Many prolific hockey players have played in the Memorial Cup Tournament including Jarome Iginla, and now his son Tij will get his shot at junior hockey’s most historic trophy.
This years tournament will see the host Kelowna Rockets, OHL Champion Kitchener Rangers, QMJHL Champion Chicoutimi Saguenéens and WHL champion Everrett Silvertips battle it out for junior hockey supremacy. While all three leauge champions are fresh off their respective championships, the Kelowna Rockets have had nearly six weeks off after being eliminated in the second round of the WHL playoffs by the Everett Silvertips. When having that much time off with no games, getting back to being game ready can be a challenge, which is why it is important to have differt types of practices, said Rockets associate coach Don Hay.
“you want to keep the guys sharp, you want to keep them excited to come to the rink. And I think that’s a big challenge. You design different type of practices. This might be a work practice. This might be a team practice. This might be a skill practice. So you change things up every day to keep them excited about coming. They’ve been working hard off the ice to to improve their fitness and I think we’re a lot better shape now than we were at the end of the season.”
Rockets forward Tij Iginla added that the team took some time to regroup after the loss to Everett before getting back to the grind.
“We’ve had quite a bit of time and I think just after that series, we kind of took a few days to to reset and reflect a little bit and then kind of came right back to work and put in a real good hard month of preparation.”
With the Kitchener Rangers qualifying for the Memorial Cup, forward Sam O’Reilly and Defenceman Jared Woolley are set to play in their third consecutive Memorial Cup after finishing as runner ups in 2024 and champions in 2025 with the London Knights before the pair were dealt to Kitchener at the OHL trade deadline. While Kitchener has tan abundance of Memorial Cup experience, the Rockets have their fair share, said Hay.
“We don’t have a lot of guys with Memorial Cup experience. Josh Gorges one of the coaches has Memorial Cup experience. He won in 2004 here in Kelowna as the captain of the Kelowna rockets. Brian and McMillan has gone to the Memorial Cup in 2009, so he’s got Memorial Cup experience. Any time that you’ve been around the Memorial Cup, you’re going to learn and whether you’ve been to many Memorial Cups or whether you’ve been to one, I think that you’re always learning. So the Kitchener players are going to help them. And our, our group of people that have been the Memorial Cups will help us.”
Iginla added that the Rockets need to get to their game early to be sucessful.
“all three of these teams have won their championship. And [Kitchener] especially has some guys that that have won a couple. So I think just getting to our game early, playing with pace and confidence is crucial. Obviously experience is great, but I think we’re real hungry and ready to go.”
Tij Iginla was a member of the Memorial cup runner ups Seattle Thunderbirds and although he didnt play it was still a valueable experience, he said.
“I think it was a good experience. Obviously I would have liked to play, but I think still being around it and seeing how the events ran and how short and how much each game means, I think there’s valuable lessons to to take from that into this.”
Hay was a coach of the 1994 and 1995 Memorial Cup winning Kamloops Blazers where Tij’s father Jarome won his two Memorial Cups. Now having coached both father and son, Hay says Tij and Jarome have similar playing styles.
“both are really good players who were young men at that time and they really wanted to have the puck on their stick and make a difference. I can remember Jarome playing in Laval in 1994 and winning the Memorial Cup there and he was only 16 years old. And then the next year, in 95, he was a 17 year old player and he won the trophy there for most sportsmanlike player. And he was a key factor in the countless players winning the Memorial Cup. Now Tij wants wants to make a difference, He wants to build his own way. And I’m sure that he wants the opportunity to win a Memorial Cup just like his dad did.”
With the Rockets set to take on the Kitchener Rangers to open the tournament, the team is very excited, said Iginla.
“I think just a lot of excitement to get going. Obviously we haven’t played in a while, so we’re real excited and can’t wait to get going. I think we got belief in our group I think we’ve trained hard, made a lot of progress since we got eliminated, and we’re excited to showcase that.”
