CREDIT: CHL IMAGES
The next time you see London Knights’ Chris Tierney on the ice, he’ll be wearing the captain’s C on his jersey.

There is no denying the fact that it has been a torrid 2014 for the London Knights. They stumbled past the Sarnia Sting on New Year's Day, trounced Mississauga 7-1 on January 3, before dropping five of their next six contests in the OHL.

Their latest loss, at the time of writing, came at the hands of the Mississauga Steelheads — a dismal 3-1 showing away from home.

This must feel like rock bottom.

“We can learn from this and move on and just win the rest of our regular season games,” said London forward Michael McCarron.

But Lady Luck hasn't always had the Knights in her good books this season. Goalie Anthony Stolarz will miss four to six weeks with a lower body injury, after a freak accident on January 17. Saginaw captain Eric Locke's skate blade clipped Stolarz early on in the game, leaving the Flyers prospect writhing in pain, bleeding on the ice.

“Nothing too serious and I'll be looking to get right back on the [ice] as soon as I can,” Stolarz later tweeted from the hospital.

In a season where goaltending might be the Knights' Achilles heel as they prepare to host the Memorial Cup in May, this isn't welcome news.

The onus is thrust back on Jake Patterson, once again. He delivered at the end of last season, winning three must-win games in the OHL finals. He's now tasked with winning plenty more.

“We can't let those games slip away,” said veteran defenceman Brady Austin. “We've got to come ready to work in practice, that's for sure.”

The Knights have the talent that can deliver a successful Memorial Cup on home ice. They know that.

The fans know that too, as does the rest of the OHL.

But right now, instead of trying to catch up with Erie and Guelph in the standings, the Knights need to turn their attention on ensuring they have home ice, at least for the first round of the playoffs.

The Windsor Spitfires — without Kerby Rychel — who were also in the running to host the Memorial Cup this year, sit in fifth place, just seven points behind the Knights.

Perhaps finally naming a new captain will turn things around.

Head coach Dale Hunter and general manager Mark Hunter waited a long time before deciding that Chris Tierney was the guy fit to lead the side. It's been five months without an official leader for London, although Tierney did take most of the ceremonial puck drops and other responsibilities of the captain.

Now he'll do it officially.

“It's something I kind of thought about, especially when Olli [Määttä] wasn't coming back [from Pittsburgh],” the 19-year-old from Keswick, Ontario told the London Free Press.

Tierney takes over from Scott Harrington, who led London to their second straight OHL title in the summer.

The desire obviously is to go one better and lift the second Memorial Cup in franchise history. And, interestingly, if you're keeping tabs, the Knights have never won the OHL title when a forward was captain.

Danny Syvret was captain in 2005, during the Memorial Cup run. In 2012 it was Jarred Tinordi and it was Harrington last season.

But this year it's Tierney.

The Knights have been carrying the lofty expectations of the city on their shoulders for the past few seasons. Now with the added letter officially on his jersey, the burden may be a bit more for Chris Tierney.