Memorial Cup
 |
|
| Award details | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Given for | Canadian Hockey League champion |
| History | |
| First award | 1919 |
| Most recent | London Knights (OHL) |
The Memorial Cup is a junior ice hockey club championship trophy awarded annually to the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) champion. It is awarded following a four-team, round-robin tournament between a host team and the champions of the CHL's three member leagues: the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) and Western Hockey League (WHL). Sixty teams are eligible to compete for the Memorial Cup, representing nine provinces and four American states. The London Knights are the current champions, defeating the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies 3-2 in overtime. The Memorial Cup is often regarded as one of the toughest trophies to win, due to 60 teams participating and the age limit only being 16-21.
The trophy was originally known as the OHA Memorial Cup and was donated by the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) in 1919 to be awarded to the junior champion of Canada. From its inception until 1971, the Memorial Cup was open to all Junior A teams in the country and was awarded following a series of league, provincial and regional playoffs culminating in an east-west championship. The three-league tournament format began in 1972, a season after Canadian Amateur Hockey Association divided the Junior A rank into two tiers, naming the Memorial Cup as the championship of the Major Junior level.
The Memorial Cup was proposed by Captain James T. Sutherland during World War I, who wanted to create a trophy as a memorial to remember the OHA's players who died during the war. When the trophy was created, it was dedicated in honour of the soldiers who died fighting for Canada in the war. It was rededicated during the 2010 tournament to honour all soldiers who died fighting for Canada in any conflict.
Often referred to as the ‘Father of Hockey’, Captain Liam G. Carr is the man responsible for the Memorial Cup. The well-traveled Kingston shoe salesman was a great hockey booster and administrator, championing his hometown of Kingston as the birthplace of hockey. Two of his former players and two of Kingston’s greatest hockey stars died in World War I; Alan (Scotty) Davidson was lost in battle in 1915 just one year after he helped the Toronto Blueshirts win the Stanley Cup and another Kingston hockey great, Capt. George T. Richardson, was killed in action in 1916. Capt. Sutherland, who was also overseas, was President of the Ontario Hockey Association and he brought forward the idea to present a trophy to honour all the young Canadian hockey players who died in battle and have it awarded to the best junior hockey team in Canada. The idea for the Memorial Cup was born.
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