Memorial Cup 2026: Kitchener Returns the Cup to Ontario!
Updated June 1, 2026
By Scott Lowe – MYHockeyRankings.com
We've arrived at the finish line!
North American youth hockey national champions were crowned some time ago, and in the past few weeks, the Canadian Junior A and American Tier 2 junior champions were determined.
And now, the champions of the most prominent junior hockey leagues in North America have been determined as well.
Just as the Tier 1 United States Hockey League Clark Cup Finals concluded, the champions of the Ontario Hockey League, the Quebec Maritimes Hockey League and the Western Hockey League – the leagues that collectively comprise the Canadian Hockey League – traveled to British Columbia to compete along with the host Kelowna Rockets of the WHL for the coveted Memorial Cup.
The puck dropped on the 2026 Memorial Cup Friday, May 22, at 9 p.m. EDT as the host Rockets took on the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers at Prospera Place in Kelowna, B.C. The following day at 9 p.m. EDT the tournament’s other two participants, the Everett Silvertips of the WHL and the Chicoutimi Sagueneens, began their quests for the famous trophy.
Unfortunately for the home fans, the host Kelowna Rockets were eliminated first while the three league champs advanced to the playoff round. The Kitchener Rangers defeated the Everett Silvertips, 6-2, June 1 to win the 2026 Memorial Cup.
This year’s tournament featured 32 players who already were drafted by National Hockey League teams as well as many other elite prospects expected to be selected in either 2026 or 2027. Anaheim, Nashville and Ottawa each had three draft picks participating, while Los Angeles, Montreal, the New York Islanders, San Jose, Seattle, Vancouver and Utah had two apiece.
Kitchener, which captured its first OHL championship since 2008, had 12 NHL draft picks on its roster, including first-round selections Cameron Reid (Nashville ’25) and Sam O’Reilly (Tampa Bay ’24). O'Reilly went on to earn the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as tournament MVP after recording three goals and eight points in four games. He became the third player in CHL history to earn regular-season and playoff MVP honors in his league and then go on to claim the Smythe Trophy.
In an interesting twist, the host Kelowna Rockets checked in with the second-most drafted players. They had eight draft picks on their roster, including one with a familiar last name in Tij Iginla, the first selection in Utah Mammoth club history. He was chosen sixth overall in 2024 and is the highest-drafted prospect in tne field. The Rockets were making their first Memorial Cup appearance since 2015.
Chicoutimi, which captured its first Gilles-Courteau Trophy as the QMJHL champion in more than 30 years, had seven drafted players on its roster, including league-MVP Maxim Masse, selected in the third round by Anaheim in 2024.
Everett entered the tournament having won the franchise’s first WHL title and with five NHL draft selections on its team. Carter Bear, the 11th overall pick by Detroit in 2025, headlined the Silvertips’ prospect group.
According to NHL.com, there were four players ranked among the top 60 of NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of North American skaters: Chicoutimi forward Liam Lefebvre (38), Everett defenseman Brek Liske (44), Kitchener defenseman Alexander Bilecki (49) and Everett forward Matias Vanhanen (54). In addition, Harrison Boettiger of Kelowna was No. 10 on Central Scouting's final ranking of North American goaltenders, and Kitchener's Jason Schaubel was 36th.
With so much previously drafted talent scattered across the four rosters and so many future NHL Draft prospects joining them in Kelowna, this year’s Memorial Cup featured plenty of parity and even a little mystery. While Kitchener, Chicoutimi and Kelowma had combined to make 12 Memorial Cup appearances overall, none of those teams has qualified or hosted since 2015.
Kitchener previously competed in the Memorial Cup as the host team in 2008. The Rangers won the championship in 1982 and 2003 and were playing for the Cup for the seventh time. Kelowna previously hosted the tournament in 2004 and has qualified five other times, including this year.
The Rockets won the championship in 2004 after advancing to the semifinals the previous year.
Chicoutimi qualified for the Memorial Cup in 1991, 1994 and 1997 but never had advanced past round-robin play.
Everett, which joined the WHL for the 2003-04 season, was competing for the trophy for the first time. The Silvertips earned the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s top regular-season team multiple times before finally breaking through to win the Ed Chynoweth Cup this season.
“We’ve got a great host team and three league champions.” Everett Coach Steve Hamilton said at a pre-tournament press event. “These teams are all going to have a lot of the same pieces … a great goaltender, a couple of big-time defensemen and some big-time forwards. There will be probably very, very slim margins between all of the teams, and that’s the nature of this tournament. That’s why it’s so hard to win.”
