Road to the Telus Cup: The Field is Set for Chilliwack
The end of the road to the Esso and Telus Cup Canadian U18 club national championships has arrived now that the final regional champion and participant has been determined for both events.
Ontario crowned its Girls U18 champion April 13 during Ontario Women’s Hockey Association Provincial Championship Weekend. Congratulations to the North York Storm, who defeated the Stratford Aces, 2-1, in the U18 AA gold-medal game to capture the OWHA championship and earn a trip to the Esso Cup.
The Ontario U18 champion advanced to the Esso Cup in Lloydminster, Alberta, to compete for the Canadian Club U18 national championship. Five teams representing various regions of Canada will play for the Esso Cup along with the host Lloydminster Steelers, from April 20-26. Joining the Ontario champs and Lloydminster to compete for the national title will be the champions of Quebec as well as the Atlantic, Pacific and Western champs.
Meanwhile, all six participating teams previously had been determined for the Telus Cup. The male version of the U18 club national championship tournament is being held in Chilliwack, British Columbia, April 21-27 and includes the host Fraser Valley Thunderbirds along with the Quebec, Central, Atlantic, Western and Pacific regional champions.
Both tournaments can be viewed live and on-demand at HNLive.CA.
CLICK HERE for a detailed rundown of how teams progressed through their league and provincial championships to qualify for the regional and national tournaments.
Here are the teams that have secured their spots in the Telus Cup along with their national rankings as of Week 29 (April 9):
- #1 Levis Chevaliers (Quebec)
- #2 Regina Pat Canadians (West)
- #22 Elgin-Middlesex Canucks (Central)
- #33 Okanagan Rockets (Pacific)
- #44 Moncton Flyers (Atlantic)
- #70 Fraser Valley Thunderbirds (Host)
There are so many U18 Boys teams competing in Ontario that the province sends teams to two different regional tournaments on the Road to the Telus Cup.
Almost all of the Ontario league champions compete in the Central Region Championship, while the Hockey Northwestern Ontario champions participate in the West Region against the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League and Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League champs. This year, HNO had two teams competing, the Thunder Bay Kings and Kenora Thistles, since Kenora hosted the West Region tournament.
The remaining Ontario league champions representing the Great North U18 AAA League, the Greater Toronto Hockey League, the Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario, Hockey Eastern Ontario and the Ontario Minor Hockey Association, competed in the Central Region Championship along with the host Upper Canada Cyclones.
Other champions from the Atlantic, Pacific and Quebec regions will be in B.C. for the Telus Cup along with the host Fraser Valley Thunderbirds of the British Columbia Elite Hockey League.
CLICK HERE for the Road to the Telus Cup bracket.
Quebec Provincial Champions
Ranked No. 1 in the Week 29 MHR Canada U18 Boys Rankings, the Levis Chevaliers are heading to the Telus Cup after capturing the Quebec Elite Hockey League (LHEQ U18 AAA) championship. The Chevaliers emerged from a very competitive 15-team league that featured nine teams ranked among the MHR Week 29 Canadian top 50.
Levis will continue its dominant season in B.C. The Chevaliers are 53-5-0 overall and have outscored their opponents 268-96. They have won seven straight games dating to a 5-1 March 15 playoff loss to the No. 34 St. Francois Blizzard. That is the lone setback in their last 24 outings. Levis did not suffer one regulation loss during the regular season and went 11-1 in the postseason, sweeping 31st-ranked Laval-Montreal Rousseau Royal, three games to none, to capture the league and provincial title.
The Chevaliers also swept the 28th-ranked St. Hyacinthe Gaulois, 3-0, in the semifinals. Rousseau did manage to push Levis to a pair of one-goal decisions in the championship series after the Chevaliers had outscored St. Hyacinthe, 16-2, in three semifinal victories.
Levis opens the Telus Cup April 21 at 6 p.m. EDT vs. the No. 33 Okanagan Rockets from the Pacific Region. The Chevaliers are making their third Telus Cup appearance and finished sixth in 2010, the last time they participated.
Pacific Region Champions
The No. 33 Okanagan Rockets entered their league playoffs as the third seed but captured the BCEHL title and advanced to the Pacific Championship with series wins against the Vancouver North East Chiefs (2-0), the Valley West Giants (2-0) and the top-seeded and 20th-ranked Cariboo Cougars (2-1). From there it was on to Pacific Regionals, where they knocked off the No. 13 Calgary Flames, two games to none. They won Games 1 and 3 vs. Calgary, 4-1 and 1-0, and dropped the middle game of the series, 4-0.
Okanagan enters the Telus Cup with a 30-18-2 record and having outscored its opponents, 191-151. The Rockets have won nine of their last 11 contests and are 16-5-1 in their last 22.
The Rockets and Flames met for the West title for the second time in three years, with Okangan avenging a two-game sweep from 2023. They are making their second Telus Cup appearance, having captured the bronze medal in 2014.
Okanagan opens Telus cup play vs. the top-ranked Levis Chevaliers from Quebec April 21 at 6 p.m. EDT.
West Region Champions
It’s been a dominant season for the Regina Pat Canadians, who have blitzed their opponents all year long, including in the Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League Playoffs and the West Regionals. They went 4-0 and outscored their regional opponents, 25-2, to earn their spot in the Telus Cup. Regina is ranked No. 2 in the Week 29 MHR Canada Boys U18 AAA Rankings.
Overall, the Pat Canadians are 50-11-2 and have outscored their opponents, 310-160. Including their run through the regional tournament and the league playoffs they have won nine consecutive games and 27 of their last 29 contests. They swept the fourth-ranked Moose Jaw Warriors in three games to capture the league championship after knocking off the No. 12 Saskatoon Blazers, 3-1, in the best-of-five semifinals.
