Next spring the Spitfires should be gearing up to host the Memorial Cup.

What’s more, considering the strength of the team the club should be able to ice next season, they may be getting ready to participate in the Memorial Cup not only as the host team, but also as Ontario Hockey League champions.

That the Spits have made the short list of OHL teams asked to submit bids to host the 2017 Memorial Cup should be as shocking a revelation as Christmas failing on the 25th of December. The short list should and apparently does have only one name: Windsor. But of course the league has to go through the motions of putting forth a competition for the event.

Make no mistake about it, the Spits SHOULD be a slam dunk to host the tourney.

And the general manager of a powerhouse Western Conference team has admitted to me that the Spits are a lock to host the Memorial Cup for the first time since 1981 when the event was held at the venerable Windsor Arena. The Spitfires did not compete in that tournament as the event did not include a host team back then.

“As far as I know, Windsor is the only franchise to have submitted a bid,” admitted the anonymous gm. “I don’t think that’s because teams don’t want to host the Memorial Cup either.

“I think it is because not all teams have the resources to host the tournament,” he continued. “The Spitfires have a great track record of holding a lot of CHL events.

“I think that some teams just feel that it’s Windsor’s turn to host the Memorial Cup and I personally think it is too.”

Sure, there will be other teams that will also have strong teams next season and would undoubtedly be fine hosts, but the Spits – and Windsor – are the best of the bunch.

A couple of team are automatically disqualified. Kitchener will have an even better team, but they hosted in 2008 and then there’s the perennial powerhouse London Knights. London has hosted twice (2005, 2014) in just over a decade and that reality alone should make them ineligible. And besides, maybe – just maybe the OHL would prefer a team that actually wins games in the Memorial Cup tournament.

The Knights, you see, are currently riding a 5-game losing streak in the event, including having the distinction of being the only host team to go winless. It doesn’t look good for the entire OHL when one of your entered teams keeps getting their collective asses handed to them in the national junior hockey showcase.

Unlike the Knights, by the way, the Spitfires are on a roll when it comes to the Memorial Cup as they are currently on an eight game winning streak complied while winning their back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010.