The Ed Chynoweth Cup is returning to Southern Alberta.
In five games, the Medicine Hat Tigers have eliminated the Spokane Chiefs and booked their spot in the 2025 Memorial Cup in Rimouski. Despite a just one goal in the first 40 minutes, the Tigers were able to skate away with a 4-2 victory inside the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena.
Perhaps an unsung and unexpected hero, defenceman Niilopekka Muhonen opened the scoring with his first goal of the entire playoffs and from there it was mostly all Tigers. Goaltender Harrison Meneghin locked things down after a couple late goals from the Chiefs, and forward Mathew Ward made a key defensive stop to prevent a Spokane goal.
As mentioned in the preview, Bryce Pickford may not have broken the WHL playoff goal record for defencemen but he did end up tying the mark at 13 with an empty net tally to put the game (and series) on ice. On the other side of the coin, Chiefs forward Andrew Cristall added one goal and put himself in a five-way tie for third most goals all-time by a WHL skater with 21. That number is the most since Ty Rattie (Portland Winterhawks, 2013) who had 20.
This win marks Medicine Hat's sixth WHL championship, and first since 2007 where they defeated the Vancouver Giants in seven games. That team would then go on to participate in the 2007 Memorial Cup final, where they ultimately lost 3-1 to the Giants.
The Tigers now head to Rimouski, Que. to face of in the 2025 installment of the Memorial Cup, featuring the Rimouski Oceanic, London Knights, and Moncton Wildcats.
Scoring Summary
1st Period:
No Scoring
2nd Period:
12:42- MH: Niilopekka Muhonen (1) from Marcus Pacheco
3rd Period:
5:01- MH: Gavin McKenna (9) from Jonas Woo and Andrew Basha (PP)
5:45- MH: Hunter St. Martin (7) from Mathew Ward and Andrew Basha
6:34- SPO: Andrew Cristall (21) from Brayden Crampton and Berkly Catton (PP)
9:13- SPO: Assanali Sarkenov (9) from Sam Oremba and Rasmus Ekstrom
18:46- MH: Bryce Pickford (13) from Hunter St. Martin (EN)
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