FIVE MINUTE MAJOR

By Derek Harper

We’ve reached the end of the postseason for major junior hockey, and we have our Memorial Cup champion crowned. The host Saginaw Spirit took down the OHL Champion London Knights. This was also a rematch of this season’s OHL Western Conference Finals, which the London Knights took in six games. The final score of the championship game was 4-3 with the Spirit also leading in the shots on goal category by a wide margin of 31-13. The Spirit capitalized on one of their three power plays en route to the victory.

The game saw Saginaw score the first three goals before the Knights rallied to tie it with three consecutive goals of their own. Saginaw’s Josh Bloom would eventually score the game and Memorial Cup clinching goal at the 19:38 mark of the third period. Assists went to Max McCue and Easton Cowan.

Now the question becomes what the future holds for both franchises and the two others who made the Memorial Cup. Host teams usually build up to make runs at the cup and those that win their respective league championship are usually veteran-heavy.

Next season, the Memorial Cup heads to the QMJHL and in turn back across the border into Canada, where the Rimouski Oceanic will host. It’ll be the first time the Memorial Cup is in Quebec in a decade since the Quebec Remparts hosted it in Quebec City in 2015. But just last season in 2023, the Quebec Remparts won the Memorial Cup. Only time will tell if two Quebec based teams can win it twice in three years.

In other news, the WHL announced Tuesday that the full preseason regular season schedule for 2024-25 will be coming out Monday, June 24.

The WHL’s first exceptional status defenseman Landon Dupont should make his regular season debut Saturday, Sept. 21 when the Everett Silvertips host the Vancouver Giants.

The defending WHL champion Moose Jaw Warriors will start the 2024-25 season on the road, heading to Brandon for the Wheat Kings home opener Friday, September 20. The Warriors return home the following night to raise their WHL Championship banner as they host the Prince Albert Raiders.

Over in the Western Conference, the defending conference champion Portland Winterhawks open the season on the road, taking on the 2023 Memorial Cup host Kamloops Blazers. Portland returns home to Veterans Memorial Coliseum for the first time on Friday, October 4, when the Victoria Royals roll into Portland. 

The Winterhawks also made their second trade of the offseason Tuesday, June 5 as they sent Marcus Nguyen to the Wheat Kings in exchange for 2023 sixth overall U.S. Priority Draft pick Reed Brown. This is another instance for Portland where they had to unload one of their 20-year-olds after their veteran heavy run to the WHL Championship series.

For Nguyen, this will be a reunion with a couple of former teammates as this is Portland’s second trade with Portland in the past few months. During the season, Portland received Detroit Red Wings prospect Nate Danielson in exchange for forward Nick Johnson, defenseman Rhett Ravndahl and three WHL Prospects Draft picks.