(Montreal) The Rimouski Océanic and the Shawinigan Cataractes have officially expressed their intention to present their candidacy to host the Memorial Cup tournament in 2025, the Canadian Hockey League indicated in a press release Tuesday morning.
These two QMJHL teams will have to submit their applications before the deadline of November 10, and the identity of the host city should be announced next December.
Since the last two Memorial Cup tournaments organized by the QMJHL took place in the Maritimes (in Saint John, New Brunswick, in 2022, and in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 2019), the Memorial Cup 2025 will mark the return of this event to Quebec for the first time in 10 years.
As hosts, the Océanic or Cataractes will be one of four teams to participate in the 105th edition of the Memorial Cup, alongside the Western Hockey League (WHL) playoff champion, of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and the QMJHL.
“We are delighted to have received interest from the Rimouski Océanic and the Shawinigan Cataractes, two major QMJHL clubs that have already hosted the Memorial Cup and experienced success during this event,” said Dan MacKenzie, president of the CHL.
The Cataractes have organized the tournament twice, first in 1985, then in 2012. It was also during this edition that the Cataractes won their first and only CHL championship title. For its part, the Océanic has hosted the event once and only once, in 2009, and won its only title in 2000.
The most recent edition of the Memorial Cup took place in Kamloops, British Columbia, last June, and the tournament was won by the Remparts de Québec. It was the QMJHL’s fourth consecutive Memorial Cup title, a CHL record since the round-robin format was introduced in 1972.
The 2024 Memorial Cup tournament will be hosted in Saginaw, Michigan, from May 23 to June 2, 2024.
