NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Mat Ward makes a pass during practice Thursday ahead of the opening game of the 105th Memorial Cup in Rimouski, Que.
RIMOUSKI, QUE.
Two potent offences will meet in the opening game of the 2025 Memorial Cup.
The host Rimouski Océanic take on the WHL Champion Medicine Hat Tigers in the first game of the 105th tournament held in Rimouski, Que.
In what is expected to be a sell-out at the Sun Life Coliseum, Océanic head coach Jöel Perrault says they’ll look to capitalize on the atmosphere.
He says a quick start will be priority with the fan energy and also to keep Medicine Hat out of the game.
“It’s really important, every every game we play at home obviously you want to get the crowd involved as much as possible,” Perrault said. “We know they’re going to be excited, so we want to give them a reason to cheer.
“And on the other side, we don’t want to get too high as well. So it’s going to be important for us, the coaching staff, to make sure that everybody is at the right place and just play the game and enjoy it. That’s why we’ve been waiting for this game for a long time and now we’re here. So I want the boys to just make sure they’re enjoying it too.”
The Océanic made it to the QMJHL finals, losing in six games to the Moncton Wildcats. They trailed Moncton 3-0 in the series before recording a pair of wins to bring the series back to home ice for Game 6 on May 19, a 3-2 loss. Rimouski’s two wins in the Championship series saw them score first, with Moncton finding the back of the net first in the other four games of the series.
The Tigers look for a similar start to their games, scoring first in all five games of the WHL championship series en route to the 4-1 series win over the Spokane Chiefs. Three of those opening goals came in the first minute of the game.
Head coach Willie Desjardins says they approach the start the same as they have, looking to continue the trend of early momentum.
“It’s important for sure, in this building, it’s going to be really important,” Desjardins said. “The guys know what they have to do and if we get a good start or not, I think we’re going to keep playing and get into the game. So it would certainly help them get started.”
The Tigers haven’t seen the Sun Life Coliseum full yet but the low ceilings and steep shape to the bowl have brought some flashbacks to times of past in Medicine Hat, a rink reminiscent of the former home of the orange and black, The Arena.
“A lot of Rimouski reminds me of Medicine Hat,” Desjardins said. “It’s one of those smaller franchise in a league where there’s lots of big places now in the league and you run off your tradition. You run off you’ve built, your culture that you’ve built. So I think there’s some similarities but it’s going to be a tough place to play.”
Both teams like to score and have had success in the playoffs when it comes to finding the back of the net. Rimouski led the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League playoffs in scoring with 83 goals in their 23 games. Medicine Hat was second in the Western Hockey League playoff scoring with 86 goals in 16 games, 10 fewer than Spokane in two fewer games played,
Perrault says the threat of offence from both sides doesn’t change their game plan.
“We don’t want to change the way we play because of who we play against,” Perrault said. “We want to create, we’re an aggressive team where we like to forecheck and the same time, we know all the power that Medicine Hat has, so we’re going to have to be really smart and really alert on the ice every time. You know those top guys are there. I like the way that our team is built to play against teams like that. So it’s going to be up to us now to get the job done.”
Desjardins says they’ve experienced teams in their playoff run who forecheck and play similar to Rimouski’s style.
“Spokane was a pretty aggressive team, Swift Current got guys out of the zone pretty quick,” Desjardins said. “So their forwards are quick and we’ve experienced guys who attacked, like they really attacked. We have teams in our league who like to attack as well.”
The Océanic were 11-2 on home ice in the QMJHL playoffs, Medicine Hat 8-1 on the road. The Tigers have benefited from having vast fan support while on the road throughout the WHL playoffs, helping them navigate the hostile home crowds. Forward Mat Ward, who has family arriving to Rimouski today for the game, says they’ll use both their fans and the home crowd for energy.
“There will probably be some (Tigers fans) here, but I know there’s gonna be a lot at home watching too,” Ward said. “The support we’ve received has been unbelievable throughout the whole playoffs and it just keeps getting better and better.”
Puck drop for the opening game of the 2025 Memorial Cup is at 5 p.m. MST and can be viewed on TSN in Canada and on Victory+ in the United States.
