Memorial Cup preview: Can Knights win it all?

The London Knights, back-to-back OHL champions, were oh so close to winning a Memorial Cup last year. They return to the big tournament this spring with one goal: Winning it all …

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

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The stage is set for the 2025 Memorial Cup in Rimouski, Quebec.

The OHL champion London Knights return to the tournament after being on the wrong side of a dramatic finish in last year’s championship game against host Saginaw. This year, they’ll be joined by the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers, the QMJHL’s Moncton Wildcats, and the host Rimouski Oceanic.

The Knights are the first team to return to the tournament in back-to-back seasons since they last did so in 2014, which was their third consecutive appearance at the tournament. At this year’s Memorial Cup, they’ll have 13 NHL draft picks on their roster — including four players who were selected in the first round.

One of those first-round picks, Easton Cowan, led all OHL players in playoff scoring (for the second straight year) with 39 points. He follows Taylor Hall of the Windsor Spitfires as the second player in the Internet era to be the OHL’s top postseason scorer in back-to-back years. 

“You don’t win an OHL championship every day, so we were excited for what we did, and we enjoyed some time with the team and celebrated,” Cowan told Gameday London. “But now we’re back on the ice and ready to get going,”

Cowan also led last year’s Memorial Cup tournament with three goals and eight points through four games. A repeat performance would make him London’s all-time point leader at the tournament (Mitch Marner currently holds the franchise benchmark with 15 points).

Taylor Hall and his Spitfires teammate, Adam Henrique, co-own the modern CHL record with 17 points at the tournament, the most since the event changed to its current four-team format in 1983.

The Knights came within a win of a Memorial Cup championship last year, losing on a last-minute goal that gave the host Saginaw Spirit the late edge.

Cowan says they’ve been using that loss as motivation this year. 

“It was an unfortunate loss last year, but we have built on it. This team is tight, and we’re excited for the challenge. "We’re an older team with experience. We know our systems and what we have to do out there to win.”

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

Kasper Halttunen was the OHL playoff MVP. Nine of his 15 postseason goals came in the championship series against Oshawa. He became the first European-born player to win the award.

The Knights should have a healthy captain for the tournament. Denver Barkey returned to the lineup for Game 5, the championship-clinching game, after missing seven contests with a lower body injury.

It was an impressive playoffs for the repeat champion London Knights, who became the first team in 27 years to win the league title with one loss or fewer throughout the entire postseason.

All league champions got through their respective playoffs quite handedly. London had a 16-1 record, while Medicine Hat went 16-2, and Moncton was 16-3. Host Rimouski lost in their league final and had a playoff record of 14-9.

The Oceanic have six NHL draft picks on their roster and have been led offensively by a pair of overagers. In his fifth season with Rimouski, Jacob Mathieu led all playoff scorers with 31 points. Between playoffs and the regular season, he’s played 302 games with the Oceanic during his five years in the league. Jonathan Fauchon was acquired at the trade deadline and posted a QMJHL-best 103 points this season, 53 of which came in an Oceanic jersey.

Rimouski (.750) had the third-highest winning percentage in the CHL this season, behind only Moncton (.844) and London (.824). Host teams have been able to utilize home-ice advantage in recent tournaments, reaching the finals in five of the last six tournaments, and winning on three of those occasions (Windsor in 2017, Saint John in 2022, and Saginaw last year). 

(Photo: Matt Hiscox Photography).

The Moncton Wildcats won their third league title and are the first Maritime-based league champion since Saint John in 2017. Coached by the well-respected Gardiner MacDougall, the Wildcats won 53 games during the regular season, allowing a CHL-low 144 goals against. MacDougall was a longtime coach with the University of New Brunswick, and won a Memorial Cup with Saint John in 2022. Moncton has seven NHL draft picks on their roster, as well as Caleb Desnoyers, who is a top prospect for the upcoming draft. With 30 points in the playoffs, Desnoyers became the eighth CHLer to win playoff MVP in his draft year.

