Three front-running hockey clubs and one surprise make up the field for the 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup.

The host Kitchener Rangers, Belleville Bulls, Spokane Chiefs and Gatineau Olympiques are the final four teams out of the 60 that started chasing a Canadian Hockey League championship in September.

The Rangers and the Olympiques open the tournament Friday (7 p.m. ET), followed by the Chiefs against the Bulls on Saturday (4 p.m. ET).

The Rangers, Bulls and Chiefs established themselves as Memorial Cup contenders during the season, but the Olympiques were more of a dark horse.

Host Kitchener is the favourite on paper because of a CHL-high 53 wins, an Ontario Hockey League title and a No .1 ranking in the CHL 15 of the last 16 weeks of the season.

The Rangers have soldiered through the playoffs with backup goaltender Josh Uniced because of Steve Mason's knee injury early in the post-season.

They dominated Belleville 4-1 in