FIVE MINUTE MAJOR Memorial Cup and more

The Memorial Cup is officially underway in Rimouski, Quebec and so far, it’s been the WHL and OHL with strong showings. The Medicine Hat Tigers and London Knights were both undefeated going into their matchup against each other Tuesday night.

It was Medicine Hat emerging victorious in the matchup and automatically advanced to Sunday’s championship game. With the loss, London will play in Friday’s semi-final.

Tuesday night’s matchup could be very telling for how the end of the Memorial Cup could shake out. If all goes how the first few games went, it’s very possible the final could be a rematch of Tuesday night’s battle between Medicine Hat and London.

The WHL has had a tough time in past Memorial Cups with no champion since 2014 when the Edmonton Oil Kings took home the cup.

Medicine Hat defeated the host Rimouski Oceanic 5-4 and the Moncton Wildcats 3-1. The London Knights defeated Moncton 3-2 in overtime and Rimouski 3-1.

The first QMJHL battle in the Memorial Cup was set for Wednesday night between host Rimouski and league champion Moncton Wildcats. Beyond that, matchups were to be determined based on how things turned out in the last two round robin matchups.

With all the changes in the major junior hockey landscape, it begs the question with expansion and the realignment of other leagues, if a fourth league might eventually take part in the Memorial Cup.

Also with the changing landscape, it begs another question. That being if the CHL vs. US Development Program game could change a bit. By change, one fun hypothetical is if it could turn into a CHL vs. USHL or BCHL All-Star Game.

Those two leagues could be nearly on the same level come next year with the agreement between the NCAA and CHL. But an All-Star Game would also help to test how competitive those two leagues could be against the CHL.

Whether it’d be a pre-season tournament possibly or an All-Star Game could be determined, but an All-Star Game could possibly garner more viewership. A potential All-Star Game could rotate between CHL leagues and either the BCHL and/or the USHL so fans in each league’s footprint could see the top talent among the competing leagues.

Another idea could be having the Memorial Cup champion play the champion of either the BCHL and/or the USHL. This year in the BCHL it was one of the new Alberta teams, the Brook Bandits capturing the league’s Fred Page Cup. In the USHL this year, it was the Muskegon Lumberjacks taking home the Clark Cup.

Another thought could be the winner of the USHL playing the winner of the BCHL then the winner of that game or series playing the winner of the Memorial Cup.

Only time will tell if there’s any sort of competition between CHL leagues and non-CHL leagues, but it shouldn’t be out of the question with the changing landscape.

There will also be more talent in the CHL with the expansion in the WHL next season with the Penticton Vees and then the yet to be named Chilliwack franchise in 2027. There was also the rumor of the QMJHL expanding to a couple of markets for the 2026-27 season. However, nothing has been officially announced of any movement on that front.