Memorial Cup

The Memorial Cup (Coupe Memorial in French) is a junior ice hockey club championship trophy awarded annually to the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) champion. It is awarded following a four-team, round-robin tournament between a host team and the champions of the CHL's three member leagues: the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) and Western Hockey League (WHL). Sixty teams are eligible to compete for the Memorial Cup, representing nine provinces and four American states. The Memorial Cup, often referred to by fans as "The Memmer", is known as one of the toughest sporting trophies to win, due to 60 teams participating and the age limit only being 16-21.

The Memorial Cup was proposed by Captain James T. Sutherland during World War I, who wanted to create a trophy as a memorial to remember the Ontario Hockey Association's (OHA) players who died during the war, in which he himself was fighting at the time of the proposal. When the trophy was created, it was dedicated in honour of the soldiers who died fighting for Canada in the war. In 1919, the OHA donated it as the trophy for the winner of the junior champion of Canada. It was rededicated during the 2010 tournament to honour all soldiers who died fighting for Canada in any conflict.