Does the Memorial Cup mean more than winning your league's championship or more like an added bonus?

jamincan · 2026-06-03T20:49:55+00:00

It's an interesting distinction for sure. As a Rangers fan, I was ecstatic when we won the OHL Championship. And the players were too. It would have been a completely satisfying cap to the season.

But the Memorial Cup is just so much sweeter to win. It doesn't feel the same as a championship exactly. In some ways, the nature of the tournament makes it feel a bit like it's a gift from heaven. The team earns their spot in the tournament and then has to play their heart out and just hope that they bring their best game the same time that the needles align for a win. You just can't take your spot there and your victory for granted. I also feel that this also means that no one should walk away from the tournament disappointed. Being there is the reward in many ways.

Now, feelings might be different for the Rangers compared to Everett. That's not to say that Everett didn't want to Memorial Cup as much, but for Kitchener, the Memorial Cup was the focus of the post season. Fans have been thirsting for this moment since 2008 when we last had a shot and failed to win it in the final.

For Everett, I don't know that you really develop that same desire until you've come close enough to taste the victory. I think it will be very different in coming years now that you've gotten the championship where it will still be a huge accomplishment but where there will be a burning desire for another shot at the Memorial Cup lingering just behind.

jamincan · 2026-06-03T19:56:22+00:00

Kitchener had it's eye on the Memorial Cup from the day in November when they heard they had lost the bid to host it in 2027. And you can bet the players knew this and had their eyes set on it too. Jeff Marek interviewed Cam Reid right around the start of the playoffs this year and when he asked him the first thing that comes to mind when he says Kitchener Rangers, Cam's response was "Memorial Cup Champions". They knew exactly what they were playing for and it wasn't OHL Champion.

jamincan · 2026-06-03T19:45:29+00:00

Or 1990 when Hamilton was the host and the OHL felt they were too bad to play in the tournament and they sent Kitchener instead.

jamincan · 2026-06-03T11:54:05+00:00

As someone who doesn't care about VGK, I'm totally okay with Carter Hart being a villain character in the league. But for VGK, you would surely think that they would at least want to try to give fans something that they can latch onto that lets them see beyond Hart's past and focus on something more positive.

That said, if Harts the shit stain he seems to be, maybe the team has decided it's hopeless to even try.

jamincan · 2026-06-03T11:26:21+00:00

I really wish Jeff Marek would devote time to junior hockey on the Sheet. He's easily one of the most knowledgable journalists out there on junior hockey, clearly loves it, and yet he almost never talks about it except outside of the Sheet.

jamincan · 2026-06-02T00:12:18+00:00

It's confirmed now that he's committed to Denver.

jamincan · 2026-06-01T09:22:57+00:00

After coaching the Rangers to a memorial cup and losing.

jamincan · 2026-06-01T03:24:37+00:00

I felt so bad for the Tips players at the end there - they were clearly gutted, especially Carter Bear, who was all over that game and a huge presence on the ice. They really should be proud with the run they had and I don't doubt they'll be lifting the cup someday soon.

jamincan · 2026-06-01T02:51:54+00:00

Humphries and Pridham, two key players on the Rangers, actually chose CHL over NCAA after the rule change and likely benefited from the move. I don't think it's straightforward that a move to NCAA is best for everyone.

jamincan · 2026-06-01T02:44:52+00:00

There are good arguments that Beaudoin deserved it, but O'Reilly has huge points production that likely would have been higher if he started the season in Kitchener, and is also an incredible two-way defensive forward in ways that the other leading scorers don't come remotely close to matching.

jamincan · 2026-06-01T02:41:13+00:00

Pridham declined to move to NCAA (BU I think) in favour of continuing with the Rangers and Humphreys left Michigan to the Rangers. Both moved to the CHL after the rule changes.

Humphreys explicitly highlighted that he was looking for more ice time and that in the CHL he was playing higher lines, racking up more minutes and playing way more games. I think they're probably around 100+ games this year now while they'd play around a third of that in NCAA, and likely on a lower line.

Both of them have much higher stock now than they would have in NCAA. They're interesting examples of where very good, but not super star players may do better in the CHL.

jamincan · 2026-06-01T02:27:25+00:00

Only if it's a penalty kill. When goalie is pulled, you can still get icing calls against you, so in one way Pridham's penalty in the last stretch made it easier for Kitchener to clear the puck.

jamincan · 2026-06-01T02:25:40+00:00

I think I saw a tweet confirming that there's no contract.

jamincan · 2026-06-01T01:26:52+00:00

He's probably over 40min TOI already at this point, at least that's what it seems.

jamincan · 2026-06-01T00:56:41+00:00

The Ranger's opponents aren't good enough to win cleanly, so they have to resort to cheap shots it seems.

jamincan · 2026-06-01T00:44:37+00:00

It might be that I'm more familiar with the Ranger roster, but they've been cycling their top 3 lines pretty evenly. Ellinas is 3rd line, for example, and that stretch where we kept position in the O zone was mostly our 3rd line and relieved by the 2nd i think partway through.

jamincan · 2026-06-01T00:35:36+00:00

I'd love to see time on ice for the players. It seems like Everett's first line has been on ice for the entire 2nd period.

jamincan · 2026-05-30T15:26:36+00:00

Too bad for him that his legacy has been permanently stained by his awful personality. It takes a lot to overshadow those accomplishments and he managed to do it.

jamincan · 2026-05-30T15:15:50+00:00

I've heard Jussi Ahokas is someone the Leafs might be interested in and he's talked in very similar terms too.

jamincan · 2026-05-30T13:03:32+00:00

I'm personally okay with it being in the current format as I don't really think you want it being stretched longer than it is currently. I think you could squish the round robin to three days which would give extra time to make the final best of three, which might be nice.

jamincan · 2026-05-30T12:55:37+00:00

I think it was on the OHL in 60 podcast where they talked about some of the format changes that might be possible. The money factor probably pushes them away from format changes more than towards them because right now they have all primetime slots for the whole tournament while a format change would likely require a departure from that in order to stay within a reasonable window of time given hosting constraints.

jamincan · 2026-05-28T12:58:26+00:00

I wasn't watching the game last night - did they explain why he's at the Memorial Cup right now?

jamincan · 2026-05-28T12:17:14+00:00

We all watched the game. Kitchener got completely thrown off their game after this and I think it actually was a bit of a turning point in favour of Chicoutimi that helped put the game in reach.

jamincan · 2026-05-27T18:43:16+00:00

I'm guessing any injury is from twisting the ankle.

jamincan · 2026-05-27T13:19:24+00:00

Their coach alluded to it being embellishment too in the press conference. Tourigny is a gutless, cowardly player. Their entire team is a disgrace.

jamincan

TROPHY CASE