2025 Memorial Cup preview – Tigers vs. Oceanic – May 23
Game 1 of the 2025 Memorial Cup is finally here.
The tournament gets underway this evening from Rimouski, QC., where the host Oceanic will face the Medicine Hat Tigers at 7pm ET / 5pm MT on TSN 1/5, RDS 2 and Victory Plus.
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and we’re all excited,” said Rimouski’s Alexandre Blais (ANA).
Playing on home ice at the Colisée Financière Sun Life, the Oceanic are going to have a raucous crowd behind them all tournament long. Known as one of the loudest rinks in the QMJHL, the Oceanic will hope the familiarity of home will aid them all tournament long.
“We know we probably have the best fans in the league, if not the CHL,” Blais said. “Since the moment I got drafted we’ve all been talking about the Memorial Cup in 2025. Now is the moment and we’re all excited and it’s going to be fun.”
Blais has spent his entire four-year career with the Oceanic where he’s amassed more than 200 career points. But tonight is arguably the start of the biggest week of his career with the franchise.
This past season, the Oceanic reached the Gilles-Courteau Trophy Finals for the first time since they won the title in 2015 but fell in six games to Moncton. Tonight, they battle a Tigers team that is unfamiliar but very dangerous.
“They have some talented players but besides that we don’t know them as much so we’re going to focus on ourselves tonight,” Blais said.
Medicine Hat enters the Memorial Cup on the heels of a first WHL title since 2007 after a five-game series win over Spokane. The Tigers went 16-2-0 in the postseason on route to a sixth Ed Chynoweth Cup and now enter the Memorial Cup hoping to win their third CHL title.
“It’s been our goal to get here all year and now we’re finally here,” said Ryder Ritchie (MIN). “We’ve got a big game tonight against the hosts and we’re expecting a great crowd.
“There’s been so much excitement to this point so we’ll be ready to go … It’s going to be an awesome atmosphere out there and we just can’t wait for it.”
While the Tigers needed just two games over the minimum to win the WHL crown, they understand the mindset is different at the Memorial Cup where one defeat can shift the course of direction.
“Every one of these is going to be a Game 7,” said Tanner Molendyk (NSH). “They all matter as much as the other one.”
With the Gilles-Courteau Trophy Final going six games, it offered the Tigers an extended watch of the Oceanic, something they took advantage of. With offensive threats such as Blais, Mathieu Cataford (VGK), Jonathan Fauchon and Jacob Mathieu, the hosts possess plenty of firepower.
“You want to watch a lot of video,” Molendyk said. “We’ve spent quite a bit of time watching them and what they do.”
“They have a lot of speed and a lot of skill. We have to be ready to adapt as we haven’t played these teams.”
Tonight is the first-ever meeting between Medicine Hat and Rimouski at a Memorial Cup.
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
