game where we rub the tanks."

At Camloops See you

It's been about 30 years since the Memorial Cup Tournament was held in Camloops BC.

The next season, the CHL season, will end with the 2023 Memorial Cup hosted by Kamloops Blazers. The Blazers last hosted the Memorial Cup in 1995, when Jarome Izinla, Shane Doan, and the company won the Camloops tournament.

Next season, the Blazers are expected to freeze a competitive team that can challenge the title, led by CHL Player of the Year Logan Stancoven.

Kamloops product Stankoven, 19, was selected by the Dallas Stars in the second round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft (47 times in total). If Stankoben doesn't stick to the stars next season, he will lead the team in the Memorial Cup.

"I don't want to look ahead, but it's hard to get a chance to grow up and play junior hockey in my hometown and then play the Memorial Cup," Stancoven said. "It will be great, and I know myself, my teammates, and the entire city of Camloops are looking forward to it."

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