61 teams begin quest to the 2027 Memorial Cup
The quest to the 107th Memorial Cup presented by Kubota Canada begins tonight.
Sixty-one CHL clubs have the same aspiration as the CHL kicks off its 51st season – win a league championship and then hoist the Memorial Cup.
The OHL’s Kitchener Rangers sit atop the CHL world after they claimed their first title Memorial Cup in 23 years and their third in franchise history. But, that was last year – all 61 teams begin tonight on equal footing.
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 clubs have claimed the title 20 times. WHL sides have 19 wins while QMJHL clubs have raised the Cup 14 times.
The OHL has claimed three straight titles after Kitchener (2026), 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 2027 event will take place at the Sleeman Centre, home of the OHL’s Guelph Storm. The Storm previously hosted the tournament in 2002 and have made six appearances at the tournament where they have previously made the final on two occasions (1998/2014).
But who joins them come May? We’ll find out over the next nine months.
For more information on the 2027 Memorial Cup presented by Kubota Canada, click here.
Catch all of the action in 2026-27 on Flo Sports and YouTube. All regular season and postseason games from the OHL and QMJHL are available on Flo Sports while the WHL lives on YouTube