Speaking of top prospects in the tournament, Medicine Hat’s Gavin McKenna is one to watch. Despite not being eligible until the 2026 draft, McKenna had 129 points during the regular season, and followed that up with 38 points in 16 playoff games. The Tigers have eight players who’ve been drafted, including a pair of first-rounders in Cayden Lindstrom (fourth overall by Columbus in 2024), and Tanner Molendyk (24th overall by Nashville in 2023). This is the sixth time the Tigers have been WHL Champions (first time since 2007). They’ve won the Memorial Cup twice, winning back-to-back titles in 1987 and 1988.

The tournament gets underway Friday. The Knights open up their schedule Saturday night against the QMJHL champion Moncton Wildcats. 

MEMORIAL CUP SCHEDULE (all start times EST)
Round-Robin – Game 1 – Friday, May 23 – Medicine Hat vs. Rimouski (7 p.m.)
Round-Robin – Game 2 – Saturday, May 24 – Moncton vs. London (6 p.m.)
Round-Robin – Game 3 – Sunday, May 25 – Rimouski vs. London (6 p.m.)
Round-Robin – Game 4 – Monday, May 26 – Moncton vs. Medicine Hat (7 p.m.)
Round-Robin – Game 5 – Tuesday, May 27 – London vs. Medicine Hat (7 p.m.)
Round-Robin – Game 6 – Wednesday, May 28 – Rimouski vs. Moncton (7 p.m.)
Tie-Breaker (*if necessary) – Thursday, May 29 (7 p.m.)
Semi-Final – Friday, May 30 (7 p.m.)
Championship Final – Sunday, June 1 (7 p.m.)

The tournament will feature 34 NHL draft picks, as well as a top prospect in each of the next two drafts.

NHL Draft Picks in the Tournament

Rimouski (host) - 6 draft picks - 3 QMJHL champions, 1 Memorial Cup (2000)

Alexandre Blais - Anaheim Ducks - 4th round 2024
Mathieu Cataford - Vegas Golden Knights 3rd round 2023
Eriks Mateiko - Washington Capitals - 3rd round 2024
Luke Coughlin - Florida Panthers - round 6 2023
Spencer Gill - Philadelphia Flyers - round 2 2024
Basile Sansonnens - Vancouver Canucks round 7 2024 

Moncton (QMJHL) - 7 draft picks - 3 QMJHL Championships - Memorial Cups, none (finalist in 2006)

Gabe Smith - Utah 4th round 2024
Juraj Pekarcik - St. Louis 2rd round 2023
Dylan MacKinnon - Nashville 3rd round 2023
Etienne Morin - Calgary round 2 2023
Dyllan Gill - Tampa Bay round 7 2022
Loke Johansson - Boston round 7 2024
G Rudy Guimond - Detroit round 6 2023 

Medicine Hat (WHL) - 8 draft picks (2 first rounders) - WHL Championships 6 - Memorial Cups Championships 2 (1987 & 1988)

Tanner Molendyk - Nashville 24th overall 2023
Niilopekka Muhonen - Dallas 5th round 2024
Hunter St. Martin - Florida 6th round 2024
Ryder Ritchie - Minnesota 2nd round 2024
Cayden Lindstrom - Columbus 4th overall 2024
Andrew Basha - Calgary - 2nd round 2024
Veeti Vaisanen - Utah 3rd round 2024
G Harrison Meneghin - Tampa Bay 7th round 2024
Gavin McKenna (projected 1st overall pick in 2026 draft)

London - 13 picks, 4 1st rounders - OHL Championships 6 - Memorial Cup Championships 2 (2005 & 2016)

Easton Cowan - Toronto Maple Leafs 28th overall 2023
Kasper Halttunen - San Jose 2nd round 2023
Jacob Julien - Winnipeg 5th round 2023
Sam O'Reilly - Edmonton 32nd overall 2024
Jesse Nurmi - New York Islanders 4th round 2023
Blake Montgomery - Ottawa 4th round 2024
William Nicholl - Edmonton 7th round 2024
Denver Barkey - Philadelphia 3rd round 2023
Landon Sim - St. Louis 6th round 2022 (signed Toronto Marlies)
Sam Dickinson - San Jose - 11th overall 2024
Cam Allen - Washington 5th round 2023
Jared Woolley - Los Angeles Kings 6th round 2024
Oliver Bonk - Philadelphia 22nd overall 2023