CHL Championship Up for Grabs at Memorial Cup in Quebec
It will be the beginning of the end of the 2024-25 North American amateur hockey season Friday night as four Canadian Major Junior Teams begin their quest for the Memorial Cup at Sun Life Financial Coliseum in Rimouski, Quebec.
The champions of the Ontario Hockey League, the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Maritimes Hockey League have traveled to Rimouski in hopes of winning the overall Canadian Hockey League championship and lifting the coveted trophy. The Rimouski Oceanic of the QMJHL are the host team for this year’s tournament, which also includes the London Knights of the OHL, the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL and the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL.
After a brief detour to Saginaw, Mich., where the host Saginaw Spirit of the OHL captured the 2024 championship in their first-ever Memorial Cup appearance, the tournament returns to Canada this year.
The puck drops on the 2025 Memorial Cup May 23 at 7 p.m. EDT as the hosts take on Medicine Hat. It concludes June 1, and all games can be viewed live on TSN, RDS, TSN.ca, RDS.ca, the TSN app and the RDS app in Canada and on NHL Network in the United States.
As usual, the 2025 Memorial Cup features a combination of players who already have been drafted by National Hockey League teams, top prospects for the NHL Draft in 2025 and 2026 and under-the-radar prospects with a huge opportunity to prove themselves on a big stage under the brightest of lights. This year’s tourney features one of the deepest pools of legitimate National Hockey League prospects in recent memory.
Thirty-three tournament participants already have been drafted; London leads the way with 12 drafted players, followed by Medicine Hat with eight, Moncton with seven and Rimouski with six. Three of the drafted players are property of the Philadelphia Flyers, while Washington, San Jose, Edmonton, Calgary, Tampa Bay, Nashville, Florida and Utah each have two drafted players participating.
Notable players who already have been drafted and could make an impact at the NHL level very soon include Medicine Hat’s Tanner Molendyk and Cayden Lindstrom; London’s Easton Cowan, Sam Dickinson and Kasper Halttunen; Moncton’s Etienne Morin and Juraj Pekarcik; and Rimouski’s Alexandre Blais, Eriks Mateiko and Mathieu Cataford.
Lindstrom is the highest-drafted participating player, having been selected fourth overall by Columbus in 2024. Molendyk, his teammate, also was chosen in the first round by Nashville. Moncton’s Morin was picked in the second round by Calgary in 2023. London has four first-round selections on its roster: Cowan (Toronto), Dickinson (San Jose), Sam O’Reilly (Edmonton) and Oliver Bonk (Philadelphia).
Gavin McKenna, likely to be the top pick in 2026, fought through some nagging injuries in the WHL Playoffs but still led Medicine Hat to the title with 36 points in 16 games. McKenna made North American hockey headlines this year with a 54-game point-scoring streak, and he finished the regular season with 41-88-129 in 56 contests. He combines elite speed, skill, creativity and hockey IQ, making him the toughest player in the tournament to defend.
Moncton center Cayden Desnoyers has been climbing most experts’ draft boards all season and should be a top five pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. He produces strong offensive numbers thanks to his playmaking ability and vision but also is a fundamentally sound two-way forward who is used in all situations. Desnoyers recorded 35 goals and 49 assists while compiling a plus-51 rating in 56 regular season outings before contributing 30 points in the QMJHL playoffs.
London defenseman Henry Brzustewicz also is one of the top-rated North American 2025 draft-eligible blueliners, according to NHL Central Scouting. Central Scouting has him pegged as the No. 19 North American skater. He is ranked among the top 50 players overall by almost every draft pundit and in the top 40 by the most. Brzustewicz always has been a consistently solid player in his own end but had a breakout season offensively for the Knights this year, posting 10 goals and 42 points to go along with a plus-24 rating in 67 regular-season contests
2025 Memorial Cup Schedule:
May 23 – Game 1: Medicine Hat vs. Rimouski at 7:00 pm ET
May 24 – Game 2: Moncton vs. London at 6:00 pm ET
May 25 – Game 3: Rimouski vs. London at 6:00 pm ET
May 26 – Game 4: Moncton vs. Medicine Hat at 7:00 pm ET
May 27 – Game 5: London vs. Medicine Hat at 7:00 pm ET
May 28 – Game 6: Rimouski vs. Moncton at 7:00 pm ET
May 29 – Tie-breaker (if necessary) at 7:00 pm ET
May 30 – Semifinal at 7:00 pm ET
June 1 – Final at 7:00 pm ET
CLICK HERE for the Memorial Cup home page
CLICK HERE for the Memorial Cup full schedule and results
The Hosts Ain’t No Joke
As with other Canadian national-championship tournaments, the participation of a host team always presents an interesting storyline for the Memorial Cup. Saginaw became the first Michigan city to host the Memorial Cup in the tournament’s 104-year history in 2024, and the Spirit took advantage of being at home and the energy generated by their supporters to become the 12th host team since 1983 to lift the trophy.
