Barkey Delivers Memorial Cup to London
June 3, 2025 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Lehigh Valley Phantoms News Release
Flyers prospect Denver Barkey concluded the junior hockey portion of his career in style on Sunday night. The London Knights captain scored even-strength and power-play goals as London defeated the Medicine Hat Tigers, 4-1, to capture the 2025 Memorial Cup championship.
London took a 1-0 lead to the first intermission before exploding for three unanswered goals in the middle frame. Barkey scored twice to give his team a stranglehold on the deciding match.
First, at 4:53 of the second period, Barkey finished off a breakaway goal on the backhand. Later, he found the net on a seeing-eye shot from just inside the attacking blueline.
The Memorial Cup championship marked a glorious finish to the final junior hockey campaign for Barkey and teammate Oliver Bonk. Next season, the two Flyers' draftees will debut at the professional level for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (possibly even with the Flyers in the NHL at some point). The Flyers selected Bonk with the 22nd overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft. Subsequently, Philadelphia chose Barkey in the third round with the 95th pick.
The 2024-25 season was frustrating at times. Barkey dealt with mononucleosis last summer, which cost him a chance to play in NHL Rookie Camp as well as the Rookie Series at PPL Center in September, while contributing heavily to a slow start by his standards.
Last season, Barkey was a late cut from Hockey Canada's World Junior Championship roster selection camp. Coming off a 102-point regular season and Ontario Hockey League championship, Barkey had a fighting chance at joining Bonk at the World Juniors this time around. Instead, he was once again a late cut from the final Team Canada roster.
During the 2025 OHL playoffs, Barkey got off to a torrid start. Unfortunately, he suffered a high ankle sprain in his ninth game of the postseason. However, he returned to the lineup in the OHL Final just in time for the championship-clinching match. The captain played sparingly in his return match, but his presence alone meant a lot to the team.
The 2025 Memorial Cup tournament brought a happy ending to a dominant season for London but a somewhat unlucky year for Barkey. First and foremost, the back-to-back OHL champion Knights avenged their 2024 Memorial Cup championship match by capturing the crown across the entire Canadian Hockey League (CHL) circuit.
Secondly, Sunday's game brought some satisfying personal closure for Barkey. He recorded at least one point in every game of the tournament, finishing with three goals, four assists and seven points in five games. Bonk, meanwhile, boasted a plus-seven stat against the top competition in Canadian major junior hockey and chipped in a pair of assists.
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