Tournament will run from May 26 to June 4 in Kamloops, BC
ByEvan Milner @CanadiensMTL / canadiens.com
MONTREAL - Canadiens prospects Owen Beck and Jared Davidson will vie for the grandest prize in junior hockey when the Memorial Cup gets underway on Friday, May 26 in Kamloops, BC.
The national championship, contested annually at a pre-determined site, consists of four teams - the champions from each league and a host city - that compete in a round-robin format tournament.
Here are the clubs featuring in this year's event:
Beck will represent the Petes, while Davidson will suit up for the Thunderbirds.
The pair will open their respective tournaments against one another on Saturday, May 27 at 6:00 p.m. ET at Sandman Centre.
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) May 22, 2023
Owen Beck (Peterborough Petes)
Beck's whirlwind of a season makes you wonder if a Memorial Cup appearance was in the cards all along for the 19-year-old. Following a gold medal with Team Canada at the World Juniors and an OHL Championship with the Petes, Beck will go for the Canadian junior hockey triple crown when he laces them up in Western Canada.
After bolstering their offense with the acquisitions of Beck, Brennan Othmann and Avery Hayes mid-season, the Petes knocked off the London Knights in the OHL Championship Series to capture their 10th J. Ross Robertson Cup.
The Canadiens' 2022 second-round pick, who made his NHL debut in January, posted 66 points (24 goals, 42 assists) in 60 games in a campaign split between the Mississauga Steelheads and his hometown Petes, before adding 16 points (8 goals, 8 assists) in 22 playoff outings en route to the OHL title.
His 58.6% success rate in the faceoff circle during the regular season ranked second in the league among qualified players (60 or more faceoffs attempted).
Jared Davidson (Seattle Thunderbirds)
Five years after making his debut with the Thunderbirds, Davidson prevailed to earn his first WHL Championship in the junior ranks. The 20-year-old will now spearhead the Thunderbirds into the Memorial Cup, alongside Team Canada WJC gold medallists Thomas Milic, Dylan Guenther, Nolan Allan, Reid Schafer and Colton Dach - brother of Habs forward, Kirby.
Seattle finished atop the Western Conference in the regular season and carried over their dominance into the playoffs, where they dropped only three games on their way to the Ed Chynoweth Cup. In the finals, the T-Birds, one of only eight American-based teams in the CHL, defeated the Winnipeg Ice in five games to win their second WHL Championship in franchise history.
Davidson, a fifth-round pick by the Canadiens in 2022, served as Seattle's offensive spark plug throughout the regular season where he led the team in points (82) and goals (38). In the postseason, the Edmonton, AB native collected an additional 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists) in 19 games.
All tournament games will be broadcast on TSN and RDS.
