Medicine Hat battles London in Memorial Cup Final for major junior supremacy
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The Western Hockey League champion Medicine Hat Tigers and Ontario Hockey League champion London Knights meet in the Memorial Cup Final on Sunday as they battle for supremacy at the top of the Canadian Hockey League.
London set up this final matchup on Friday after defeating the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League champion Moncton Wildcats in the semis 5-2 to return to the final for the second consecutive season.
The Knights and Wildcats traded goals in each of the first two periods before London was able to pull away in the third with three unanswered goals.
London received offence throughout their top three lines and were rewarded with five different goal scorers.
Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan has taken over the tournament lead in scoring with six points after recording a goal and an assist in Friday's win.
"All around, I thought that was our best game of the tournament so far," Cowan said after the game. "We had a really good first, kind of laid back in the second, but our third was probably our best period of the tournament so far.
"We had everyone scoring today, got lots of depth, and it was a huge win for us."
Austin Elliott continues his strong play in net in the tournament, making 21 saves to preserve the victory.
The 6-foot-1 overage netminder is 3-1 in the tournament, leading the way with a 1.74 goals-against average and .936 save percentage.
Elliott has been a key cog in the Knights machine throughout the season, overcoming adversity early that saw him bounce around from the WHL to the OHL.
The Strathmore, Alta., native, played the majority of his major junior career with the WHL's Saskatoon Blades and helped lead them to the league's best record last season after he went 29-8-2 with a 2.39 GAA and .904 save percentage.
Elliott began the season with the Blades this season, but was placed on CHL waivers by the club in order to allow the team to develop goaltenders for the future.
He was claimed by the Barrie Colts and then flipped to the Knights for a draft pick on Oct. 16, and he never looked back from there.
Elliott went 32-1-0 with London in the regular season with a 2.10 GAA and .924 save percentage and went on to go 16-1 in the playoffs to help the team claim the J. Ross Robertson Cup.
The Knights now enter the final against Medicine Hat with the team seeking revenge for falling short last season against last year's Memorial Cup host Saginaw Spirt.
London and Saginaw were tied 3-3 late in the third period before Spirit forward Josh Bloom scored the game winner with 22 second remaining in the frame.
The Knights have been working all season with the goal in mind to get back to this point and they are feeling like their hard work is paying off.
"We're really happy just to be back at this point, the same as last year," Dickinson told TSN after the game. "Now that we're here, it finally kind of feels like all the work from this year almost paid off. We're 60 minutes away from where we really want to be."
London will have a tough task ahead of them as they take on a Medicine Hat team that swept through the round-robin portion of the tournament, including a 3-1 win over the Knights on Tuesday.
The Tigers have been led all season by 17-year-old phenom Gavin McKenna, who is projected to be selected first overall in the 2026 NHL Draft at this time.
McKenna has been the face of the CHL this season, recording 41 goals and 129 points in 56 games during the regular season, ending it on a 40-game point streak.
His point streak increased all the way to 54 games in the playoffs, which set a CHL modern day record. During that span, McKenna recorded 40 goals and 137 points and was only held off the scoresheet four times this season between the regular season and playoffs.
"There's no stage that's going to be too bright for McKenna," TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button said earlier in the tournament. "He's literally in the moment and those moments are special. He's got magic in his game."
Outside of McKenna, Minnesota Wild prospect Ryder Ritchie has four goals and five points in the tournament while captain Oasiz Wiesblatt has five assists as key contributors to the offence.
The Tigers also got a massive boost prior to the start of the WHL Final when star forwards Cayden Lindstrom and Andrew Basha returned to the lineup from long-term injuries.
Lindstrom was drafted fourth overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2024 and missed the entire regular season and the first three rounds of the playoffs while recovering from back surgery.
Basha, a Calgary Flames draft pick, had been out since late December with an ankle injury.
Both players ended up being key contributors to the Tigers winning the Ed Chynoweth Cup and getting to this point at the Memorial Cup.
Harrison Meneghin has also been solid in net for Medicine Hat, going 3-0 in the tournament with a 2.00 GAA and .927 save percentage.
His biggest game came against the Knights on Tuesday, stopping 35 of 36 shots, allowing his team to come up with the winning goals in the third period to claim the win and the direct path into the Memorial Cup Final.
The 2025 playoffs have not been an easy time for the Tampa Bay Lightning prospect. On the final day of the regular season, his father unexpectedly passed away in the middle of the Tigers' 5-2 win over the Calgary Hitmen.
Meneghin wasn't told the news until after the game but the 6-foot-4 netminder pressed on, going 14-1 in the WHL playoffs with a 2.35 GAA and .906 save percentage and was named WHL playoff MVP.
"The bigger the game, the more he gets dialed in," Tigers head coach Willie Desjardins said during the WHL Championship Series. "He's been great for us. He's gone through a lot and for him to be able to stay focused, I know our guys are really excited for him when he makes saves and gets a win."