Newcomers to the tournament and those not familiar with Canadian junior hockey might find it remarkable that the host teams usually are very competitive and often win the championship. Last year, the Spirit were eliminated in the OHL Western Conference Finals in a hard-fought series by the London Knights. They finished second in the overall OHL regular-season standings behind London and pushed the eventual league champs to six games in the conference finals.
That familiarity, along with the home-ice advantage, is likely what allowed Saginaw to defeat London, 4-3, in the Memorial Cup Finals. The Knights are back in Rimouski this year looking to avenge last year’s heartbreaking title-game loss.
Meanwhile, the hosts once again are as confident as any participating team that they can lift the cup.
Rimouski boasts six NHL draft picks on its roster and pushed Moncton to six games in the QMJHL Finals after finishing the regular season with a 46-14-4 record. That was the Oceanic’s highest win total in 10 years. This is their fifth Memorial Cup appearance; Rimouski won the Cup in 2000 and faced London in the 2005 finals after some dude named Crosby had three goals and two assists in a semifinal victory against the Ottawa 67’s.
It has been reported that the Memorial Cup sold out its full ticket inventory for all nine games in fewer than three weeks. Tickets haven’t disappeared that fast since London hosted in 2014.
“It was a tough loss in the {QMJHL} Finals; the boys dug in really deep, but we’re lucky,” Rimouski defenseman Luke Coughlin told reporters this week. “We’re the only team in the CHL that gets a shot, a second chance. So, we’re ready to make the most of it.”
Oceanic head coach Joel Perrault feels that the experience his team gained from its postseason run and the leadership group he relied on throughout the season will allow his team to be as competitive as any in the field.
“We’ve known that we were going to be here anyway since {Moncton} won, but we wanted to win our league, and we never hid from it,” he said. “Even with all the injuries we had, we kept pushing, and that’s why our group is so special. Now we get a second chance at it while playing against really good teams.”
Perrault knows Rimouski will be challenged right from the opening puck drop Friday night.
“From what we’ve watched, we know we’re playing a very good team,” he said. “Obviously, they have lots of talent, but we will be playing in front of a {home) crowd and will try to use that to our advantage. We’re expecting every game to be exciting, and we’ll look to make the best of them.”
Memorial Cup Format
All four teams will play one game against each participant in the round-robin portion of the Memorial Cup, which runs from May 23 through May 28. Teams receive three points for a win, two points for an overtime win, one point for an overtime loss and no points for a regulation loss.
After those six contests, the team with the best round-robin record earns a bye to the championship game, with the second-place team advancing to the semifinals to face the team that finishes third. If there is a tie for third place, a tiebreaker game will be played May 29.
The semifinal contest is slated for May 20, and the championship game will be played June 1.
The Road to the Memorial Cup
Here is look at each team participating in the 2025 Memorial Cup and how they got there:
Rimouski Oceanic – Host Team
Memorial Cup Appearances – 5
2000, 2005, 2009, 2015, 2025
Memorial Cup Championships – 1
2000
The hosts recorded their most regular-season victories since 2014-15, finishing with 46 wins and a .750 points percentage, which ranked third in the entire CHL. They fell to Moncton in six games in the QMJHL Finals and compiled a 12-5 postseason record prior to the championship series.
Jacob Mathieu led the league in playoff goals with 17 and points with 31 in 23 contests. Mathieu Cataford was the 2023-24 QMJHL MVP, while Jonathan Fauchon won the 2024-25 league scoring title. Goalie Mathis Langevin posted a 12-4 postseason record with a 1.57 goals-against average, a .944 save percentage and three shutouts in 18 outing. His .944 playoff save percentage was the second-best all-time QMJHL postseason effort.
