2005 Memorial Cup

The 2005 Memorial Cup was held May 21-29, 2005 at the John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario. The Cup tournament featured the champions from the Western Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League as well as the host team. However, since the host team, the London Knights, won the Ontario Hockey League championship against the Ottawa 67's, the 67's earned the right to represent the OHL as the 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). 2005 marked both London's first ever OHL championship and first Memorial Cup victory in its 40 year history.

Media attention was unusually high, with the television ratings the highest ever recorded for the tournament [1]. There were several reasons for this increase in media attention:

1. Lack of competition from the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs. The NHL season was cancelled because of a labour dispute, which made the Memorial Cup tournament the most important active North American hockey trophy in the interim. Further, since there was no NHL, some of the young prospects were able to play for their junior teams instead of playing for their affiliated NHL teams. As such, the better junior players helped facilitate more competitive games.
2. The presence of two of the best teams ever in junior hockey.

   a) The London Knights went 31 games in a row undefeated to begin their season, setting a new CHL record. The team was ranked number 1 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. This would be a perfect year to win the cup as the tournament was held in London which was also the city's sesquicentennial.

   b) The Rimouski Océanic with superstar Sidney Crosby went even longer undefeated at the end of the season and into the QMJHL playoffs, setting a new Q 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 and a final round loss to Halifax being their only losses 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 likely to be Crosby's last year in the CHL and final opportunity to win the Memorial Cup.

3. The Kelowna Rockets were the defending Memorial Cup champions.
4. The Ottawa 67's, coached by the "legendary" Brian Kilrea, 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

Round-robin standings

Schedule

• May 21st - London Knights 4-3 Rimouski Océanic (OT)
• May 22nd - Kelowna Rockets 2-3 Ottawa 67's (2OT)
• May 23rd - London Knights 4-2 Kelowna Rockets
• May 24th - Ottawa 67's 3-4 Rimouski Océanic
• May 25th - Rimouski Océanic 4-3 Kelowna Rockets
• May 26th - Ottawa 67's 2-5 London Knights
• May 28th - Semi-Final: Rimouski Océanic 7-4 Ottawa 67's
• May 29th - Final: London Knights 4-0 Rimouski Océanic

Scoring leaders

1. Sidney Crosby, RIM (6g, 5a, 11pts)
2. Marc-Antoine Pouliot, RIM (3g, 7a, 10pts)
3. Dany Roussin, RIM (3g, 6a, 9pts)
4. Mario Scalzo, Jr., RIM (2g, 7a, 9pts)
5. Corey Perry, LDN (4g, 3a, 7pts)
6. Patrick Coulombe, RIM (2g, 5a, 7pts)
7. Danny Fritsche, LDN (3g, 3a, 6pts)
8. Robbie Schremp, LDN (1g, 5a, 6pts)
9. Danny Syvret, LDN (1g, 4a, 5pts)
10. Dylan Hunter, LDN (1g, 4a, 5pts)

Leading goaltenders

1. Adam Dennis, LDN (1.58 gaa, .936 sv%)
2. Kristofer Westblom, KEL (3.08 gaa, .910 sv%)
3. Cedrick Desjardins, RIM (3.69 gaa, .914 sv%)
4. Danny Battochio, OTT (3.93 gaa, .907 sv%)

Award Winners

• Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy (MVP): Corey Perry, London
• George Parsons Trophy (Sportsmanship): Marc-Antoine Pouliot, Rimouski
• Hap Emms Memorial Trophy (Goaltender): Adam Dennis, London
• Ed Chynoweth Trophy (Leading Scorer): Sidney Crosby, Rimouski

All-star team

• Goal: Adam Dennis, London
• Defence: Danny Syvret, London; Mario Scalzo, Jr., Rimouski
• Forwards: Corey Perry, London; Dan Fritsche, London; Sidney Crosby, Rimouski

The road to the cup

For more information, see 2004-05 QMJHL season, 2004-05 OHL season, and 2004-05 WHL season.

WHL playoffs

Conference Quarter-fianls

• Brandon Wheat Kings (1) 4-1 Moose Jaw Warriors (4)
• Saskatoon Blades (2) 0-4 Prince Albert Raiders (3)
• Medicine Hat Tigers (1) 4-3 Red Deer Rebels (4)
• Lethbridge Hurricanes (2) 1-4 Calgary Hitmen (3)
• Kootenay Ice (1) 4-2 Kamloops Blazers (4)
• Kelowna Rockets (2) 4-2 Vancouver Giants (3)
• Seattle Thunderbirds (1) 4-1 Tri-City Americans (4)
• Portland Winter Hawks (2) 3-4 Everett Silvertips (3)

Conference Semi-finals

• Medicine Hat Tigers (1) 2-4 Prince Albert Raiders (7)
• Brandon Wheat Kings (2) 4-3 Calgary Hitmen (5)
• Kootenay Ice (1) 4-0 Everett Silvertips (5)
• Seattle Thunderbirds (2) 3-4 Kelowna Rockets (3)

Conference Finals

• Brandon Wheat Kings (2) 4-3 Prince Albert Raiders (7)
• Kootenay Ice (1) 2-4 Kelowna Rockets (3)

President's Cup Final

• Kelowna Rockets (3) 4-1 Brandon Wheat Kings (2)

OHL playoffs

Conference Quarter-finals

• Mississauga IceDogs (1) 1-4 Toronto St. Michael's Majors (8)
• Peterborough Petes (2) 4-1 Belleville Bulls (7)
• Barrie Colts (3) 2-4 Ottawa 67's (6)
• Brampton Battalion (4) 2-4 Sudbury Wolves (5)
• London Knights (1) 4-0 Guelph Storm (8)
• Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (2) 3-4 Windsor Spitfires (7)
• Owen Sound Attack (3) 4-0 Plymouth Whalers (6)
• Kitchener Rangers (4) 4-2 Erie Otters (5)

Conference Semi-finals

• Peterborough Petes (2) 4-1 Toronto St. Michael's Majors (8)
• Sudbury Wolves (5) 2-4 Ottawa 67's (6)
• London Knights (1) 4-0 Windsor Spitfires (7)
• Owen Sound Attack (3) 0-4 Kitchener Rangers (4)

Conference finals

• Peterborough Petes (2) 0-4 Ottawa 67's (6)
• London Knights (1) 4-1 Kitchener Rangers (4)

J. Ross Robertson Cup Finals

• London Knights (1) 4-1 Ottawa 67's (6)

QMJHL playoffs

First round

• Chicoutimi Saguenéens (4) 4-2 Baie-Comeau Drakkar (13)
• Quebec Remparts (5) 4-3 Victoriaville Tigres (12)
• Moncton Wildcats (6) 4-2 Drummondville Voltigeurs (11)
• Shawinigan Cataractes (7) 0-4 Lewiston MAINEiacs (10)
• Gatineau Olympiques (8) 4-1 Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (9)

Byes:Rimouski Océanic (1), Halifax Mooseheads (2), Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (3)

Quarter-finals

• Rimouski Océanic (1) 4-0 Lewiston MAINEiacs (10)
• Halifax Mooseheads (2) 4-1 Gatineau Olympiques (8)
• Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (3) 4-2 Moncton Wildcats (6)
• Chicoutimi Saguenéens (4) 4-2 Quebec Remparts (5)

Semi-finals

• Rimouski Océanic (1) 4-1 Chicoutimi Saguenéens (4)
• Halifax Mooseheads (2) 4-0 Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (3)

President's Cup finals

• Rimouski Océanic (1) 4-1 Halifax Mooseheads (2)

See also

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