NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers forward Ryder Ritchie skates behind the net after scoring his first of two goals in the Tigers' 3-1 win Monday over the QMJHL's Moncton Wildcats on Monday at the 105th Memorial Cup in Medicine Hat.
James Tubbjtubb@medicinehatnews.com
RIMOUSKI, Que.
The Memorial Cup’s two undefeated teams will meet tonight with a spot in the finals on the line.
The Medicine Hat Tigers and London Knights will face-off as the WHL and OHL’s champions vye for a bye to the finals in the 105th Memorial Cup. The winner of the contest will finish the round robin with a 3-0 record and clinch a spot in Sunday’s finals.
“It’s a tough tournament, we know that, I’ve been here before and I know how hard it is to win games,” Medicine Hat head coach Willie Desjardins said Tuesday morning. “We’ve had two close games, both games could have gone either way, so it’s exciting to get wins in both of them and it’s good to have a chance.”
The losing team tonight will play in the semifinal on Friday, taking on the winner of the Rimouski Oceanic and Moncton Wildcats who wrap up the round robin on Wednesday. London found themselves in the same spot last year, winning their final round robin game to advance directly to the final, where they lost to the host Saginaw Spirit 4-3.
London head coach Dale Hunter says the game is as important to them as it is the Tigers.
“It’s going to be a battle, they played really well last night and they got a big win and against a tough team,” Hunter said. “Tonight we’re expecting a real tough hockey game.”
The Tigers defeated the Wildcats 3-1 Monday night, with two goals from Ryder Ritchie propelling them to the win. He leads the tournament with three goals and is tied with linemate Gavin McKenna and London forward Easton Cowan for the tournament scoring lead with four points.
“My line mates are making it easy for me,” Ritchie said. “They’re finding me and I’ve just kind of tried to put myself in good spots for them. But obviously it’s all my line mates.”
Both teams bring offensive fire power, London scored 91 goals in their 17 OHL playoff games en route to their sixth championship. The Tigers, also capturing their sixth WHL, scored 86 goals in 18 playoff games. Tigers have tallied eight goals through two games at the Memorial Cup, London notching six.
“They have lots of talented players with a lot of experience,” defenceman Josh Van Mulligen said. “They’re in the tournament last year for a reason, so I think it’s going to be a really tough challenge tonight.”
The Tigers have been able to watch both of London’s games at the 2025 Memorial Cup, a 3-2 overtime win Saturday over the Moncton Wildcats and a 3-1 win Sunday over the Rimouski Oceanic.
“I saw them last year in the Memorial Cup and they were really good in that cup, as soon as that one ended they said they’re going to have a better team the next year,” Desjardins said. “I don’t know if they’re better this year or not, but they’re sure a really good team right now. Being able to watch them live just stresses how their upper-end talent. It stresses their depth and they’re built like an American (Hockey) League team.”
Desjardins confirmed forward Cayden Lindstrom, who made his Memorial Cup debut on Monday after missing their opening game against the Rimouski Oceanic, is expected to play on Tuesday.
Hunter says they have to match the Tigers speed if they want to become the fifth team in the last 35 years to make it to consecutive Memorial Cup finals.
“You see the elite skaters they have, you have to take the proper angles in the neutral zone when they forecheck or they’re going to get by you,” Hunter said.
Defenceman Oliver Bonk says they just have to play Knights’ hockey if they want to have success.
“They’re a good team, just like everyone else here,” Bonk said. “We just need to stick to our game plan and how we want to play them, just make sure you follow our systems and don’t get don’t get away from it.”
Former WHL goaltender Austin Elliott has backstopped the Knights to the Memorial Cup, losing just two games during the season. A story on his first time facing a WHL club since being released from the Saskatoon Blades can be found here.
Puck drop goes tonight at Rimouski’s Sun Life Coliseum at 5 p.m. MST.
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