61 teams begin quest to a Memorial Cup title
The quest to the 106th Memorial Cup presented by Kubota Canada begins tonight.
Sixty-one CHL clubs have the same aspiration as the CHL kicks off its 50th season – win a league championship and then hoist the Memorial Cup.
The OHL’s London Knights sit atop the CHL world after they claimed their third title in Rimouski in June but as a new season begins, the past no longer matters.
The Memorial Cup, one of the most prestigious and coveted trophies in North American sport, has a rich tradition that has shaped the way junior hockey is played in North America. The trophy was originally known as the OHA Memorial Cup and was donated by the Ontario Hockey Association in March 1919 in remembrance of the many soldiers who paid the supreme sacrifice for Canada in the First World War. In 2010, the Memorial Cup was rededicated to the memory of all fallen Canadian Military Personnel.
Initially, the Cup was awarded to the national junior hockey champions of Canada. Later on, it came to signify junior “A” hockey supremacy when, in 1934, junior hockey in Canada was divided into “A” and “B” classes. In 1971, when junior “A” hockey was divided into major junior and Tier II junior A, the Memorial Cup was awarded to the higher category and was given to the major junior hockey champions of Canada.
In 1972, a round-robin tournament format replaced the old play-down system to determine the champions. Since then, the champions of the Western Hockey League (WHL), the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) and the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) have met each spring in a round-robin series with the two top teams meeting in a sudden-death game to determine the champion.
Since the tournament adopted its current round-robin format in 1972, OHL and WHL clubs have each lifted the trophy on 19 occasions while QMJHL clubs have raised the Cup 14 times.
The OHL has claimed back-to-back titles after London (2025) and Saginaw (2024) were crowned champions while before that, QMJHL clubs won four straight championships after Quebec (2023), Saint John (2022), Rouyn-Noranda (2019) and Acadie-Bathurst (2018) hoisted the Memorial Cup. Edmonton (2014) was the most recent WHL winner.
The 2026 event will take place at Prospera Place, home of the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets. The Rockets last hosted the tournament in 2004 where they also claimed their sole Memorial Cup championship.
But who joins them come May? We’ll find out over the next nine months.
For more information on the 2026 Memorial Cup presented by Kubota Canada, click here.
Catch all of the action in 2025-26 on Flo Sports and Victory +. All regular season and postseason games from the OHL and QMJHL are available on Flo Sports while the WHL lives on Victory +!
