London Knights arrive in Saginaw after days of preparing for long tournament The London Knights practice on May 19, 2024 ahead of their trip to the Memorial Cup tournament in Saginaw, Mich. (Brent Lale/CTV News London) Share The London Knights have arrived in Saginaw Mich., but preparing for a nearly two-week trip is not easy.
“We try to cram everything from the dressing room into a few trunks and, you know, hopefully have everything,” said Chris Maton, the long-time Knights equipment manager. The saving grace for Maton is that he has been to multiple Memorial Cup tournaments with London. “It helps because you know what they supply, and what they don't supply,” said Maton.
“One fortunate thing is it is three hours up the road. So if I happen to forget something, you know, someone can scoot back or someone coming up can bring it.” While Maton and his off-ice team work in the dressing room packing trunks, sharping skates and loading up bags full of sticks, the players are preparing on the ice.
They will face the Drummondville Voltigeurs in their first game of the tournament Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. at the Dow Event Center in Saginaw.
Michael Simpson is the only Knights player who has experience in this event. He was a member of last year’s Peterborough Petes team who defeated London to win the OHL Championship. London Knights equipment manager Chris Maton wheels a trunk full of gear in preparation for the trip to the Memorial Cup in Saginaw, Mich.
(Brent Lale/.
