The grand finale to the Canadian Hockey League season kicked off last night with the opening round robin contest between the WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers and Memorial Cup host team Rimouski Océanic. The latter, despite coming up short in the Gilles-Courteau Trophy final against the Moncton Wildcats, would prove their mettle in this matchup as a worthy opponent to the championship winning squads.

Ryder Ritchie (Minnesota Wild) would score the first goal of the game after nonchalantly picking up a rebound from a crossbar hit by Gavin McKenna (2026 NHL Entry Draft), with Oasiz Wiesblatt (Milwaukee Admirals) being credited for the secondary assist to give Medicine Hat the first lead of the game. Bryce Pickford was called for a cross-check several minutes later, and this is when things started to get interesting. Mathieu Cataford (Vegas Golden Knights) went for what seemed to be a loose puck off of a rebound but collided with Medicine Hat G Harrison Meneghin (Tampa Bay Lightning), denying what could have been the GTG at that moment. Meneghin was shaken up on the play, but was able to stay in. Eventually, after a re-gather, Maël Lavigne was able to tie it up with a snipe from inside the circle before the power play expired, tying the game for Rimouski with just 20 ticks left. These developments all occurred within the final seven minutes of the first, but it wasn’t as though there wasn’t good hockey being played prior to this. Medicine Hat were a strong possession team and were great at getting pucks on net, with Gavin McKenna being notably offensively aggressive. Rimouski had the structure and cohesion to counter-attack and press up-ice. While Medicine Hat had a significant shots on goal advantage at one juncture in the first, the Océanic had nearly evened in thanks in part to their strong power play work, with SOGs ending 15-11.

The approximate first half of the second period progressed similarly to how it did in the first, yet with Rimouski this time in control. Eventually, Maël St-Denis scored one in close, giving Rimouski their first lead. Pickford was able to redeem himself several minutes later with a goal from up high to tie it back up while Lou Lévesque was in the box for delay of game, but Rimouski took the lead back immediately after a Medicine Hat bench minor for too many men when their cycle ended with Jacob Mathieu potting a rebound with just over a minute and a half remaining in the second period. Shots ended 11-7 in favor of the Tigers in the second frame.

Within the first five minutes and change of the final stanza, the Tigers struck twice, with Pickford scoring from the top of the circle 1:08 in, then McKenna finishing on a breakaway at 5:16. Jonas Woo would go to the box for tripping a handful of minutes later and Rimouski didn’t disappoint on the power play, with Jonathan Fauchon finding a seam with his laser of a shot to tie the game back up. However, the Tigers were at their most ferocious in terms of offensive intensity in the final frame, and Hunter St. Martin (Florida Panthers) showed his finishing touch to win the game for Medicine Hat upon the completion of a very fast and efficient cycle. Rimouski gave it their best with the net empty, but to no avail, as MHT locked in in front of Meneghin, who (despite his somewhat unflattering save percentage in this matchup) continued his reliable form for them in between the pipes. The final score stood at 5-4 in favor of MHT, with them winning the SOG battle 38-24. Round robin play resumes tonight at 6:00 PM, with OHL champions the London Knights facing off against QMJHL champions the Moncton Wildcats.