Knights crowned 2024 OHL champions
The London Knights are OHL champions once again.
For the fifth time in franchise history, the Knights earned the J. Ross Robertson Cup after a four-game sweep of Oshawa in the OHL Championship Series.
The Knights cruised to a 7-1 win in Game 4 behind a four-point (1G, 3A) effort from Easton Cowan (TOR) while Kasper Halttunen (SJ) scored twice. It marked just the seventh time since 1990 that the OHL champion clinched on the road.
Cowan collected the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as OHL Playoffs MVP after a 34-point postseason. The Maple Leafs prospect, who also won the Red Tilson Trophy as the league’s most outstanding player, is the first player to win both awards in the same season since former Knight Mitch Marner did so in 2016.
Halttunen led the OHL in postseason goals with 17 while Denver Barkey (PHI) had 27 points in 18 games. Halttunen (26) and Max McCue (22 / CBJ) also surpassed the 20-point threshold while Michael Simpson tallied 14 wins, a 2.69 GAA and .905 save percentage in 18 appearances.
As OHL champions, London will join hosts Saginaw as well as QMJHL champions Drummondville and the eventual WHL winner at the 2024 Memorial Cup presented by Dow that will take place May 24 – June 2.
Earlier this season @LondonKnights d-man Ethan MacKinnon stepped away from hockey due to injury.
Tonight, he hoisted the J. Ross Robertson Cup first! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/FocdqjJMmJ
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) May 16, 2024
Dale Hunter’s squad claimed the Hamilton Spectator Trophy as OHL regular season champions after they recorded the seventh 50-win season in franchise history while their 104 points were tied for the fifth most in a single campaign.
The Knights swept their way through the first two rounds of the OHL Playoffs after they defeated Flint and Kitchener respectively while in the third round they took out 2024 Memorial Cup presented by Dow hosts Saginaw in six games.
In Game 1 of the OHL Championship Series against Oshawa, the Knights cruised to an 8-1 victory on the back of a five-point effort from Cowan. In Game 2, they went one better as Haltunnen’s hat-trick powered the Knights to a 9-1 win.
Game 3 saw the Knights stage an improbable comeback as after they trailed 6-2 after 40 minutes, they scored four times in the third period before Henry Brzustewicz buried the double overtime winner in a game that saw Halttunen record his second straight three-goal game.
All in all, London outscored Oshawa 31-9 in the four-game series and averaged 7.75 goals per game.
For the first time since 2016, the @LondonKnights claim the #OHLChampionship! #RoadtoMemorialCup pic.twitter.com/XSkcE39RDX
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) May 16, 2024
A year ago, London fell at the final hurdle as they lost the OHL Championship Series to Peterborough in six games. The core of that team returned this season in Barkey, Oliver Bonk (PHI), Cowan, Sam Dickinson, Jackson Edward (BOS), Ruslan Gazizov, Isaiah George (NYI), Jacob Julien (WPG) and McCue (CBJ). In the offseason, the additions of Simpson – who backstopped the Petes to OHL glory a year ago – and CHL Import pick Halttunen added to the elite talent London possessed while the club acquired Kaleb Lawrence (LA) ahead of the OHL trade deadline.
The Knights will open their 2024 Memorial Cup presented by Dow campaign on May 25 against Drummondville while on May 27 they will battle the WHL champion. They will close out the round-robin on May 29 against OHL rivals and hosts Saginaw.
This will be London’s sixth appearance at the tournament where they are two-time winners (2005, 2016) while in 2012 they lost in overtime in the final to hosts Shawinigan.
Every game of this year’s 2024 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 2024 Memorial Cup will be available in the United States on NHL Network, and for subscribers of CHL TV outside of North America.
2024 Memorial Cup presented by Dow schedule:
May 24 – Game 1: WHL vs. Saginaw — 7:30pm ET
May 25 – Game 2: London vs. Drummondville — 4pm ET
May 26 – Game 3: Saginaw vs. Drummondville — 7:30pm ET
May 27 – Game 4: London vs. WHL — 7:30pm ET
May 28 – Game 5: Drummondville vs. WHL — 7:30pm ET
May 29 – Game 6: Saginaw vs. London — 7:30pm ET
May 30 – Tie-breaker (if necessary) — 7:30pm ET
June 1 – Semi-final — 7:30pm ET
June 2 – Final — 7:30pm ET