Regina is making its 10th trip to the Telus Cup; the Pat Canadians finished fourth in 2017, their last appearance. Forward Maddox Schultz will be one of the highest-profile players at the tournament after having recorded more than 40 goals and 90 points for the season and 22 points in 10 league playoff games.
The Regina Pat Canadians open play at the Telus Cup April 21 at 10 p.m. EDT vs. the host Fraser Valley Thunderbirds.
Atlantic Region Champions
The Moncton Flyers, ranked 44th in Canada by MHR in Week 29, defeated the No. 78 Fredericton Caps to capture the New Brunswick Championship then overcame four other quality opponents to win the Atlantic Region championship and advance to play for the Telus Cup.
Moncton won the New Brunswick provincial title after finishing tied with the Caps atop the NB/PEI U18 Major Hockey League regular-season standings with 55 points. The Flyers lost the opening game of the New Brunswick championship series to Fredericton but rallied to win the next four to advance to regionals. Three of those games were decided by a single goal, with one requiring overtime.
The Flyers capped off their Atlantic Championship weekend with a 5-3 April 6 victory against Kensington Wild, ranked seventh in Eastern Canada, to earn their way to the Telus Cup. That victory was their fourth of the weekend in five games and their second straight against Kensington. Moncton beat the Wild, 6-1, the previous day and suffered its only loss of the regional tournament, 3-2, vs. the No. 45 Halifax McDonalds. In their regional wins, the Flyers outscored their four opponents by a combined 27-8 margin.
Moncton heads to the Telus cup with an overall record of 48-19-10 and having outscored its opponents, 301-172. The Flyers are 12-3 in their last 15 contests.
They open play at the Telus Cup vs. the 22nd-ranked Elgin-Middlesex Canucks from Ontario April 21 at 2 p.m. EDT.
Central Region Champions
The No. 22 Elgin-Middlesex Canucks, ranked second in Ontario, had to run the gauntlet by winning the highly competitive Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario championship before competing against a stacked Central Region Championship field.
The Canucks earned a hard-fought 3-2 best-of-five ALLIANCE championship-series victory over Ontario’s 11th-ranked Waterloo Wolves, coming back from a 1-0 Game 4 loss with a decisive 5-0 win in the final contest. They went on to compile a 5-2 record in seven games at the Central Region tournament, six of those coming against teams ranked among Ontario’s top 17.
Elgin-Middlesex defeated both the Vaughan Kings, No. 4 in Ontario and 37th in Canada, and Upper Canada Cyclones, 14th in Ontario and 79th overall, to advance to the Telus Cup. The Canucks beat Upper Canada in consecutive games, 5-1 and 3—0, and captured the Central championship with a 3-2 overtime victory against the Kings as Lucas Steensel buried game-winning goal with 13:25 left in the extra session.
The Canucks are 55-13-2 overall and have outscored their opponents by a stunning 305-97 margin. They have recorded 22 shutouts on the season and held their opponents to one goal or fewer on 43 occasions.
Elgin-Middlesex begins its quest for the Telus Cup against the Atlantic-champion Moncton Flyers April 21 at 2 p.m. EDT.
Host Team
The 70th-ranked Fraser Valley Thunderbirds automatically qualified for the Telus Cup as the host team. Fraser Valley will have been off for more than six weeks, 44 days to be exact, when the puck drops on their first tournament game. The Thunderbirds were the fifth seed for the eight-team BCEHL quarterfinals and were swept in two games by the Vancouver North West Hawks.
Fraser Valley does have BCEHL scoring-champion Cole Brown, who finished with 65 points in league play. With Brown leading a balanced offensive group that features five 40-point scorers, the T-Birds may be able to provide the home fans with something to cheer about.
The last host team to win the Telus Cup was the Calgary Northstars in 1991, while the host St. Hyacinthe Gaulois advanced to the championship game in 2023. This will be the Thunderbirds’ first Telus Cup appearance.
They went 20-25-1 during a season that was a bit of a roller-coaster ride but never experienced extended winning or losing streaks. Fraser Valley has been outscored thus far by a 201-177 margin and concluded its season having dropped six of its final seven contests on the heels of a three-game winning streak.
The Thunderbirds begin play in prime time on opening day, April 21, at 10 p.m. EDT against the second-ranked Regina Pat Canadians.
All six teams play each other once in the preliminary round, with play opening Monday, April 21, at 2 p.m. EDT and concluding with the gold-medal game Sunday, April 27 at 6 p.m. EDT. There will be three games per day at 2, 6 and 10 p.m. EDT until the semifinals at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. April 26.
Teams that finish first through fourth in round-robin play advance to the semifinals. The bronze-medal game will take place April 27 at 2 p.m. EDT.
The first U18 national-championship tournament was held in 1974, and since then hundreds of Telus Cup alumni have gone on to play in the National Hockey league. Three of those players were No. 1 overall draft picks: Gord Kluzak, Wendel Clark and Sidney Crosby.
Teams earn three points for regulation wins, two for overtime or shootout victories, one for an OT or shootout loss and none for a regulation loss. If necessary, ties will be broken in the preliminary round by five minutes of 3-on-3 overtime followed by a shootout if there is no scoring during the extra session. The semifinals and bronze-medal games will feature a 10-minute 3-on-3 overtime period followed by a shootout if necessary, and overtime for the gold-medal game if it is tied after regulation will be 20 minutes of 3-on-3 followed by a shootout.
All Telus Cup games are being played at Chilliwack Coliseum
CLICK HERE for the complete Telus Cup schedule
CLICK HERE for Telus Cup team rosters
CLICK HERE for the Telus Cup standings
CLICK HERE for Telus Cup player stats
CLICK HERE for Telus Cup team stats
