2005 Memorial Cup

2005 Mastercard Memorial Cup
London, Ontario
Host team London Knights
Champions London Knights
Duration May 21–29, 2005
Number of games 8
Number of teams 4
Television Rogers Sportsnet
Memorial Cup Tournaments
← 2004
2006 →

The 2005 Memorial Cup was held May 21–29, 2005 at the John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario. It was the 87th annual Memorial Cup competition and determined the major junior ice hockey champion of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). The Cup tournament featured the champions from the Western Hockey League (WHL), the Kelowna Rockets; the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), the Rimouski Océanic; the Ottawa 67's representing the Ontario Hockey League (OHL); and the host team. 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 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

　 GP W L GF GA
London Knights (host) (OHL) 330137
Rimouski Océanic (QMJHL) 3211110
Ottawa 67's (OHL runner-up) 312811
Kelowna Rockets (WHL) 303711

Coverage

Media attention was unusually high, with the television ratings the highest ever recorded for the tournament . 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 due to 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 higher-skilled junior players helped facilitate more competitive games.
  2. The presence of arguably two of the strongest 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 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.
    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 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.
  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

Kelowna Rockets (WHL) London Knights (host)

Goaltenders

  • 1 - Mike Wall
  • 30 - Kristrofer Westblom
  • 31 - Derek Yeomans

Defensemen

Forwards

Head coach: Jeff Truitt

Goaltenders

Defensemen

Forwards

Head coach: Dale Hunter

Ottawa 67's (OHL) Rimouski Océanic (QMJHL)

Goaltenders

Defensemen

Forwards

Head coach: Brian Kilrea

Goaltenders

Defensemen

Forwards

Head coach: Doris Labonte

Schedule

Round robin

May 21, 2005 Rimouski 3–4 (OT)
 London John Labatt Centre
May 22, 2005 Ottawa 3–2 (2OT)
 Kelowna John Labatt Centre
May 23, 2005 London 4–2
 Kelowna John Labatt Centre
May 24, 2005 Ottawa 3–4
 Rimouski John Labatt Centre
May 25, 2005 Kelowna 3–4
 Rimouski John Labatt Centre
May 26, 2005 London 5–2
 Ottawa John Labatt Centre

Semifinal

May 28, 2005 Ottawa 4–7
 Rimouski John Labatt Centre

Final

May 29, 2005 Rimouski 0–4
 London John Labatt Centre

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, RIM (2g, 7a, 9pts)
  5. Corey Perry, LDN (4g, 3a, 7pts)
  6. Patrick Coulombe, RIM (2g, 5a, 7pts)
  7. Dan Fritsche, LDN (3g, 3a, 6pts)
  8. Rob 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

All-Star Team

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 quarterfinals Conference semifinals Conference finals WHL Championship
            
E1 Brandon 4
E4 Moose Jaw 1
E1 Brandon 4
C3 Calgary 3
C2 Lethbridge 1
C3 Calgary 4
E1 Brandon 4
Eastern
E3 Prince Albert 3
C1 Medicine Hat 4
C4 Red Deer 3
C1 Medicine Hat 2
E3 Prince Albert 4
E2 Saskatoon 0
E3 Prince Albert 4
E1 Brandon 1
B2 Kelowna 4
B1 Kootenay 4
B4 Kamloops 2
B1 Kootenay 4
U3 Everett 0
U2 Portland 3
U3 Everett 4
B1 Kootenay 2
Western
B2 Kelowna 4
B2 Kelowna 4
B3 Vancouver 2
B2 Kelowna 4
U1 Seattle 3
U1 Seattle 4
U4 Tri-City 1

OHL playoffs

Conference quarterfinals Conference semifinals Conference finals Finals
            
E1 Mississauga 1
E8 Toronto 4
E8 Toronto 1
E2 Peterborough 4
E2 Peterborough 4
E7 Belleville 1
E2 Peterborough 0
E6 Ottawa 4
E3 Barrie 2
E6 Ottawa 4
E6 Ottawa 4
E5 Sudbury 2
E4 Brampton 2
E5 Sudbury 4
E6 Ottawa 1
W1 London 4
W1 London 4
W8 Guelph 0
W1 London 4
W7 Windsor 0
W2 S.S. Marie 3
W7 Windsor 4
W1 London 4
W4 Kitchener 1
W3 Owen Sound 4
W6 Plymouth 0
W3 Owen Sound 0
W4 Kitchener 4
W4 Kitchener 4
W5 Erie 2

QMJHL playoffs

  First round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
                                     
        
  1  Rimouski 4  
    10  Lewiston 0  
7  Shawinigan 0
10  Lewiston 4  
  1  Rimouski 4  
  4  Chicoutimi 1  
4  Chicoutimi 4  
13  Baie-Comeau 2  
  4  Chicoutimi 4
    5  Québec 2  
5  Québec 4
12  Victoriaville 3  
  1  Rimouski 4
  2  Halifax 0
        
        
  2  Halifax 4
    8  Gatineau 1  
8  Gatineau 4
9  Cape Breton 1  
  2  Halifax 4
  3  Rouyn-Noranda 0  
        
        
  3  Rouyn-Noranda 4
    6  Moncton 2  
6  Moncton 4
11  Drummondville 2  

See also

Preceded by
2004 Memorial Cup		 Memorial Cup Succeeded by
2006 Memorial Cup
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