Moncton Wildcats – QMJHL Champions
Memorial Cup Appearances – 3
2006, 2010, 2025
Memorial Cup Championships – 0
Moncton captured the Gilles-Courteau Trophy be defeating Rimouski, 4-2, in the best-of-seven QMJHL Finals. The Wildcats complied and impressive 16-3 postseason record in earning the title following an equally impressive regular season. Moncton’s three league titles are tied for the most in the QMJHL since 2000.
The Wildcats went 53-9-2-0, good for a sparkling .844 points percentage, which led all CHL clubs. Defense was the team’s calling card all year as Moncton allowed fewer goals (144) than any other CHL team, and their 2.25 goals allowed per game was one of the top performances in CHL history.
Caleb Desnovers, a top 2025 NHL draft prospect, notched 35 goals and 49 assists during the regular season, following that up with a team-best 30 postseason points to earn the Guy Lafleur Trophy as QMJHL Playoff MVP. Juraj Pekarcik and Etienne Morin posted 21 and 20 playoff points, respectively, in 19 games, while the goaltending tandem of Mathis Rousseau and Rudy Guimond backstopped the stingy defense. Roussau was 8-1 with a 2.25 GAA and a .915 save percentage. Guimond went 8-1 with a 2.25 GAA and .916 save percentage, recording 24 consecutive victories at one point to set a league record.
Moncton is the only organization at the Memorial Cup never to have captured the title.
London Knights – OHL Champions
Memorial Cup Appearances – 7
2005, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2024, 2025
Memorial Cup Championships – 2
2005, 2016
London rolled to the J. Ross Robertson Cup championship as OHL champions by going 16-1 in postseason play. The Knights secured the title by defeating the Oshawa Generals in a five-game championship series. London boasts a high-powered offense that scored better than five goals per outing in the playoffs, and the Knights also posted the OHL’s top regular-season record by going 55-11-2-0 to finish with 112 points. Their .824 points percentage ranked second overall in the CHL London finished 12 points ahead of the next-closest OHL Western Conference team and 19 points better than any team in the Eastern Conference.
Toronto Maple Leafs draft pick Easton Cowan led all OHL postseason scorers with 39 points in 17 games, while San Jose pick Kasper Halttunen received the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as the playoff MVP. He notched 21 points in 17 games, with nine of his goals coming in the Finals. Defenseman Sam Dickinson, also a draft pick of the Sharks, contributed 31 points from the back line during the playoff run. Netminder Austin Elliott suffered just two losses in 53 starts for the year with a 2.46 GAA and .906 save percentage.
London is making its second consecutive Memorial Cup appearance after winning more than 50 games and recording better than 100 points for the second year in a row. The Knights lost to Saginaw, 4-3, in the 2025 Memorial Cup championship game.
Medicine Hat Tigers – WHL Champions
Memorial Cup Appearances – 6
1973, 1987, 1988, 2024, 2025
Memorial Cup Championships – 2
1987, 1988
The Tigers Captured the Ed Chynoweth Cup by defeating Spokane, four games to one, in the best-of-seven WHL Finals. That culminated a 16-2 postseason run following a regular season in which they went 47-17-3-1 and finished with 98 points, the top mark in the Eastern Conference. Medicine Hat swept its first two playoff series against Prince Albert and Lethbridge.
Gavin McKenna, projected to be the top pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, led all CHL players with a 2.38 postseason points-per-game average. He scored 38 points in 16 contests after compiling a 54-game point-scoring streak during the regular season. McKenna did miss two games because of injury during the Finals. Oasiz Wiesblatt recorded 14 goals and 15 assists in 18 playoff games after totaling better than 100 regular-season points. Providing the Tigers with offense from the blue line is defenseman Bryce Pickford, a projected 2025 draft pick who led all CHL defenders with 13 playoff goals. Goalie Harrison Meneghin, a Tampa Bay draft pick, was named WHL Playoff MVP thanks to his 14-1 record, 2.35 goals-against average and .906 save percentage in 16 appearances.
Medicine Hat’s six Memorial Cup appearances since 1972 are tied for fifth all-time, leaving them just one behind Kamloops among all WHL teams.
