The 2005 Memorial Cup is remembered as perhaps the best national junior hockey championship tournament in the history of the event.

Twenty years after that memorable tournament during an NHL lockout, we have another stellar Memorial Cup field — and even a couple of ties to ’05.

The London Knights, the champion and host of the ’05 Memorial Cup and the CHL’s most successful junior franchise this century, and the Rimouski Oceanic, who host this year’s tournament after getting to the national stage 20 years ago with Sidney Crosby, fill out half of the 2025 field. They’re joined by projected 2026 NHL Draft top pick Gavin McKenna and the Medicine Hat Tigers, and win-everywhere-he-goes coach Gardiner MacDougall and the Moncton Wildcats.

All four teams have won at least three league titles since 2000. And they feature some of the best players in junior hockey — McKenna, Knights star and Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan, top 2025 NHL Draft prospect Caleb Desnoyers of the Wildcats and 2024-25 QMJHL scoring leader Jonathan Fauchon of the Oceanic, to name a few.

Back in 2005, Crosby, Corey Perry of the Knights, Shea Weber of the Kelowna Rockets and Hall of Fame coach Brian Kilrea of the Ottawa 67’s headlined the event. Perry’s Knights blanked Crosby’s Oceanic 4-0 in the final.

Now it’s time to see what 2025 brings. The tournament starts Friday when Rimouski battles Medicine Hat. The final is June 1.

Here’s a look at all four teams:

Finished first overall in the QMJHL after ending the regular season on a 15-game win streak. Beat Quebec 4-0, Baie-Comeau 4-1, Rouyn-Noranda 4-1 and Rimouski 4-2 in the final to capture their first title since 2010. Moncton is appearing in the Memorial Cup for the third time and looking for its first title.

MacDougall was hired by Moncton last summer after leading the Fredericton-based University of New Brunswick to nine U Sports titles. In 2022, he took over the Memorial Cup host Saint John Sea Dogs as interim coach for the tournament and led that New Brunswick team to a national title. The Prince Edward Island native, whose son Taylor joined him in Moncton as GM, now looks to win another national championship for a third New Brunswick city.

“I’m born in PEI, bit obviously I’m a proud New Brunswicker as well. When you can make a difference in the three major cities, it’s pretty gratifying,” MacDougall said after the Game 6 win over Rimouski. “Full credit to the group.”

Former Canadian junior team goalie Mathis Rousseau, acquired from Halifax at the trade deadline, and Detroit Red Wings prospect Rudy Guimond have split the net for Moncton. Guimond was a perfect 24-0 for Moncton this season before losing Game 4 of the final.

Desnoyers, 17, is a possible top-five pick in this year’s NHL Draft. The six-foot-two centre won the Guy Lafleur Trophy as QMJHL playoff MVP. Other players to win that honour at age 16 or 17 are Crosby, Dale Hawerchuk, Pat LaFontaine, Jonathan Huberdeau and Jonathan Drouin.

Slovakia’s Jurak Pekarcik is the second-leading scorer for a balanced attack. He is a St. Louis Blues third-round pick.

The Wildcats have four NHL Draft picks on defence, including Calgary Flames second-rounder Etienne Morin, who was third among QMJHL blue-liners in scoring. Dyllan Gill, a Tampa Bay Lightning prospect, started the season in the AHL with Syracuse before returning to the QMJHL after Moncton acquired him in a trade with Rouyn-Noranda.

Moncton was tops in the QMJHL in goals for and goals against.

Had an automatic berth as host. Finished with the second-best record in the Q’s regular season. Beat Charlottetown 4-0, Chicoutimi 4-2 and Shawinigan 4-3 (double overtime in Game 7) before losing to Moncton in the final. The Oceanic won their first and only Memorial Cup in 2000. They’re making their fifth appearance in the event.

Joel Perrault is in his second year as head coach of the Oceanic. The Montreal native’s 13-season playing career included 96 NHL games.

The Oceanic acquired Mathis Langevin prior to the deadline from Acadie-Bathurst. He posted a .944 save percentage in the playoffs, the second-best figure in QMJHL history. Meanwhile, backup William Lacelle brings a very inspiring story to the event.

