Wheatley’s Memorial Cup champion is bringing the storied trophy home on August 4.
Cameron Arquette, a valuable member of the Memorial Cup champion Kitchener Rangers, will have his turn with the 107-year-old cup that day and hopes to celebrate it with his community.
Arquette’s Rangers enjoyed a superb playoff run to capture the OHL championship over the Barrie Colts and then travelled to Kelowna BC, where they beat the WHL Everett Silvertips by a 6-2 score to win the Memorial Cup.
He’s happy to be back in Wheatley for the summer and looks forward to attending Kitchener’s training camp in late August.
The championship run is something that he says will stay with him throughout his whole life.
“You don’t get that chance very often to play with such a great team,” he says. “It’s a special group of players.”
As for his day with the Memorial Cup, Cameron says that he’ll receive the coveted prize around noon on Tuesday, August 4 and celebrate with friends and family and then a Legion color parade is planned for 5:30 in uptown Wheatley before settling in at the Legion Branch 324 for a public celebration from 6-8 pm. Everyone is welcome to come and see the Memorial Cup.
His pride for his hometown shows through as he talks about the celebration.
“It’ll be nice to bring the cup here and show it to all the kids who look up to me,” he says. “That’s what keeps me going everyday.”
More than just a trophy
The Memorial Cup was donated in 1919 by the OHA to honour the many hockey players who left their teams for action in the First World War, many of whom did not return.
Capt. J.T. Sutherland, who was serving overseas, was President of the Ontario Hockey Association and he brought forward the idea to present a trophy to honour all the young Canadian hockey players who died in battle and have it awarded to the best junior hockey team in Canada.
The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA)’s annual meeting was unanimous that a fitting memorial be established to members of the OHA who had fallen on the field of war.
The trophy was created to ensure that they were never forgotten.
Every Memorial Cup tournament includes the ceremonies of remembrance, military involvement and Canadian veterans. Often the Royal Canadian Legion is involved in the ceremonies and the presentation of the cup, and with this year being the 100th birthday of the Royal Canadian Legion, it holds special meaning.
It’s a reminder that the trophy does not just represent a hockey championship, it’s a memorial to those who have fought for our country and made the supreme sacrifice.
From its inception until 1971, the Memorial Cup was open to all Junior A teams in the country and was awarded following a series of league, provincial and regional playoffs culminating in an east-west championship. The three-league tournament format began in 1972, a season after the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association divided the Junior A rank into two tiers, naming the Memorial Cup as the championship of the Major Junior level.
Throughout its history, only the 2020 and 2021 Memorial Cup tournaments were not held, due to the COVID pandemic.
The official cup is typically kept at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
