Kitchener Rangers advance to Memorial Cup Final undefeated

The Kitchener Rangers are guaranteed a spot in the Memorial Cup finals, while a player for the Chicoutimi Saguenéens was ejected from the game.

The Kitchener Rangers have clinched their spot in the Memorial Cup Final following a 3-2 win over the QMJHL champion Chicoutimi Sagueneens, going 3-0 in round-robin play.

The Blueshirts will head to the Memorial Cup Final for a CHL record seventh time, where they will look to bring home their third national title in franchise history, last hoisting the cup in 2003.

Dylan Edwards couldn’t contain his excitement when stating what one more win would mean.

“It’s special,” Edwards said. “Talking to some of the older guys, what a treat this is for our last game in this league… we want to go home with it and [it’s been] a pretty incredibly experience and opportunity for us as a group.”

After a quiet first period, Luca Romano broke the deadlock early in the second period.

Sam O’Reilly found the net a couple minutes later, with their advantage sliced in half by Chicoutimi’s Emile Ricard later in the frame.

Jack Pridham scored his fourth goal of the tournament to open the third, with the Sagueneens only able to find one goal late from Mavrick Lachance.

Rangers Goaltender Christian Kirsch still had his Memorial Cup momentum, finishing the night with 26 saves.

Controversy struck late in the game when Chicoutimi’s Jordan Tourigny was ejected for stomping on Christian Humphreys’ foot several times. Humphreys left the game and did not return following the incident.

Rangers Head Coach Jussi Ahokas said the move was anything but physical hockey.

“That’s not tough hockey. That’s coward hockey, that’s not in our values,” Ahokas said. If someone does that, that’s the cheapest thing what you can do in hockey… you shouldn’t be doing things like that.”

While the win was not perfect, Ahokas explained that business was still taken care of.

“It wasn’t pretty tonight but we got the job done,” Ahokas said.

The Blueshirts have gone a month undefeated, last losing to the Windsor Spitfire in Game 3 of the OHL Western Conference Final.

The Rangers will learn their opponent following the semi-final on Friday night, with the 2026 Memorial Cup Final set to take place on Sunday at Prospera Place in Kelowna. Puck drops at 7 p.m.