League finals set; Memorial Cup host out early again

OHL

Winning the Memorial Cup as the host team? That's hard. Winning your league as the Memorial Cup host team? That's proven to be even harder.

The Saginaw Spirit, the host of this year's Memorial Cup tournament, were eliminated from the Ontario Hockey League playoffs in the third round by the London Knights. The Spirit's last game was on May 5 and they won't play again until May 24 when they host the Western Hockey League champions.

Remarkably, Saginaw's elimination means no Memorial Cup host team has won their respective league since the 2008 Kitchener Rangers. No host team has won both the Memorial Cup and their respective league since the 2005 London Knights, considered one of the greatest junior teams of all-time.

Here is how each Memorial Cup host has done in their league playoffs since the last host champion (Kitchener) in 2008.... pic.twitter.com/W0Xx0JglIM

— Steve McLean (@SteveMcLean888) May 5, 2024

Since 2008, three host teams have managed to lift the Memorial Cup on home ice: the 2012 Shawinigan Cataractes, the 2017 Windsor Spitfires and the 2022 Saint John Sea Dogs (the Sea Dogs were, oddly, involved in all three of those tournaments).

It's fair to say that this is officially a trend – and can the Rimouski Oceanic stop it by winning the Gilles Courteau Trophy next year?

For the 14th straight CHL season the Memorial Cup host will not win their league title. Last time the host did win their league was Kitchener in 2008.
The longest stretch before this one was 7 seasons on two different occasions, 1988-1994 & 1998-2004.

— Steve McLean (@SteveMcLean888) May 5, 2024

With Saginaw out in the third round, all three league championships will have a berth in the Memorial Cup on the line.

The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League final will feature the Baie-Comeau Drakkar taking on the Drummondville Voltigeurs.

In the OHL, the Oshawa Generals eliminated the North Bay Battalion in Game 7 on Monday night. The Generals will take on the Knights in the league final. 

Lastly, in the WHL, the Portland Winterhawks were up late on Tuesday to see who won Game 7 between the Saskatoon Blades and Moose Jaw Warriors, a series that featured six games needing overtime. Moose Jaw took Game 7, winning 3-2 in extra time.

The loss was extra painful for the Blades, who are still looking for their first WHL championship despite being around since the 1960s. Saskatoon had the WHL's best regular season record.