Some pundits labeled the Silvertips as a favorite to skate off with the Cup this year on the heels of their impressive regular-season and playoff showings. Everett swept Portland in the opening round of the WHL Playoffs after capturing its second straight WHL regular-season title with a franchise-best 57-8-2-1 record. The Silvertips went on to post a 16-2 postseason mark in capturing their first Chynoweth Cup.
Kitchener also was impressive in its run to the OHL’s J. Ross Robertson Trophy, sweeping the Barrie Colts to capture the league title. The Rangers posted a dominant 47-14-4-2 regular-season record and needed just 18 games to capture the title, sweeping two series and winning two others in five games.
That performance had many observers correctly mentioning them in the same breath with Everett as a potential favorite to take home the Memorial Cup. The Rangers’ lineup also included two players, O’Reilly and Jared Woolley, who were part of London’s Cup-winning team a year ago. The two consensus favorites did end up meeting in the championship game.
Much like Hamilton, however, Kitchener Coach Jussi Ahokas wasn't buying the hype heading into the tourney.
“I think there’s four really good teams and three champions and one really good host team,” he said. “I wouldn’t say we’re the favorites. I think there’s not really a favorite in this tournament.”
Ahokas did admit that the addition of cup-winners O’Reilly and Woolley might provide his team with an experience edge over some of the other participants.
“It’s a really big factor for us that we got them,” he said. “They’re both winners. They bring a lot of experience. They bring a lot of leadership. They’ve been here, and they’ve seen what it takes to win.”
QMJHL-champion Chicoutimi has a coach who knows what it takes to win, and it seemed a bit shortsighted to count out the Sagueneens, who ultimately advanced to the semifinals. Yanick Jean, who was on Chicoutimi’s 1994 Memorial Cup squad, had a roster that was built over time and included a few key players added at the trade deadline.
The addition of defenseman Jordan Tourigny, who played for Shawinigan in the 2022 Memorial Cup, added experience and leadership and was part of deadline moves that provided Jean with a strong and deep lineup heading into the postseason. The Sagueneens also had an Ottawa Senators draft pick in Lucas Beckman as their starting goalie. He was second in the QMJHL in save percentage (.917) and allowed just six goals in his team’s first eight playoff contests.
Chicoutimi opened the playoffs by sweeping Halifax and Quebec in the first two rounds before needing six games to dispatch of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. The Sagueneens eliminated defending-champion Moncton in a six-game final during which they scored 11 of the final 12 goals in winning the last two games, 7-6 and 5-1.
“{The Memorial Cup is} a tournament; it’s not playoffs anymore,” Beckman told Callum Fraser of the Ottawa Citizen in a pre-tournament interview. “It’s all one-game series. You have to be ready the first minute of the game, and you have to be ready to play 60 minutes each game. There’s no wiggle room at all.”
The round-robin format in which teams play each other once to determine who advances to the playoff round could have been just the prescription for the host Kelowna Rockets, who were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs by Everett in five games. Kelowna won Game 4, 3-2, in overtime, and the series-deciding fifth game also required extra time, with the Silvertips winning, 2-1. Two contests were decided by a pair of goals, while the other was a 4-1 decision.
As it turned out, the Rockets needed to beat Everett in the final round-robin game to force a tiebreaker contest for the final playoff berth, but the Silvertips skated to a 4-0 victory.
That closely contested series and the Rockets’ ability win a game against the WHL champs gave the home fans hope that Kelowna might become the third host team in the last five years to win the Memorial Cup.
Coach Derrick Martin knew the team would rally around the support of its passionate fans and use that as a “weapon” during the tournament.
“For the last month, just seeing the tents put up and all the changes around the rink, we’ve had a front-row seat, and I think that breeds some excitement,” Martin said. “To see what it means in this community and how passionate people are here, I know the crowd is going to be raucous on Friday, and that’s a huge advantage for us.”
The WHL representative had won the Memorial Cup just three times since the Rockets captured the trophy on home ice in 2004. Meanwhile, the OHL and QMJHL had won eight times during that span. This year, the WHL came up short again despite getting two cracks at it with a pair of quality teams in the field.
Memorial Cup Format
The preliminary round included all four teams competing in a round-robin format. Any ties whould have been settled by 3-on-3 sudden-victory 20-minute overtimes played until a winner was determined. Teams were awarded two points for a win and zero points for a loss.
