Memorial Cup Final takeaways: London Knights defeat Medicine Hat Tigers, win third CHL crown

New York Times

5 days ago

It was largely the same group. Denver Barkey, Easton Cowan, Sam O'Reilly, Jacob Julien, Sam Dickinson, Oliver Bonk, Landon Sim, William Nicholl, Henry Brzustewicz and Jared Woolley were all back and a year older. After starting the season in the AHL, they even got Kasper Halttunen back from the San Jose Sharks — a gift.
Advertisement
That's not supposed to happen. Typically, teams that go to a Memorial Cup enter a rebuild the following year. Not these London Knights, though. And on Sunday night in Rimouski, they won the game — the last game — they couldn't win a year ago.
A year ago, in Saginaw, the Knights looked unbeatable until they weren't — stunned by the host Spirit in the 2024 final. This year, they got beat once before the final, humbling them and setting up a potential rematch with the Medicine Hat Tigers, which ended up being the case.
Five days before the final, the Tigers had topped them 3-1 on third-period goals from overager Mathew Ward and a final-seconds empty-netter from Wild prospect Ryder Ritchie. They were the first team to hold the Knights to one goal or less since Oct. 18, more than 80 games prior.
Entering this year's Memorial Cup, these Knights had gone 16-1 in the playoffs, one better than the 16-2 run of last year's team.
On Tuesday, in their first matchup of the tournament, the Knights outshot the Tigers 36-29. But Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Harrison Meneghin stood tall, making 35 saves. On Sunday, the Tigers actually came out stronger, outshooting the Knights 10-5 through the first half of the first period. But this time Knights overage goalie Austin Elliott, who was 51-3 coming into the Memorial Cup final after landing in London following a release by the Saskatoon Blades, stood tall.
His play gave his Knights an opportunity to push back. And they did, dominating the second half of the opening frame and eventually opening the scoring. Brzustewicz, a 2025 draft eligible, sprung Julien, a Winnipeg Jets prospect in his final game of junior hockey, for a break.
JACOB JULIEN OPENS THE SCORING FOR LONDON IN THE MEMORIAL CUP FINAL! 💥#CHL pic.twitter.com/ChTbIsJScL
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 1, 2025
Early in the second period, Cowan, a Toronto Maple Leafs first-rounder, extended the lead to 2-0, going to the net to finish a backdoor pass from O'Reilly, an Edmonton Oilers first-rounder.
Easton Cowan taps in the cross-crease feed from Sam O'Reilly 🚨🚨
2-0 London! #MemorialCup pic.twitter.com/ABpgHnKp07
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 2, 2025
Just 1:40 later, 2-0 became 3-0 when Barkey, the Knights' captain and a Flyers prospect, got in all alone and beat Meneghin.
Denver Barkey buries on the breakaway! 🔥
London takes a commanding 3-0 lead! #MemorialCup pic.twitter.com/mwD4Q4X1eB
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 2, 2025
After Barkey scored again to make it 4-0, it was all but over.
DENVER BARKEY DOUBLES DOWN! 🔥🔥
Two goals for the captain as London keeps rolling at the #MemorialCup pic.twitter.com/VjnPQbGY50
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 2, 2025
By the time 2026 draft sensation Gavin McKenna got the Tigers on the board early in the third period, the hill was too steep to climb.
Gavin McKenna gives the Medicine Hat Tigers some life. 👀#MemorialCup pic.twitter.com/uCjAxAzwI9
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 2, 2025
McKenna thought he'd scored a second goal with 5:21 left which would have made it interesting, but the goal was called back for a missed high stick and with it the door was slammed shut.
The win gave the Knights their third Memorial Cup title in their seventh appearance in the tournament, improving their record in the final to 3-2.
Advertisement
When you start to tally up the sum of Sam Dickinson's post-draft season, the 2024 No. 11 pick for the Sharks put together one for the history books. He added another three assists to his weighty totals in the final, too, finishing the year with a combined regular season, playoff and Memorial Cup stat line as follows: 38 goals, 90 assists, and 128 points in 77 games. Say what you will about plus-minus and stacking pluses playing on a team as strong as the Knights: he finished the year plus-92, the best on the team, in the OHL, and in the CHL. Because of his June 7 birthday, he played the entire year as an 18-year-old, too.
It was a remarkable year for Dickinson, who played 30-plus minutes in the Knights' final 12 games of the year and broke 35 in about half of them. He was a force at both ends with his size, skating and broadened skill set, and he did it while cutting down on the brain cramps that led to hockey IQ questions for some scouts in his draft year. He's one of the NHL's best prospects and will be in the NHL-or-OHL camp next year because of his age. Expect him to start the year in the NHL, because there's not a lot left for him to prove at the junior level. We very rarely see 19-year-old D stick but the Sharks will have a decision to make with him.