Fauchon (Providence College) and QMJHL playoff scoring leader Jacob Mathieu (Northeastern) both have made NCAA commitments for next season.

Vegas Golden Knights prospect Mathieu Cataford was QMJHL MVP in 2023-24 with Halifax before being acquired by Rimouski for the Memorial Cup push.

Oceanic forward Eriks Mateiko made a name for himself at the world juniors, scoring the shootout winner for Latvia in a huge upset over Canada. The Washington Capitals prospect also scored the double-overtime winner in Round 3 for Rimouski.

Finished first overall in OHL. Swept Owen Sound, Erie and Kitchener and beat Oshawa 4-1 in the OHL final to capture their second league crown in a row and sixth this century. London lost 4-3 to the host Saginaw Spirit in last year’s Memorial Cup final on a goal with 22 seconds left.

Dale Hunter has coached the team since 2001, with one year off in 2011-12 as bench boss of the Washington Capitals. He has won five OHL titles and two Memorial Cups (’05, ’16), and reached the 1,000-win mark this season. Mark Hunter, Dale’s brother, is the GM. He coached the team to another OHL championship in 2011-12.

After the Saskatoon Blades cut loose overager Austin Elliott, he went through WHL waivers before signing with the Knights. He has started all 17 playoff games for the Knights and has a 2.46 goals-against average and .906 save percentage after going 32-1, 2.10, .924 in the regular season. Backup Aleksei Medvedev had a 2.79 GAA and .912 save percentage in the regular season.

Cowan, the OHL’s most outstanding player last season, led the league in playoff scoring for the second year in a row.

San Jose Sharks prospect Kasper Halttunen was named playoff MVP after scoring nine goals in five OHL final games.

They are two of a whopping 13 players drafted by NHL teams on the roster.

The first-rounders are Cowan, centre Sam O’Reilly (Edmonton Oilers) and defencemen Sam Dickinson (San Jose) and Oliver Bonk (Philadelphia Flyers).

London scored the most goals and gave up the fewest in the OHL this season.

Finished first in the Eastern Conference and second overall after ending the season on a 10-game win streak. Beat Swift Current 4-1, Prince Albert 4-0, Lethbridge 4-0 and Spokane 4-1 in the final to win their first league title since 2007. The Tigers are making their sixth Memorial Cup appearance and are aiming for their first title since going back-to-back in 1987 and ’88.

Willie Desjardins is in his sixth year of his second stint with the club. He guided the Tigers to WHL crowns in 2004 and 2007 during his first go-around. Between Tiger runs, he coached the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks and Los Angeles Kings and won a Calder Cup with the AHL’s Texas Stars in 2014. He also coached Canada’s men’s Olympic team in 2018.

Harrison Meneghin has been one of the best stories of the CHL season. Meneghin’s father, Derek, died unexpectedly on the final day of the regular season. He returned to the team days later and recorded a shutout in the first playoff game. Meneghin went on to be named playoff MVP. Captain Oasiz Wiesblatt called Meneghin over to centre ice so the native of Surrey, B.C. could be the first one to lift the championship trophy. This week, the Tampa Bay Lightning signed the seventh-round pick to an entry-level deal. Jordan Switzer (23-6-2, 2.65 GAA) is Medicine Hat’s backup.

All eyes will be on WHL player of the year McKenna, who missed Games 3 and 4 of the WHL final because of injury before returning to score a goal in Game 5. The Whitehorse native averaged a CHL-best 2.38 points per game in the playoffs. There have been rumblings McKenna could move to the NCAA next season, so this is potentially his junior finale.

Wiesblatt also was an 100-point man for the Tigers and combines with McKenna to form a huge 1-2 duo for the WHL’s top-scoring team.

Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Cayden Lindstrom and Flames prospect Andrew Basha returned from long-term injuries in the WHL final, making a strong team that much better.

On defence, 2025 NHL Draft prospect Bryce Pickford enters the Memorial Cup on an eight-game goal-scoring streak. He finished the playoffs with 13 goals, most by a defencemen in a league post-season since 2000.

The Tigers also acquired Nashville Predators first-round pick Tanner Molendyk from Saskatoon prior to the deadline to bolster the blue line.