2025 Memorial Cup Preview - Wildcats vs. Knights - May 30
May 30, 2025 - Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
Moncton Wildcats News Release
The Moncton Wildcats and London Knights meet tonight with a spot in the Memorial Cup final on the line.
The QMJHL and OHL winners clash in the tournament's semi-final this evening from Rimouski at 7pm ET live on TSN 1/5, RDS 2, Victory Plus and NHL Network.
"Understanding that it's obviously a really big game, but at the same time, we just have to go out there and play hockey," said London defenceman Sam Dickinson (SJ).
The two teams met in the second game of the tournament where the Knights edged out the Wildcats 3-2 in overtime after Sam O'Reilly (EDM) scored the game-winner.
London fired 48 shots on Moncton's Mathis Rousseau that night - 10 of which came from O'Reilly.
"Definitely a similar game," Dickinson said of tonight's contest with Moncton. "You know, they come hard. They play a heavy game. They've got some skills. So it's going to be a lot like last game - it's going to be tight.
"So it's just going to be us sticking to our game and what we've got planned."
The Knights won two of its three round-robin games. After the aforementioned overtime win over Moncton, the Knights took down hosts Rimouski 3-1 last Sunday but concluded the round-robin with a 3-1 defeat to Medicine Hat Tuesday. But, in the eyes of Dickinson, there's more to come from a Knights team that has won back-to-back OHL titles and has only suffered consecutive losses once this season.
"I think we've still got more to give," he said. "You know, I think you can't really play your best. You know, we're always going to be looking to improve something and I think we're going to keep showing that."
One change this year is the Knights' potential path to the final. In 2024, they swept the round-robin to advance to the final where they fell 4-3 to hosts Saginaw after a four-day layoff. This year, the opportunity to keep playing might be the path they need to hoist the trophy.
"We've joked that it didn't work last year going right to the final so we'll see if a different route can help us out," Dickinson said.
As for Moncton, they kept their season alive Wednesday night with a 6-2 win over hosts Rimouski.
Having dropped decisions to London and Medicine Hat to start the tournament, the Wildcats and Oceanic met with everything to play for as the victor would advance to the semis.
A four-point (2G/2A) effort from Gabe Smith (UTA) led the way for the Wildcats in a 6-2 win and kept their quest for a first Memorial Cup title alive.
"We're super excited and looking forward to tonight," said Dylan MacKinnon (NSH). "We're all here for a reason and if we play our way, play our game, I think we'll be alright."
The Wildcats - who ended the regular season as the no. 1 team in the CHL Top 10 - have suffered few setbacks this season. But before their win over Rimouski 48 hours ago, they had dropped four of five contests with their lone victory the win that secured the franchise's third Gilles-Courteau Trophy.
But, these Cats aren't at all fazed.
"Just kind of be where your feet are," MacKinnon said to emphasize the point of just staying in the moment. "At the end of the day we're playing hockey. You know? Hockey's fun.
"So don't worry about it too much."
Tonight's winner will face Medicine Hat in the 2025 Memorial Cup final Sunday at 7pm ET / 5pm MT.
Scheduled from May 22 - June 1 in Rimouski, Québec, every game of the 2025 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 2025 Memorial Cup will be available to stream live for free on Victory+ for viewers outside of Canada.
2025 Memorial Cup schedule:
May 23 - Game 1: Medicine Hat 5-4 Rimouski
May 24 - Game 2: Moncton 2-3 London (OT)
May 25 - Game 3: Rimouski 1-3 London
May 26 - Game 4: Moncton 1-3 Medicine Hat
May 27 - Game 5: London 1-3 Medicine Hat
May 28 - Game 6: Rimouski 2-6 Moncton
May 30 - Semi-final - 7:00pm ET
June 1 - Final - 7:00pm ET
Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from May 30, 2025
- Dream Season Comes to an End with Memorial Cup Semi Loss - Moncton Wildcats
- 2025 Memorial Cup Preview - Wildcats vs. Knights - May 30 - Moncton Wildcats
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