There's no pressure to win when you are the host. Different scenario. Personally I think all you really want to do is go 2 rounds and maybe 3 in the playoffs and then get everyone healthy and prepared. Especially if you know you don't have a powerhouse team like London.
From my point of view I would rather my team win the Q title rather than the Mem Cup ... if I could only pick one. You battle Q teams all year with strong and heated rivalries almost every week ... its a long season with all sorts of ups and downs and events to remember. To come through the wars in a long playoff stretch ... 12 (with a bye) to 16 wins required ... and become Q champion ... is something to be proud of ... and also a huge disappointment when your contending team falls short.
In the Mem Cup ... its a short tournament with 4 teams ... and in a year where it is hosted by the OHL or the WHL there isn't even one team there that you could call a rival. Its almost anti-climatic. In a short tournament its not always the best team that wins ... London was the best team this year ... but I don't think Kelowna was last year. In a short tournament your fortunes almost fall on whether or not you get good goaltending ... and a favourable schedule.
Don't get me wrong ... the Mem Cup is one of the most prestigious trophies in all of hockey and to win it is a memory for a lifetime. One team buys its way there ... the other 3 earn their way there as Champs. I don't like the format of the tournament but with a huge country like ours it would be too costly to go into further playoff series between the Champs ... and a 4th team would have to somehow be added to the mix. But a team can go 3-0 in the Round Robin ... never lose a playoff game in their league playoffs ... and get beat by a hot goaltender in the Mem Cup Final playing for the host team that was knocked out in the 2nd round of the playoffs. I'm sorry ... but to me that team just simply isn't Canadian Champion in my books ... they are but with an "asterisk".
If I had to choose between a Prez Cup Championship or a Mem Cup Championship ... I'd take the Prez. I'd love for my team to win the Mem Cup ... but I'd much rather have them do it as Q Champ ... to do it as host is simply incomplete and slightly hollow.
The host team gets all the advantages ... home crowd ... the knowledge all season that they will be playing for the Mem Cup and so no expense is spared in building a strong team ... while other teams have to travel to hostile territory to play for the Cup ... and must gamble and budget in their trading not knowing if it will be enough to get them there.
Make no mistake ... in Moncton it is Robert Irving that will take Moncton to the Mem Cup ... not Ted Nolan ... we bought it.