2000 winning Memorial Cup champions Oceanic reunite

Photo credit: Vincent Ethier 

Twenty-five years later, a championship team reconvened in Rimouski.

The 2000 winning Memorial Cup champion Oceanic reunited Thursday ahead of the start of the 2025 tournament being held in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region.

Headlined by two-time Stanley Cup champion Brad Richards, more than a dozen players were in attendance.

“It’s great to see everybody,” Richards said. “A couple of guys played in NHL, so I saw Sebastian [Caron] and Yuri [Kolnik]. You see them the odd time [but] a lot of guys I haven’t seen since the parade in [2000]. It’s hard to believe so it’ll be a fun weekend to talk about the old times.”

Richards starred that season for the Oceanic as he claimed the Michel Brière Memorial Trophy after he registered 71 goals and 186 points in just 63 games in the regular season.

But he wasn’t the only 100-point player; Jan-Philipp Cadieux (110), Kolnik (106) and Michel Periad (100) all hit triple digits while Kolnik also had 53 goals.

“I haven’t seen a lot of these guys in a in a long time,” said Thatcher Bell. “You know, I followed some of their careers post Rimouski and it was fun to watch them. But just to see all these guys and see all these faces and catch up on where our lives have gone is, it’s awesome.

“It’s great to see everybody and it’s great to be back.”

The Oceanic made quick work of the postseason too in 2000. Richards added more silverware as he claimed the Guy Lafleur Trophy as playoffs MVP with 37 points (13 goals) in only 12 games. In all, Rimouski – who had a first round bye – went 12-2-0 and defeated Hull in five-games to hoist the President’s Cup.

At the 2000 Memorial Cup, the Oceanic went a perfect 4-0-0. They ran through the round-robin after wins over Kootenay (3-1), Barrie (7-2) and Halifax (5-3) before they again defeated the Colts 7-2 in the final.

“I mean, I can’t believe it was 25 years ago,” Bell said. “It feels like it was yesterday and, you know, it just shows. I tell my kids to ‘enjoy the moments you’re in’ because it passes so quickly.”

Now, a quarter-century later, this year’s Oceanic have a chance to write their name into history. Led by Alexandre Blais (ANA), Mathieu Cataford (VGK), Jacob Mathieu and Jonathan Fauchon, the Oceanic will look to make it back-to-back years that the Memorial Cup host has been victorious after Saginaw achieved the feat last year.

“The Memorial Cup is a very difficult event play for because you only get three or four years, playing junior, and maybe for some, only two,” Richards said. “It’s a very special tournament … but they have to play for themselves and their team and those 20 guys in the room and really know how an amazing opportunity it is.

“There are so many players in major junior that don’t get to play for a Memorial Cup and they get to do it at home in front of their own fans.”

Scheduled from May 22 – June 1 in Rimouski, Québec, every game of the 2025 Memorial Cup will air on TSN and RDS in Canada and be available via live stream on TSN.ca, the TSN app, RDS.ca, and the RDS app. In addition to full coverage in Canada on TSN and RDS, the 2025 Memorial Cup will be available to stream live for free on Victory+ for viewers outside of Canada.

2025 Memorial Cup schedule:
May 23 – Game 1: Medicine Hat vs. Rimouski — 7:00pm ET
May 24 – Game 2: Moncton vs. London — 6:00pm ET
May 25 – Game 3: Rimouski vs. London — 6:00pm ET
May 26 – Game 4: Moncton vs. Medicine Hat — 7:00pm ET
May 27 – Game 5: London vs. Medicine Hat — 7:00pm ET
May 28 – Game 6: Rimouski vs. Moncton — 7:00pm ET
May 29 – Tie-breaker (if necessary) — 7:00pm ET
May 30 – Semi-final — 7:00pm ET
June 1 – Final — 7:00pm ET