The 2005 Memorial Cup (branded as the 2005 Mastercard Memorial Cup for sponsorship reasons) was held May 21–29, 2005 at the

John Labatt Centre Budweiser Gardens is a sports-entertainment centre, in London, Ontario, Canada – the largest such centre in Southwestern Ontario. Until 2012, it was known as the John Labatt Centre. The John Labatt Centre, which opened on October 11, 2002, was ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. It was the 87th annual

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...

competition and determined the

major junior ice hockey Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

champion of the

Canadian Hockey League The Canadian Hockey League (CHL; french: Ligue canadienne de hockey ‒ LCH) is an umbrella organization that represents the three Canada-based major junior ice hockey leagues. The CHL was founded in 1975 as the Canadian Major Junior Hockey L ...

(CHL). The Cup tournament featured the champions from the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...

(WHL), the

Kelowna Rockets The Kelowna Rockets are a major junior ice hockey team based in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. The Rockets play in the Western Hockey League (WHL), out of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). They play their home games at Prospera Place. The Roc ...

; the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The l ...

(QMJHL), the

Rimouski Océanic The Rimouski Océanic are a junior ice hockey team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The franchise was granted for the 1969–70 season as the Sherbrooke Castors. The Castors played in Sherbrooke from 1969 to 1982 before moving to ...

; the

Ottawa 67's The Ottawa 67's are a major junior ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, that plays in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Established during Canada's Canadian Centennial, centennial year of 1967 and named in honour of this, the 67's c ...

representing the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overag ...

(OHL); and the host team. Since the host team, the

London Knights The London Knights are a junior ice hockey team from London, Ontario, Canada, playing in the Ontario Hockey League, one of the leagues of the Canadian Hockey League. The Knights started out in 1965 as the London Nationals but changed to their cu ...

, won the Ontario Hockey League championship against the Ottawa 67's, the 67's earned the right to represent the OHL as the League runner-up. The Knights had never won the Memorial Cup, unlike the other three teams, despite having a franchise for longer than any of the other three teams (40 seasons). The year 2005 marked both London's first-ever OHL championship and first Memorial Cup victory in its 40-year history.

Round-robin standings

Coverage

Media attention was unusually high, with the television ratings the highest ever recorded for the tournament.http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/Junior/2005/05/28/1060786-sun.html There were several reasons for this increase in media attention: # Lack of competition from the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

Stanley Cup playoffs The Stanley Cup playoffs (french: Les séries éliminatoires de la Coupe Stanley) is an elimination tournament in the National Hockey League (NHL) consisting of four rounds of best-of-seven series to determine the league champion and the winner ...

. The NHL's 2004–05 season was canceled due to the aforementioned lockout, which made the Memorial Cup the most important North American hockey playoff tournament at the time of the event. Furthermore, some of the young prospects were able to play for their junior teams instead of playing for their affiliated NHL teams. As such, the higher-skilled junior players helped facilitate more competitive games. # The presence of arguably two of the strongest teams ever in junior hockey: ## The London Knights went 31 games in a row undefeated to begin their season, setting a new CHL record. The team was ranked first in the weekly CHL rankings for the entire length of the season. The Knights had also never won the Memorial Cup in their entire 40-year history, providing the opportunity for the team to win their first Cup in London, as well as during the city's sesquicentennial year. ## The Rimouski Océanic, with superstar

Sidney Crosby Sidney Patrick Crosby (born August 7, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Sid the Kid" and dubbed " The Next One", he was selected first o ...

, went even longer undefeated at the end of the season and into the QMJHL playoffs, setting a new League record with 28 games undefeated. They actually went 35 games without losing including the regular season and QMJHL playoffs, with a third-round loss to Chicoutimi being their only loss in the QMJHL in the 2005 calendar year half of the 2004–05 season. As the CHL did not count the playoff games towards their streak, London's mark remains the longest in the record books, a fact that the Océanic used as motivation. 2005 was also to be Crosby's last year in the CHL and final opportunity to win the Memorial Cup. # The

were the defending Memorial Cup champions. # The

, coached by the "legendary"

Brian Kilrea Brian Blair "Killer" Kilrea (born October 21, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey head coach, general manager, and player. He played 26 games in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Red Wings and Los Angeles Kings between 1958 and 1967, ...

, finished in a distant 6th place in their conference but made a strong playoff performance to come back to face the Knights in the OHL final.

Rosters

Schedule

Round robin

Semifinal

Final

Scoring leaders

, RIM (6g, 5a, 11pts) #

Marc-Antoine Pouliot Marc-Antoine Pouliot (born May 22, 1985) is a Canadian-Swiss professional ice hockey player who is currently playing with Genève-Servette HC of the National League (NL). He was selected 22nd overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2003 NHL Entry D ...