Kitchener concluded round-robin play with the most standings points and automatically advanced to the championship game. The second- and third-place teams, Everett and Chicoutimi, played each other in a semifinal elimination game, while fourth-place Kelowna was eliminated. A tiebreaker game would have been played if there was a tie for third place.
The semifinal winner faced the Rangers in a winner-take-all championship game May 31.
Memorial Cup Standings
Kitchener Rangers ! - 3W 0L 6PTS
Everett Silvertips* - 2W 1L 4PTS
Cicoutimi Sagueneens* - 1W 2L 2PTS
Kelowna Rockets - 0W 3L 0PTS
! clinched top seed and spot in championship game
* clinched semfinal spot
Memorial Cup Schedule (all times Eastern)
Kitchener 5, Kelowna 0 – Friday, May 22
The Rangers scored three times in the final 20 minutes to pull away and send the host team's fans home disappointed. Five different players scored for Kitchener, with Haeden Ellis, Sam O'Reilly, Jack Pridham, Jared Woolley and Dylan Edwards all finding the back of the net. Christian Kirsch stopped all 24 shots he faced, while Kelowna's Harrison Boettiger made 34 saves in the opposing net. Pridham contribued an assist to go along with his goal to earn Star of the Game honors. Edwards, Carson Campbell and Alexander Bilecki each also contributed 2 points to the winning cause.
Everett 5, Chicoutimi 3 – Saturday, May 23
The Silvertips scored three times in a span of 8:37 of the second period, with the last two goals coming 50 seconds apart, to rally from a 2-1 deficit and take control of a game they eventually would win. Chicoutimi's Maxim Masse made things interesting with a power-play goal in the final minute, but it took Everett's Matias Vanhanen just seven seconds to respond into an empty net to secure the victory. Jesse Heslop got things rolling early for the Silvertips, scoring just 1:14 into the contest, but Christophe Berthelot and Alex Huang tallied to put Chicoutimi in front after 25 minutes. Heslop would add an assist on Zackary Shantz's second-period goal to earn Star of the Game honors, while Lukas Kaplan and Carter Bear provided the other Everett goals. Winning netminder Anders Miller made 25 saves.
Chicoutimi 3, Kelowna 2 (OT) – Sunday, May 24
Liam Lefebvre scored his second goal of the game 5:28 into overtime to keep Chicoutimi alive in the hunt for a playoff-round berth and drop the hosts to 0-2. Lefebvre also opened the scoring at 14:38 of the first period, but Tij Iginla tied it 6:29 into the middle frame. The teams continued to trade goals, with Anton Linde pushing the Sagueneens back in front at 14:01 of the third period only to see Mazden Leslie tie it 1:40 later, setting up the extra session. Nathan Lecompte assisted on Chicoutimmi's second and third goals, while winning netminder Lucas Beckman made 29 saves. Lefebvre was named Star of the Game.
Kitchener 6, Everett 2 – Monday, May 25
Kitchener scored four straight goals in the game's final 30:14 after Everett had bounced back from an early two-goal deficit. Three of the goals came in a 4:37 span of the second period as Christian Humphreys, Gabriel Chiarot and Jack Pridham connected to break the tie and put the Rangers comfortably in front. The goal was Pridham's second of the contest, and Cameron Arquette concluded the scoring for the Rangers late in the final frame. Cameron Reid tallied the other Kitchener goal and earned Star of the Game honors with four points, while goalie Christian Kirsch made 40 saves as Kitchener improved to 2-0. Matias Vanhanen and Rylan Gould scored for the Silvertips, who fell to 1-1.
Kitchener 3, Chicoutimi 2 – Tuesday, May 26
Kitchener broke a scoreless tie with a pair of goals in the opening four minutes of the second period and held on to advance to the championship game after Mavrick Lachance cut the margin to 3-2 with 3:54 left in the game. Netminder Christian Kirsch and the Ranger defense shut the door from there, with Kirsch making 28 saves to earn the win. Luca Romano and Sam O'Reilly scored in the second period for Kitchener, with Jack Pridham potting the eventual game-winner 21 seconds into the final frame. O'Reilly and Pridham each recorded a goal and an assist, while Dylan Ewdards contributed a pair of helpers to earn Star of the Game honors. Emile Ricard scored the other Chicoutimi goal.
