Knights down Tigers for Memorial Cup title

RIMOUSKI, QC – The London Knights are Memorial Cup champions.

After a tight first period, the Knights blew it open in the second en route to a 4-1 win over the Medicine Hat Tigers in Sunday's championship game. This is London's third Memorial Cup title and first since 2016.

This was London's second straight appearance in the Memorial Cup final – and they got some redemption. The Knights fell to the host Saginaw Spirit in last year's championship, falling behind early and were never able to pull themselves fully back into the game.

The Knights seemed to learn from last year's errors, leading 1-0 after one. They added three in the second period – and another that was called off due to goaltender interference – to take a commanding 4-0 lead into the third.

https://t.co/bkKt3a63eM pic.twitter.com/gyLsHeEGri

— Jamie Tozer (@station_nation) June 2, 2025

Gavin McKenna gave the Tigers some life 2:43 into the third and appeared to make it 4-2 later on – only to have the goal called back because of a missed high stick earlier in the play. The Tigers pressed, but just couldn't get through London's defense.

For Medicine Hat, this is a tough one for many reasons. In normal times there would be optimism that McKenna could carry them back to the Memorial Cup next year. But with speculation that McKenna is NCAA bound, there are all kinds of uncertainty around the Tigers roster.

The WHL continues to struggle at the Memorial Cup. They have not won a national title since the Edmonton Oil Kings were victorious in 2014.

The Moncton Wildcats, who fell to the Knights in Friday's semifinal, finished in third-place with a 1-3 record. The host Rimouski Oceanic went 0-3.

Sea Dogs things at this year's HHOF exhibit

RIMOUSKI, QC – The Hockey Hall of Fame's mobile exhibit made another trip to the Memorial Cup this year.

With the Rimouski Oceanic hosting, there were as an added amount of QMJHL artifacts on display. That included a number of Saint John Sea Dogs items.

A mainstay of the exhibit has been Jonathan Huberdeau's jersey from the 2010-11 season. 

Five Sea Dogs questions heading into draft week

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

We're less than a week away from the 2025 QMJHL Entry Draft taking place in Quebec City.

The first-round of the draft will take place next Friday at Videotron Centre while the remaining rounds will be held on Saturday.

The Saint John Sea Dogs own the first overall pick in this year's draft. Who they'll select is just one of the questions facing the team heading into next weekend.

Here's five questions facing the Sea Dogs heading into the draft.

1. What will a Crickard draft look like?

This will be the first draft as Saint John's general manager for Travis Crickard. He wasn't overly busy during the holiday trade period, so we weren't able to get a great read on what his style will be as a GM. The organization seems to be committed on returning to competing/contention in 2026-27, but how they get there will be interesting. Will Crickard take some big swings? Be more conservative? Shake up any of the core already in place? We'll see.

2. Who will Saint John take at No. 1?

This is certainly the biggest question that everyone around the league will have heading into Friday's first-round. The stars seem to be aligning for Alexis Joseph to be taken first overall – but we'll see. The QMJHL Entry Draft is known for its drama and the NCAA rule change could create a chaotic draft. Let's remember that Saint John has a number of new faces on the scouting side as well, along with Crickard.

3. What impact will the NCAA rule change have?

There's a lot going on here and a lot to digest. Over the past decade, Saint John has been one of the more aggressive teams when it comes to drafting players with NCAA intentions, some years more than others. Results have varied, but it's probably safe to say that the Sea Dogs will remain as aggressive – if not more – with the rule change. There are a couple key questions facing the Sea Dogs (and all teams) heading into this weekend:

• Are players still using the USHL as a real threat? If a player from these parts would still prefer to play junior hockey in Nebraska (no offense to Nebraska), all the power to them. But... I don't know, it's not going to be a great look or sign for the QMJHL as a whole if they continue to lose players to the USHL even after this rule change.
• How long will these college bound players stay in the QMJHL? We're starting to now see some players with junior eligibility remaining make the bounce to college hockey. I'm not sure how many players will be making the jump early, but it's something to keep in mind when drafting and building teams moving forward.

The NCAA impact will definitely be the most interesting storyline to follow at this year's draft.

Moncton's season ends with semifinal loss

Vincent Éthier / CHL

The Memorial Cup continues to elude the Moncton Wildcats.

