It's hard to believe it's been three weeks since the Tri-City Americans ended their season with a loss in the Western Conference finals to the Portland Winterhawks.

Portland then pushed the Edmonton Oil Kings to 7 games in the WHL Finals before losing and missing out on a trip to the Memorial Cup.

The Memorial Cup, to be held in Shawinigan, Quebec, begins Friday with Edmonton playing Shawinigan at 4 p.m. (PDT). The game will be televised on the NHL Network (channel 215 if you have DirecTV).

In fact, the NHL Network will carry all of the Memorial Cup games at 4 p.m. each day.

The schedule is as follows for the round-robin tournament:

Game 1 — Edmonton vs. Shawinigan; Friday, 4 p.m.

Game 2 — Saint John vs. London; Saturday, 4 p.m.

Game 3 — Shawinigan vs. London; Sunday, 4 p.m.

Game 4 — Saint John vs. Edmonton; Monday, 4 p.m.

Game 5 — London vs. Edmonton; Tuesday, May 22, 4 p.m.

Game 6 — Shawinigan vs. Saint John; Wednesday, May 23, 4 p.m.

Tie-Breaker (if necessary) — Thursday, May 24, 4 p.m.

Semifinal — Friday, May 25, 4 p.m.

Memorial Cup Championship Game — Sunday, May 27, 4 p.m.