Wildcats Advance to 2025 Memorial Cup Semi-Final
May 29, 2025 - Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) News Release
Moncton Wildcats gather following a goal against the Rimouski Oceanic
(Moncton Wildcats, Credit: Vincent Éthier / CHL)
RIMOUSKI, QC - The Moncton Wildcats clinched a spot in the 2025 Memorial Cup semi-finals with a commanding 6-2 win over the host Rimouski Océanic on Wednesday night.
Utah Hockey Club prospect Gabe Smith led the way with two goals, while Julius Sumpf, St. Louis Blues prospect Juraj Pekarcik, Calgary Flames prospect Étienne Morin, and Alex Mercier also found the back of the net. Goaltender Mathis Rousseau turned aside 32 shots in the victory. Rimouski responded with goals from Maël St-Denis and Vegas Golden Knights prospect Mathieu Cataford, with Mathis Langevin making 27 saves.
Holding a narrow 3-2 lead after two periods, the Wildcats pulled away with a dominant third. Morin delivered the key insurance marker just over four minutes in, ripping a low wrister from the top of the left circle to restore a two-goal cushion before Smith and Mercier sealed the win with a pair of empty-netters.
"(MacDougall) gave us a special talk in the room," said Smith about the first-period intermission, which the Wildcats entered trailing the Océanic 2-1. "We got a little jump in our step after that and started playing our game.
"Coach is a very special motivator, and I think he did a great job of it there. We started playing our hockey after that."
The win sets up a semi-final clash against the OHL champion London Knights on Friday at 7 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. AT. The two teams previously met in the round-robin, where London narrowly defeated Moncton 3-2 in overtime.
Moncton opened the scoring at 7:39 of the first period when Julius Sumpf ended the team's forward scoring drought. The German forward slipped behind the Rimouski defence and buried a crisp feed from Juraj Pekarcik, becoming the first Wildcats forward to score in the tournament.
Rimouski responded with a pair of goals in under four minutes to carry a 2-1 lead into the intermission. Maël St-Denis notched his second of the tournament by finishing a rebound on the backhand at 13:27, and Vegas Golden Knights prospect Mathieu Cataford struck at 17:11 with a well-timed redirection of Olivier Théberge's cross-ice pass.
The second period swung in Moncton's favour. NHL prospects Juraj Pekarcik and Gabe Smith each scored to put the Wildcats back on top. Pekarcik tipped in a point shot from Predators prospect Dylan MacKinnon just 1:27 into the frame, while Smith pounced on a bouncing puck off the end boards at 4:05 following a deflected shot by Preston Lounsbury.
"I had trouble to find words in the room, I just told them, 'Thank you,"' shared Océanic head coach Joël Perrault about what he told his group post-game. "It's a group that tied together quickly, and I'll remember them for a long time, I'm disappointed for them tonight, our fans.
"Our fans saw their effort, their resilience, the injuries they fought through."
When they face the Knights in Friday's semi-final at 7 p.m. ET, the Wildcats will look to secure just their second trip to the Memorial Cup final and their first since 2006. As the only team in this year's tournament yet to capture the trophy, Moncton is in pursuit of its first-ever CHL championship title.
Conversely, the London Knights are looking to become just the fifth team in the last 35 years to reach back-to-back Memorial Cup finals, joining an exclusive group last achieved by the Windsor Spitfires in 2009 and 2010. A victory on Friday would also mark London's 18th all-time Memorial Cup tournament win, giving them sole possession of second place on the all-time wins list. Additionally, it would secure their fifth appearance in a Memorial Cup final since 1972 - moving them into second place all-time behind only the Kitchener Rangers and Peterborough Petes, who each have six.
The Medicine Hat Tigers will face the winner of Friday's semi-final between the London Knights and Moncton Wildcats in Sunday's championship game. The Tigers are making their first trip to the Memorial Cup final in 18 years after becoming the first WHL team to advance directly to the title game since the Kelowna Rockets accomplished the feat in 2009 - the last time the tournament was held in Rimouski. On Sunday, Medicine Hat will be looking to become the first WHL team to lift the Memorial Cup in 11 years.
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 air in the United States on NHL Network and be available to stream live for free on Victory+ for viewers outside of Canada.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Semi-Final @ 7 p.m. ET - Friday, May 30 - Moncton Wildcats vs. London Knights
Final @ 7 p.m. ET - Saturday, June 1 - TBD vs. Medicine Hat Tigers
Images from this story
 Moncton Wildcats gather following a goal against the Rimouski Oceanic (Vincent Éthier / CHL) |
Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League Stories from May 29, 2025
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
