The OHL's Guelph Storm at the Memorial Cup

As the Toronto Marlboros, the franchise now known as the Guelph Storm won the Memorial Cup seven times between 1929 and 1975. Since the franchise moved to Guelph for the 1991-92 Ontario Hockey League season, after a two year stop in Hamilton, the Storm have been to the Memorial Cup tournament on four occasions but have yet to be crowned champions. The Memorial Cup is competed for each year to determine which of the Canadian Hockey League’s sixty major junior hockey teams is the best in the country.

In 1996, just five years after moving to Guelph, the Storm earned a trip to the Memorial Cup. The 1996 tournament was held in Peterborough and the two OHL teams were joined the Granby Predateurs of the QMJHL and the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL. Guelph went 0-3 in the round robin and was eliminated from any further play. Granby became Memorial Cup champions with a 4-0 shutout victory over the Petes in the final game.

Two years later, in 1998, Guelph travelled to Spokane, Washington to compete against the Spokane Chiefs, Portland Winter Hawks and Val d’Or Foreurs. This time, the Storm went 2-1 in the round robin and went on to the final game against Portland before losing 4-3 in overtime. Chris Madden, goaltender for Guelph, was awarded the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as the tournament MVP, along with being honoured with the Hap Emms Memorial Trophy as the top goalie. Manny Malhotra was awarded the George Parsons Trophy as the most sportsmanlike player.

In 2002, the Guelph Storm hosted the Memorial Cup tournament. The WHL’s Kootenay Ice, the QMJHL’s Victoriaville Tigres and the OHL’s Erie Otters also competed. Guelph went 1-2 in the round robin and lost to Victoriaville in a tie-breaker game for third place. The Kootenay Ice won the Memorial Cup with a 6-3 victory over the Tigres.

Two years later, in 2004, Guelph once again went west to compete for the Memorial Cup. This time, the tournament was hosted by the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets. The Gatineau Olympiques from the QMJHL and the Medicine Hat Tigers from the WHL filled out the tournament roster. As in 1996, Guelph lost all three round robin games and was eliminated from the tournament. The host Rockets won the Memorial Cup with a 2-1 victory over Gatineau. Since the Memorial Cup was changed to the tournament format in 1972, Kelowna is one of just eight teams to win as the host team.