He's one of the signed NHL prospects who could have benefited from a move to the NCAA next year but now doesn't have that option because of his contract. Dickinson becoming a first-pairing defenseman for the Sharks down the line really changes the calculation for their ceiling as a team.
Remember: He's still eligible to play for Team Canada at next year's World Juniors, too.
There have been more greats in the history of the Knights than maybe any other organization in junior hockey. Banners hang for Kane, Perry, Nash, Shanahan, Ramage, Cicirelli, Sittler, Bolland and Marsh in the rafters at London's Canada Life Place. I think you have to ask now whether Cowan's name should join them. He leaves London in their pantheon.
Advertisement
OHL Most Outstanding Player. OHL Playoffs MVP. Two-time OHL champion. And now a Memorial Cup champion and Memorial Cup MVP. His goal in the final on Sunday gave him 15 points in nine games at the Memorial Cup over the last two tournaments, tying him with Mitch Marner as London's all-time leading scorer at the Memorial Cup. He thought he'd scored a second one midway through the second period before it was called back for goaltender interference, too.
Unlike Dickinson, Cowan is eligible to play in the AHL next year. Like Dickinson, though, I'd expect him to start the year in the NHL. Cowan wears his heart on his sleeve, plays with a bit of a chip on his shoulder, gets after it, and plays a direct style the Leafs covet. After all the 'DNA' talk in Toronto this week, he'll be a part of their fabric going forward. He's not a top-six-or-bust type either and it's not hard to imagine him at least starting next year on a new-look third line for the Leafs. He's going to have a bit of a learning curve in terms of his decision-making, particularly on the puck (he plays on instinct), but he has made progress there and should continue to.
A little more than 11 months ago, Hunter St. Martin was drafted in the sixth round by the Florida Panthers as an overager. He hasn't looked like a sixth-rounder in a single game I've watched him play since and was the most consistent non-McKenna Medicine Hat forward for me in this Memorial Cup — and certainly their most noticeable non-McKenna forward at five-on-five in the final. He was a standout at Florida's training camp, signed his entry level contract on October 25, and has impressed ever since.
St. Martin is a 6-foot-2 winger who plays in straight lines, plays to the net, and can really skate and shoot the puck in stride. Some wondered early on this year whether he was a product of playing with McKenna. But he finished the year with 48 goals across 87 regular season and playoff games and a lot of them were scored off of his own attacking sequences or interior drive. He turns 20 in 11 days and he's still got room to fill out and looks like he has a legitimate path to becoming a bottom-six forward in the NHL. Full marks to the Panthers' scouts.
NCAA commitments are the topic du jour right now and there's no bigger prize than McKenna, the projected No. 1 pick in 2026. Several big CHL commitments to play in college hockey next season have already been made verbally in recent weeks. Another wave is expected to follow after the NHL Scouting Combine in Buffalo this week and then again after the draft in L.A. at the end of the month once players talk to their new teams.
A lot of it is hung up on McKenna's decision as several of the big schools have made a pitch to his camp, and will await making other offers until he has made his choice. The CHL and WHL have also made their pitch for him to just stay one more season. They've promoted the hell out of him all year. They're even opening the 2025-26 season in his hometown of White Horse, Yukon. But after his goal in the final, he finished the year with 172 points in 77 games across the regular season, playoffs and Memorial Cup with the Tigers, and the increased challenge of college hockey, with all of its resources and its shorter schedule allowing for more time in the gym (which is an important next step in his development), should win out there.
There have been rumours tying him to Michigan. On Saturday, ESPN's John Buccigross sent social media into a frenzy when he put his eyes on Michigan State.
🧐🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔 #CawlidgeHawkey pic.twitter.com/DWfAF5uGDD
— BucciOT.Com (@Buccigross) May 31, 2025
After checking in with a source, I was told that was premature and there's a 'long, long, long way to go.' One thing to keep an eye on, though: I have heard that McKenna and Ritchie have interest in continuing to play together and have talked about committing to the same school (though there's no guarantee that happens, either). Ritchie's dad, former NHLer Byron, works with CAA, who represent both boys.
(Photo of Denver Barkey and Easton Cowan: Christopher Katsarov / The Canadian Press via AP)