Medicine Hat Tigers Win 2025 WHL Championship Series Presented By Nutrien
Spokane, Wash. – For the first time since 2007 and the sixth time in franchise history, the Medicine Hat Tigers are WHL Champions.
The Tigers clinched the Ed Chynoweth Cup with a 4-2 win over the Western Conference Champion Spokane Chiefs in Game 5 of the 2025 WHL Championship Series presented by Nutrien.
After a scoreless first, the Niilopekka Muhonen would score his first goal of the playoffs to ignite the scoring for the Tigers. In the third, a pair of quick goals from Gavin McKenna and Hunter St. Martin would extend the Tigers’ lead to three. Spokane would pot two goals in rapid succession to make things 3-2 in the third before Bryce Pickford sealed the deal with an empty netter.
The Tigers’ run to the WHL Championship was an entertaining one, starting with a five-game series victory over the Swift Current Broncos in the first round of the 2025 WHL Playoffs.
The second round featured a four-game sweep of the East Division Champion Prince Albert Raiders and led into a four-game sweep of the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the WHL’s Eastern Conference Championship Series presented by Nutrien.
Through 18 games, the Tigers went 16-2, including an even 8-1 on the road and 8-1 in the home confines for Co-op Place. Medicine Hat’s high-powered offense scored 86 goals, while the defense locked down and only allowed 46 goals.
The Tigers playoff momentum was built off the strength of a 47-17-3-1 regular season, which culminated with a Central Division crown on the final day of the regular season.
Phenom Gavin McKenna led the way during the regular season, winning the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as WHL Player of the Year, thanks to an impressive campaign that saw him finish second in WHL scoring with 129 points (41G-88A) in 56 games.
He continued his eye-popping pace during the post-season, extending a point streak that dated back to November 2024 all the way into the WHL Championship Series. McKenna’s impressive run lasted for 54 games, extended across both the regular season and playoffs, and saw the product of Whitehorse, Yukon, record 137 points.
Captain Oasiz Wiesblatt was the only player in the WHL to register 100 points while also collecting more than 100 minutes in penalties during the regular season.
The 2025 WHL Championship Series received an instant injection of energy when Calgary Flames prospect Andrew Basha and Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Cayden Lindstrom returned to the Tigers lineup for Game 1.
For Basha, his WHL Playoffs debut marked his return to the Medicine Hat lineup for the first time since late December, whereas Lindstrom was back on the ice for the first time since April 5, 2024. The two stars combined to open the scoring in Game 1 of the WHL Championship Series – a storybook moment after working through injury adversary all season long.
Tampa Bay Lightning prospect and WHL Championship MVP, Harrison Meneghin, was a workhorse for the Tigers, putting on an inspiring performance, finishing the playoffs with 14 wins and three shutouts.
Nashville Predators prospect Tanner Molendyk and fellow blueliner Bryce Pickford were catalysts on the backend for Medicine Hat, anchoring a defence crew that was stifling during the WHL Championship Series.
Pickford’s WHL Championship performance included a goal-scoring streak that started during the Eastern Conference Championship and ran for eight games.
Calling the shots and building the team, Head Coach and General Manager Willie Desjardins became the third winningest coach in WHL Playoffs history (84 wins), passing Mike Johnston of the Portland Winterhawks with a Game 4 triumph.
Desjardins engineered the off-season acquisition of Pickford, the early season trade for Meneghin, and the deadline deal that brought Molendyk and Misha Volotovskii over from Saskatoon, among others. His efforts behind the bench and in the boardroom earned him a nomination for both the WHL Coach of the Year and WHL Executive of the Year awards.
The Tigers roster features eight NHL Drafted prospects, including Basha, Lindstrom, Meneghin, Molendyk, Niilopekka Muhonen (Dallas Stars), Ryder Ritchie (Minnesota Wild), Hunter St. Martin (Florida Panthers), and Veeti Vaisanen (Utah Mammoth), and NHL Draft eligible players ranked by Central Scouting, including Pickford (100, N.A. skaters), Kadon McCann (116, N.A. skaters), Jonas Woo (156, N.A. skaters), and netminder Jordan Switzer (25, N.A. goaltenders).
Joining the WHL for the 1970-71 season, the Tigers first WHL title came in 1973. In 1987 and 1988, the Tigers strung together back-to-back WHL Championships before winning again in 2004 and 2007.
Representing the Western Hockey League, the Tigers will look to claim the franchise’s first Memorial Cup title since back-to-back triumphs in 1987 and 1988 when they travel to Rimouski, Que., for the 2025 Memorial Cup, scheduled from May 23 through June 1.
The Memorial Cup – largely considered to be one of the most difficult trophies to win in hockey – features the championship teams from the Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League, and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, along with the host Club, competing in a round-robin tournament.
About the Ed Chynoweth Cup
In 2007, the WHL Championship trophy was rededicated in honour of the late Ed Chynoweth. The Ed Chynoweth Cup was presented for the first time during the 2008 WHL Championship Series.
From Dodsland, Sask., Chynoweth was the driving force behind the growth and development of Major Junior hockey throughout Canada. He served as President of the WHL from 1972 through 1995, before becoming the majority owner of the WHL’s Edmonton ICE in 1996. After relocating to Cranbrook, B.C., Chynoweth’s ICE franchise won WHL Championships in 2000 and 2002, along with a Memorial Cup title in 2002.
Chynoweth also served as President of the Canadian Hockey League from 1975 to 1995. He was a member of the selection committee for the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Ed Chynoweth passed away April 22, 2008, at the age of 66, following a courageous battle with kidney cancer. He was posthumously inducted as a Builder into the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 10, 2008.