Gardiner MacDougall and the Wildcats fell 5-2 to the London Knights in the semifinal game of the 2025 Memorial Cup on Friday, ending their hopes of a national championship. London advances to Sunday's final where they'll face the Medicine Hat Tigers.

This was the third time in franchise history that the Wildcats earned a spot in the tournament. They've come up short all three times with their closest victory being a loss in the 2006 championship game.

Maybe it was the tougher competition or something else, but the Wildcats just didn't look like themselves over the past few weeks. They struggled to produce consistent, 60-minute performances and let opponents control play for lengthy stretches.

Despite Friday's loss, it was quite the season for the Wildcats, who won the QMJHL's regular season title and Gilles-Courteau Trophy. Moncton went 53-9-2-0 during regular season play.

It was a rough tournament for the QMJHL with the league's only win coming in the game that put the Wildcats and Rimouski Oceanic against each other. The Wildcats finish with a 1-3 record while the Oceanic went 0-3.

The QMJHL won every Memorial Cup tournament from 2018 to 2023 (there were no tournaments in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic). The OHL's Saginaw Spirit won last season, defeating London in the final.

Medicine Hat will try and capture the WHL's first national title since the Edmonton Oil Kings in 2014.

Notebook: Mateiko's season ends in a loss

Vincent Éthier / CHL

Eriks Mateiko and the Rimouski Oceanic were eliminated from the Memorial Cup on Wednesday, falling 6-2 to the Moncton Wildcats. The former Sea Dogs captain was the lone Sea Dogs alumnus participating in the event.

Wednesday's game was likely Mateiko's last in the QMJHL. Mateiko had a goal in three games at the tournament after posting seven goals and four assists in 18 playoff games. 

The Wildcats don't feature any former Sea Dogs players but do have a few former coaches on their staff – including Gardiner MacDougall.

The Wildcats face the London Knights in the Memorial Cup semifinal on Friday at 8 p.m. The winner advances to Sunday's championship game against the Medicine Hat Tigers.

PEDDLE NOT SIGNING

Tyler Peddle is reportedly about to become a free agent.

According to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic, the Columbus Blue Jackets will not sign the Sea Dogs forward ahead of the June 1 deadline, making him a free agent. Peddle was a seventh-round pick of the Blue Jackets in the 2023 NHL Draft.

Told #CBJ will not be signing F Tyler Peddle or F Martin Rysavy by the June 1 deadline, relinquishing their rights to the players.
Peddle, 20, was a 7th-round pick (No. 224 overall) in 2024, while Rysavy, 22, was a 7th-round pick (No. 197 overall) in 2021.

— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) May 24, 2025

Peddle joined the Blue Jackets' AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters, for a short period after Saint John's season ended. He did not appear in any AHL games.

Peddle is eligible to return to Saint John for his overage season. He posted 15 goals and 14 assists in 54 games this past season.

Wildcats move on to semifinal

Vincent Éthier / CHL

The Moncton Wildcats overcame an ugly start to keep their Memorial Cup hopes alive on Wednesday.

The Wildcats were heavily outplayed in the first period but rebounded in the final 40 minutes for a 6-2 win over the Rimouski Oceanic in round robin play. The win pushes Moncton into Friday's semifinal against the London Knights while Rimouski's season ends with the loss.

St. Andrews native Gabe Smith scored a pair of goals for Moncton while singles came from Julius Sumpf, Juraj Pekarcik, Etienne Morin and Alex Mercier. Mathis Rousseau made 32 saves in the win.

The Wildcats trailed 2-1 after the first period and were outshot 17-6. But Moncton turned things around in the second period, scoring twice to take a 3-2 lead into the third.

Morin put the Wildcats up 4-2 with a goal just 4:02 into the third. They secured the win with a pair of empty net goals late in the period.

It was a far from a perfect game for Moncton, but it was certainly a better showing and result than their 3-1 loss to the Medicine Hat Tigers on Monday. The Wildcats were able to get their offense going, something they've struggled with at this tournament.

The Wildcats will look to carry this momentum into Friday's semifinal against the Knights, which will obviously be their biggest game of the season. The semifinal winner will play the Tigers in Sunday's championship game.