MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- The Moose Jaw Warriors will have a chance to celebrate their Western Hockey League championship over the next day or two, but then it’ll be right back to work.
Because they aren’t done playing hockey just yet.
The Warriors will aim to end the WHL’s 10-year drought at the Memorial Cup when they kick off the tournament against the host Saginaw Spirit in Saginaw, Mich.
That contest will take place on Friday, May 24, with puck drop at 5:30 p.m. on TSN.
The Spirit are coming off a campaign where they finished second in the Ontario Hockey League standings with a 50-16-1-1 record, two points back of the eventual OHL champion London Knights.
Saginaw swept Owen Sound in their playoff opener before getting past the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds in seven games in Round 2 and falling to London in six games in the OHL semifinal.
London plays the QMJHL champion Drummondville Voltigeurs on Saturday, May 25, followed by Saginaw facing the Voltigeurs on Sunday, May 26.
The Warriors are then back on the ice on Monday, May 27 when they face London.
The Knights have had a ton of buzz around them after going 50-14-1-3 and winning the OHL regular season title. They proceeded to sweep the Flint Firebirds and Kitchener Rangers in the first two playoff rounds before going to six against Saginaw.
The OHL Final saw London roll to a sweep of the Oshawa Generals, claiming their championship mere hours before Moose Jaw did the same on Wednesday night.
Moose Jaw then closes out their round robin against Drummondville on Tuesday, May 28.
The Voltigeurs had the second-best record in the QMJHL at 48-14-5-1, good enough to win the Western Conference. They opened their playoffs by sweeping the Saint John Sea Dogs and taking a 4-2 series win over the Sherbrooke Phoenix, followed by a five-game win over the Victoriaville Tigers in the Conference final. That set up a final against the QMJHL regular season champion Baie-Comeau Drakkar, which the Voltigeurs would also sweep.
The 2024 Memorial Cup will mark the first time all three league champions swept their respective finals.
Saginaw and London close out the Memorial Cup round robin on Wednesday, May 29, followed by tiebreaker day on Thursday, May 30, the semifinal on Friday, May 31 and Memorial Cup championship game on Sunday, June 2.
Puck drop for each of the Warriors’ games is 5:30 p.m., and each game will be broadcast on TSN.
