Knights Win Third Memorial Cup Title

Years back which many won’t remember or even know the London nights played out of the London Gardens and a member of the Ontario Hockey Association in a rink that was initially named Treasure Island Gardens, given the nickname of London Ice House.

Initially it was a huge part of Treasure Island Plaza which was a mall complex and built in 1963 with a seating capacity of 4,680 and a full capacity of 5,075 with the last game played at the rink in 2002 and currently being used as a Velodrome.

The Knights have undergone several ownership changes and dating back in 2000 the Hunter Brothers (ex-NHLers Mark and Dale) bought the Knights along with minority partner Basil McRae. 

Given the new ownership on board the city eventually relented, making plans to build the new John Labatt Centre (today the Budweiser Gardens) on the Talbot Block in downtown London. 

Given the change with the location it was only proper that the team focused on changing the Knights’ colours in 2002 back to green and gold. 

This year they did what many skeptics thought wouldn’t happen given that they were playing the Medicine Hat Tigers coached by Willie Desgardins who has an impressive record of his own at the pro level of the game.

The Knights captured their third Memorial Cup 4-1 Championship victory over the Tigers  that was played at the Sun Life Financial Coliseum in Rimouski, Québec. 

Philadelphia Flyers prospect Denver Barkey managed a pair of goals leading the goal scoring department followed by San Jose Sharks prospect Sam Dickinson who managed three assists, which saw Austin Elliott turn aside 31 shots. 

The win sees the Knights join the Cornwall Royals, Kamloops Blazers, and Windsor Spitfires as the only CHL clubs to claim three Memorial Cup titles since 1972 with the Knights previous championships in 2005 and 2016.

Jets prospect Jacob Julien and Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan also scored for London in Sunday’s championship game. 

Cowan, who finished with a tournament-best seven points (3G-4A in 5 GP), was awarded the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as the MVP of the 2025 Memorial Cup.

Cowan told the media following the game “What an opportunity that we had here today. We just took it and ran with it and that was some of our best hockey we played all year. We locked it down when we had to, and we scored when we had to. I am just super proud of this group.”

Cowan shared the scoring lead with teammate Denver Barkey and became the first player since 1972 to lead or co-lead the tournament in points in back-to-back years matching Cowan’s adding seven points (3G-4A in 5 GP) of his own. 

With identical stat lines at the 2025 Memorial Cup, Barkey and Cowan became the first set of teammates to share the Ed Chynoweth Trophy as the tournament’s leading scorers. The award, introduced in 1996, had never previously been shared between two players.

Additionally, when including his eight-point performance at the 2024 Memorial Cup, Cowan now ranks tied with Mitch Marner for the most career Memorial Cup points in London Knights franchise history, with 15 points in nine games at the CHL’s championship event.

Jacob Julien opened the scoring at 11:21 of the first period, taking a feed from 2025 NHL Draft prospect Henry Brzustewicz up the middle and sliding a backhand past Tigers goaltender Zachary Meneghin for his second of the tournament.

The Knights broke the game open in the second, striking for three goals.

Easton Cowan made it 2-0 at 3:13, finishing off a slick feed from Sam O’Reilly in tight for his third of the Memorial Cup. Just 1:40 later, 

Denver Barkey added to the lead on a breakaway, beating Meneghin with another backhand.

Cowan appeared to score again at 9:59, but the goal was disallowed. London would strike again shortly after, however, as Barkey wired home a power-play goal from the left circle at 12:08 to make it 4-0.

Medicine Hat had chances in the third as Gavin McKenna scored (his third of the tournament) at 2:43 snapping a quick wrist shot cutting the deficit but it was a little too late to manage a comeback for the Tigers. 

They had a chance to add another but McKenna’s second goal was waved off following a video review showing that Oasiz Wiesblatt played the puck with a high stick.

Elliott managed to stop 31 of 32 shots and led the tournament in GAA of 1.59 and a SV% of .943 earning the Hap Emms Memorial Trophy as the tournament’s top goaltender. 

He started the season with the Saskatoon Blades and joined the Knights in October, 21-year-old Austin Elliott put together a remarkable 2024-25 campaign winning 55 of his 58 starts in the regular season, playoffs, and Memorial Cup.

Medicine Hat’s Gavin McKenna notched the only goal in Sunday’s final and finished with six points (3G-3A) one behind scoring leaders Denver Barkey and Easton Cowan. 

The 17-year-old joined both Knights forwards on the 2025 Memorial Cup All-Star Team, which also featured defencemen Sam Dickinson of London and Tanner Molendyk of Medicine Hat. Dickinson led all blueliners with six assists in five games, while Molendyk followed closely with four assists in four outings.

Tigers head coach Willie Desjardins mentioned “They cared, they tried and coming in, we only have one problem, that’s London’s a really good hockey team. It wasn’t that we didn’t want it, it wasn’t that we didn’t try. They’re just a good team.”

The George Parsons Trophy for Sportsmanship was awarded to Alex Mercier of the Moncton Wildcats was awarded at the 2025 Memorial Cup who registered five points (1G-4A) with no PIM’s over four games.  

Knights bench boss Dale Hunter adds his name into CHL history after winning his third Memorial Cup as a Head Coach all with the Knights and shares the all-time record with Don Hay and is the only coach to win three titles with a single CHL club with this win as somewhat of redemption for London, who dropped the Championship to the Saginaw Spirit in the 2024.

The 2026 Memorial Cup will mark the 106th edition of the event, and it will be hosted by the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL who are currently working on not only roster changes but also changes within the building and for this we’ll keep you posted!!

Thanks to the CHL for the press release!!

2025 Memorial Cup Awards
Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy (MVP) – Easton Cowan (London Knights / OHL)
Hap Emms Memorial Trophy (Outstanding Goaltender) – Austin Elliott (London Knights / OHL)
George Parsons Trophy (Sportsmanship) – Alex Mercier (Moncton Wildcats / QMJHL)
Ed Chynoweth Trophy (Leading Scorer) – Easton Cowan (London Knights / OHL) & Denver Barkey (London Knights / OHL)

2025 Memorial Cup All-Star Team
F – Easton Cowan (London Knights / OHL)
F – Gavin McKenna (Medicine Tigers / WHL)
F – Denver Barkey (London Knights / OHL)
D – Sam Dickinson (London Knights / OHL)
D – Tanner Molendyk (Medicine Hat Tigers / WHL)
G – Austin Elliott (London Knights / OHL)