, RIM (3g, 7a, 10pts) #

Dany Roussin Dany Roussin (born January 9, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who last played for Jonquière Marquis of the LNAH. Playing career Junior Dany was taken in the first round (5th overall) of the QMJHL Entry Draft by the S ...

, RIM (3g, 6a, 9pts) #

Mario Scalzo Mario Scalzo (born November 11, 1984) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player. Scalzo is currently playing for Eispiraten Crimmitschau in the DEL2. Career Born in Saint-Hubert, Quebec, Scalzo played junior hockey in the Quebec Major Juni ...

, RIM (2g, 7a, 9pts) #

Corey Perry Corey Perry (born May 16, 1985) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played the first 14 years of his career with the Anaheim Ducks. He then played for the Dallas Stars ...

, LDN (4g, 3a, 7pts) # Patrick Coulombe, RIM (2g, 5a, 7pts) #

Dan Fritsche Daniel J. Fritsche (born July 13, 1985) is a Swiss- American former professional ice hockey forward. He played for Genève-Servette HC, HC Lugano and the ZSC Lions in the National League (NL) and in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Colum ...

, LDN (3g, 3a, 6pts) #

Rob Schremp Robert B. Schremp (born July 1, 1986) is an American professional ice hockey center currently playing for HK Mogo of the Latvian Hockey Higher League. He was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in the first round, 25th overall, of the 2004 NHL Entry ...

, LDN (1g, 5a, 6pts) #

Danny Syvret Danny Syvret (born June 13, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 59 games in the National Hockey League (NHL). Syvret was selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the third round (81st overall) of the 2005 NHL Entr ...

, LDN (1g, 4a, 5pts) # Dylan Hunter, LDN (1g, 4a, 5pts)

Leading goaltenders

Adam Dennis Adam Dennis (born February 8, 1985) is a Canadian-born Italian former professional ice hockey Goaltender, goalie and current general Manager of the Ontario Hockey League's North Bay Battalion. Career Dennis was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ...

, LDN (1.58 gaa, .936 sv%) #

Kristofer Westblom Kristofer is a masculine first name. It is a variant of the name Christopher. People Kristofer Notable people with the name Kristofer include: * Kristofer Åström, Swedish singer-songwriter * Kristofer Berglund (born 1988), Swedish professi ...

, KEL (3.08 gaa, .910 sv%) #

Cedrick Desjardins Cédrick or Cedrick is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Cedrick Banks (born 1981), American professional basketball player * Cedrick Bowers (born 1978), left-handed Major League Baseball pitcher *Cédrick Desjardins (born 1985) ...

, RIM (3.69 gaa, .914 sv%) #

Danny Battochio Danny Battochio (born December 21, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He retired playing with the Rapid City Rush of the ECHL and is a goalie consultant. Playing career Battochio played major junior hockey with the O ...

, OTT (3.93 gaa, .907 sv%)

Award winners

Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy The Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy is a Canadian Hockey League (CHL) trophy, awarded to the most valuable player in the annual Memorial Cup Tournament. The trophy was first awarded in 1972 and won by Richard Brodeur of the QMJHL's Cornwall Royals. ...

(MVP):

, London *

George Parsons Trophy The George Parsons Trophy is awarded annually to the player judged to be the most sportsmanlike at the Memorial Cup tournament. It was first awarded in 1974. The trophy is named for George Parsons, a former Ontario Hockey Association player who ...

(sportsmanship):

, Rimouski *

Hap Emms Memorial Trophy The Hap Emms Memorial Trophy is awarded to the outstanding goaltender at the Memorial Cup of the Canadian Hockey League. The award is named after Leighton "Hap" Emms, a former NHL player, who had a 33 year presence in the Ontario Hockey Associ ...

(goaltender):

, London *

Ed Chynoweth Trophy The Ed Chynoweth Trophy is awarded to the leading scorer at the Memorial Cup tournament. It was first awarded in 1996. In the case of a tie in points, the award is given to the player with the fewest games played. If they have played the same num ...

(leading scorer):

, Rimouski All-Star Team * Goal:

, London * Defence:

, London;

, Rimouski * Forwards:

, London;

, Rimouski

The road to the cup

WHL playoffs

OHL playoffs

QMJHL playoffs

References

External links

Memorial Cup

Canadian Hockey League
{{Memorial Cup Memorial Cup 2005 Memorial Cup tournaments Memorial Cup 2005