Everett 4, Kelowna 0 – Wednesday, May 27
The Silvertips needed to take care of business to advance to the semifinals, and they turned in a workmanlike performance to do just that. Everett scored twice in a 45-second span of the first period to take control and added single goals in the second and third periods to secure a spot in the semis vs. Chicoutimi with a 2-1 record. The Host Rockets fell to 0-3 and were eliminated. Kayd Ruedig, Jaxon Pisani, Matias Vanhanen and Carter Bear scored for Everett, with Vanhanen and Ruedig also contributing single assists. Goalie Anders Miller stopped all 28 shots he faced to record the shutout, while Vanhanen earned Star of the Game honors for his efforts.
Semifinals
Everett 6, Chicoutimi 1 – Friday, May 29
The crowd favorites from the WHL scored five straight goals after Chicoutimi tied the game at 1 in the first period, with Landon DuPont, Carter Bear and Matials Vanhanen each factoring in on two of those scores, as Everett skated away with the victory and straight into the championship game. Jesse Vaughan opened the scoring 7:56 into the contest, and winning goalie Anders Miller stopped 25 shots while also picking up an assist on DuPont's second goal of the evening. DuPont earned Star of the Game honors for his efforts. Thomas Lavoie gave Chicoutimi hope with his first-period marker, but that was all the offense his team could generate.
Championship
Kitchener 6, Everett 2 – Sunday, May 31
The Rangers did to Everett what the Silvertips did to Chicoutimi in the semifinals, smashing open a 1-1 game with four straight goals overlapping all three periods to skate away with the Memorial Cup. Dylan Edwards, Jared Woolley Jack Pridham and Sam O'Reilly each scored once during the decisive run, while O'Reilly, Pridham and Cameron Reid each contributed a pair of helpers. O'Reilly also assisted on Christian Humphreys's third-period marker, with Luke Ellinas scoring the first Kitchener goal and Haeden Ellis also dishing out a pair of helpers. Christian Kirsch made 30 saves to earn the win in goal, while O'Reilly was named tournament MVP. Matias Vanhannen and Carter Bear concluded strong tournaments for the runners-up, each notching a goal, while Landon DuPont contibuted a pair of assists.
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NHL Draft Picks at Memorial Cup by Team (courtesy of the CHL)
Kitchener Rangers (12)
Matthew Andonovski – Ottawa Senators (140th overall / 2023)
Gabriel Chiarot – Vancouver Canucks (175th overall / 2025)
Luke Ellias – Ottawa Senators (104th overall / 2024)
Matthew Hlacar – Toronto Maple Leafs (217th overall / 2025)
Christian Humphries – Colorado Avalanche (215th overall / 2024)
Christian Kirsch – San Jose Sharks (116th overall / 2024)
Andrew MacNiel – Montreal Canadiens (189th overall / 2025)
Sam O’Reilly – Tampa Bay Lightning via Edmonton Oilers (32nd overall / 2024)
Jack Pridham – Chicago Blackhawks (92nd overall / 2024)
Cameron Reid – Nashville Predators (21st overall / 2025)
Anthony Romano – New York Islanders (74th overall / 2025)
Jared Woolley – LA Kings (164th overall / 2024)
Kelowna Rockets (8)
Parker Alcos – Vancouver Canucks (189th overall / 2024)
Vojtech Cihar – LA Kings (59th overall / 2025)
Hiroki Gojsic – Nashville Predators (94th overall / 2024)
Peyton Kettles – Pittsburgh Penguins (39th overall / 2025)
Tij Iginla – Utah Mammoth (6th overall / 2025)
Hayden Paupanekis – Montreal Canadiens (69th overall / 2025)
Tomas Poletin – New York Islanders (106th overall / 2025)
Carson Wetsch – San Jose Sharks (82nd overall / 2024)
Chicoutimi Sagueneens (7)
Lucas Beckman – Ottawa Senators (97th overall / 2025)
Alexis Bernier – Seattle Kraken (73rd overall / 2024)
Emile Guite – Anaheim Ducks (159th overall / 2025)
Alex Huang – Nashville Predators (122nd overall / 2025)
Tomas Lavoie – Utah Mammoth (89th overall / 2024)
Maxim Masse – Anaheim Ducks (66th overall / 2024)
Maxim Schafer – Washington Capitals (96th overall / 2025)
Everett Silvertips (5)
Carter Bear – Detroit Red Wings (11th overall / 2025)
Shea Busch – Florida Panthers (128th overall / 2025)
Julius Miettinen – Seattle Kraken (40th overall / 2024)
Tarin Smith – Anaheim Ducks (79th overall / 2024)
Luke Vlooswyk – Philadelphia Flyers (157th overall / 2025)
