WHL OHL – As the WHL, OHL and QMJHL finals decide Memorial Cup spots, Misryoum highlights the matchups, players and storylines to follow.
The Memorial Cup picture is about to get a lot clearer, with the WHL, OHL and QMJHL finals all set to decide who joins host Kelowna.
Over the next two weeks. three best-of-seven series will determine the winners that earn a place in the four-team tournament at Kelowna from May 22-31.. With the host Rockets already locked in. every matchup carries extra urgency. whether it’s for a franchise’s first recent league crown or for a highly scouted prospect trying to make one last statement.
In the OHL. the Kitchener Rangers will take on the Barrie Colts in a series that begins with road games for Kitchener.. The Colts arrive with momentum. after rebounding from a 3-1 deficit against the Windsor Spitfires’ opponents and pushing through overtime drama before closing things out decisively in Game 7.. They’ll also try to move past an unusual off-ice moment tied to a post-game press conference. as first-year leadership and a star defenseman answered every question with a team slogan.. For the Rangers. the spotlight is on Sam O’Reilly. who recently won the Red Tilson Trophy and continues to be the kind of two-way driver teams build around.
It matters because the Memorial Cup is often where OHL stars either convert playoff form into national attention or get exposed under pressure from the best of the other leagues.
Switch to the WHL and the marquee matchup starts in Everett. Wash.. where the Everett Silvertips host the Prince Albert Raiders.. This series features two blue-chip defensive prospects headlining the conversation: Landon DuPont for Everett and Daxon Rudolph for Prince Albert.. Both have produced at a high level in the playoffs. and the question hanging over the matchup is how their next step shapes their immediate future. whether it’s another junior run or a move toward the NCAA track.. Another storyline is Braeden Cootes’ impact for Prince Albert. after his arrival this season added a scoring boost at exactly the right time.. Everett. meanwhile. is chasing a return to the league final after earlier near-misses. with multiple top performers carrying the team’s scoring load.
That matters because WHL finals tend to be decided by how quickly defenses adjust, and with prospects like DuPont and Rudolph controlling pace from the back end, the matchup can swing in the smallest margins.
In the QMJHL, Moncton Wildcats and Chicoutimi Sagueneens meet with home-ice advantage starting for the Wildcats in Moncton.. The regular season made it a two-horse chase. with Moncton finishing just one point ahead of Chicoutimi after a late surge that included winning its final nine games.. The Wildcats earned a strong semifinal push as well. and the opening chapter of the final will set the tone for what could be a tightly contested series between coaches with very different championship journeys.. Yanick Jean remains the winningest coach in QMJHL history. while Gardiner MacDougall looks to back up last year’s breakthrough title and keep Moncton on a path toward consecutive league crowns.
The closing section of this series is likely to hinge on what happens in the crease and which team turns regular-season dominance into playoff results.. With playoff production spread across players and the top goaltending matchups drawing attention. Moncton’s Rudy Guimond and Chicoutimi’s Lucas Beckman present a direct. high-stakes test for both offenses.
In the end, these three finals matter beyond the trophies: they’re the final audition for the Memorial Cup, and for many of the league’s top prospects, a strong series can define how teams evaluate them when the next draft and next level come calling.