Memorial Cup champion Kitchener Rangers ‘were built to win’

O’Reilly finished tied for the tournament lead with eight points, alongside teammate Jack Pridham, who scored his tournament-best fifth goal in the final, and Everett’s Matias Vanhanen.

“Unreal. I can’t say enough about him,” Ahokas said of O’Reilly, a first-round pick who was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Tampa Bay Lightning last off-season. “He’ll play in the NHL next year. An unbelievable player to coach.”

Woolley scored what stood up as the winner, with the physical shutdown defender netting his second clutch goal of this showcase. He made it 3-1 with the lone tally of the second period against Everett after giving Kitchener a 2-0 lead late in the middle frame of their tournament-opening 5-0 triumph over the host Kelowna Rockets last Friday.

“He’s the backbone of our team, and he does so much for us,” O’Reilly said of Woolley, a sixth-round pick for the Los Angeles Kings. “He might not get all the love, but he’s a huge piece to our team and we wouldn’t be here without him.”

O’Reilly and Woolley repeated as Memorial Cup champions, also winning last year with the London Knights before being acquired at the January trade deadline to put this Kitchener club over the top. London knocked Kitchener out of the playoffs en route to winning OHL titles the two previous seasons.

“They’re winners. We knew how good of players they were,” Ahokas said of adding rivals to their roster. “Winners are winners. If you get two players like that, of course you take them.”

The Rangers were also happy to take Pridham, when he left the West Kelowna Warriors of the B.C. Hockey League to join Kitchener in November 2024 after changes to the NCAA eligibility rules. This time he is leaving the Okanagan as a Memorial Cup champ.

“It’s just so special. My family is here, they’re all down, so it’s great to be able to celebrate with them and my old billets,” said Pridham, a third-round pick who needs to sign with the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday or re-enter the NHL draft later this month after decommitting from Boston University.

“I was just focusing on playing here and ultimately winning the final. I’m just going to celebrate with my teammates here tonight and soak it all in.”

Billed as a battle of the favourites from the outset, Kitchener proved to be the class of the Canadian Hockey League this year — sweeping Barrie to win the OHL and earning a bye to the final here by running the table in round-robin play, also downing the QMJHL champion Chicoutimi Saguenéens 3-2 on Tuesday.

The Silvertips were trying to avenge Monday’s loss by the same score, which was Everett’s only other blemish of the tournament — previously defeating Chicoutimi 5-3, then rebounding to beat Kelowna 4-0 before blowing out Chicoutimi 6-1 in their rematch during Friday’s semifinal to earn another shot at Kitchener in the championship final.

“They were built to win. A mature team,” said Everett head coach Steve Hamilton, also acknowledging the impact of O’Reilly and Woolley as veteran ringers. “You add players with that kind of experience at the deadline and bringing them into the fold. They were built for this. I can’t sit here and say that we could have done anything miraculously different.

“They’re deserving champions. I have all kinds of respect for the way they played. They were very, very professional in the way they handled this tournament.”

Christian Kirsch made 30 saves for the Rangers, who struck twice on a 5-on-3 power play to start the third period — pulling away for a repeat of Monday’s result after leading 2-1 and 3-1 at the intermissions. They never trailed, with Luke Ellinas opening the scoring and Dylan Edwards making it 2-1.

Christian Humphreys rounded out the scoring with a short-handed empty-net goal and Haeden Ellis had two assists for the Ontario Hockey League champions.

Vanhanen and Carter Bear, both with their fourth goals of the tournament, provided the offence for the Western Hockey League champs.

Everett’s exceptional status defender Landon DuPont had a point in every game he played here, assisting on both goals in the final. DuPont, who turned 17 on Thursday, finished with six points in four games (two goals, four assists). He sat out Everett’s round-robin finale on Wednesday with an undisclosed injury but returned to score twice in the semifinal.

Anders Miller stopped 26 shots for the Silvertips in suffering his second defeat to Kitchener, with the WHL’s drought still dating back to 2014 for the league’s last Memorial Cup win.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 31, 2026.

Larry Fisher, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Memorial Cup champion Kitchener Rangers ‘were built to win’

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