The 2026 Memorial Cup is set to face off on Friday night, and there will be only one member of the Tampa Bay Lightning organization taking the ice during the tournament.
Sam O'Reilly's dominant season for the Kitchener Rangers has already been well documented, but it's not over just yet. He'll be hoping to lead the Rangers to their first Memorial Cup title since 2003 against some pretty stiff competition.
The Kelowna Rockets will be hosting the tournament and are set to make their first appearance in the Memorial Cup since 2015. Meanwhile, the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League's Chicoutimi Sagueneens will be making their first Memorial Cup appearance in nearly 30 years, having last appeared in the tournament in 1997. Lastly, the Western Hockey League champions, the Everett Silvertips, will be appearing in the Memorial Cup for the first time in franchise history.
O'Reilly's Rangers earned their way into the Memorial Cup by sweeping the Barrie Colts in the Ontario Hockey League Final, just days after Barrie went viral for post-game antics after winning the Conference Final.
In 18 playoff games, O'Reilly scored 17 goals and 28 points for the Rangers. As a result, he was named the winner of the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as the OHL's playoff MVP. This comes after he had already won the Red Tilson Trophy as the OHL's Most Outstanding Player during the regular season.
The Rangers will play in the very first game of the tournament, as they'll face the hosting Kelowna Rockets on Friday night, with puck drop set for 9 PM ET.