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Telus Cup

Current season, competition or edition: 2024 Telus Cup
Formerly	Air Canada Cup (1979–2003)
Sport	Ice hockey
First season	1979
Country	Canada
Most recent champion(s)	Cantonniers de Magog (2024)
Most titles	Notre Dame Hounds (5)
TV partner(s)	TSN (English) RDS (French)
Sponsor(s)	Hockey Canada Telus
Official website	Telus Cup website

The Telus Cup is Canada's national under-18 ice hockey club championship. It is an annual event, held by Hockey Canada each April. From 1979 to 2003, the national championship was sponsored by Air Canada.

The current champions are the Cantonniers de Magog who won the 2024 Telus Cup.

History

Wrigley Cup (1973–1978)

The forerunner to the Canadian national under-18 championship was the Wrigley National Midget Hockey Tournament, which ran from 1974 though 1978. Canadian Amateur Hockey Association president Jack Devine announced the sanction of the new national midget hockey tournament for the top 12 teams in the country, with the Wrigley Company being the initial sponsor. Gord Renwick organized the first event in 1974, and served as the tournament chairman. The 1974 Wrigley Cup was scheduled at the Oshawa Civic Auditorium, with the winning team would earn a trip to the Soviet Union, and future events would be rotated around Canada.

In 1973, prior to Wrigley, the Prince Edward Island provincial government co-sponsored it as part of their "Come Home Year" celebrations. The Wrigley was an invitational event, with each of Canadian Hockey's branches declaring their respective champions through playdowns held during the Christmas and New Year's holidays. The champions were invited to take part in the Wrigley each January, a host team comprised the final competitor.

Each year, the winning team represented Canada in the Soviet Union for a series of games against elite teams, including the Soviet Midget Red Army in Moscow, Leningrad, and Riga. The Verdun Midget Maple Leafs won the first Wrigley championship in 1974, defeating Kingston Gurnsey Realtors of Ontario 5–3. The final game was televised live coast-to-coast by the CTV Television Network. Media in USSR reported that the last game between the Leafs and the Red Army team in Moscow was viewed by more than 100 million people on Soviet television, although there were only two television channels in Russia at that time. Verdun lost to the National Russian Team, 6–5.

Air Canada Cup (1979–2003)

Canada's official national midget championship, the Air Canada Cup, was established in 1979. The inaugural tournament was held in Winnipeg, Manitoba and used a format similar to the Wrigley. Each of Canada's twelve branches determined their champions through their own playoff system. The branch champions advanced to the national tournament to play for the Air Canada Cup.

In 1984, the Air Canada Cup was revised to the current six-team format. Five regional champions, decided by inter-branch competition (except for Québec), and a predetermined host team play a round-robin with the top four teams qualifying for the playoff round. A total of 19 games are played over six days of competition.

Telus Cup (2004–present)

After Air Canada's sponsorship ended in 2003, Telus Communications Inc, a subsidiary of Telus Corporation signed on as the new title sponsor and the national championship was rechristened as the Telus Cup in October 2004.

Teams from Saskatchewan and Quebec have been dominant at this event and have captured the most medals. The most successful teams include the Notre Dame Hounds, Regina Pat Canadians, Prince Albert Mintos, Lac St-Louis Lions, Richelieu Riverains (now Collège Charles-Lemoyne), and Red Deer Rebels/Chiefs.

Each year's gold medal game is televised nationally on TSN (English) and RDS (French).

Winners and hosts

Notes

1. ^ Hockey Canada cancelled the 2020 and 2021 Telus Cups in response to the COVID-19 pandemic
2. ^ Saint-Hyacinthe, QC was to be the host of the cancelled 2020 Telus Cup and hosted it in 2023.
3. Membertou, NS, was originally selected to host the 2021 Telus Cup, but was moved to 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022 Hockey Canada moved the location of the tournament to Okotoks, AB, however the Sydney Rush of Nova Scotia remained the host team.

References

1. ^ MacLaine, Ian (November 8, 1973). "National Final For 12 Midget Teams". Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg, Manitoba. p. 67.
2. "Council honours Gord Renwick". CambridgeTimes. May 23, 2012. Retrieved December 7, 2018.
3. "Gord Renwick". Cambridge Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
4. "Canada's National Midget Championship Officially Named the Telus Cup". Hockey Canada. October 14, 2004. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
5. "Hockey Canada statement in response to coronavirus (COVID-19)". Hockey Canada. March 12, 2020.
6. "Hockey Canada statement on spring 2021 national championships". Hockey Canada. February 5, 2021.
7. "Canada's Sudden Cancellation Of Three Major 2021 Hockey Tournaments". Hockey Canada. March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
8. ^ "Sydney Mitsubishi Rush's Telus Cup hosting rights moved to 2022 instead of 2021". Cape Breton Post. May 27, 2020.
9. "Cape Breton no longer hosting 2022 Telus Cup; organizers hope to host tournament in the future". CTV Atlantic. March 23, 2022.
10. "Okotoks set to host first ever national U18 club championships". Hockey Canada. May 12, 2022.
11. "Road to the 2022 TELUS Cup: Sydney Rush". Hockey Canada. May 3, 2022.
12. "Schedule | 2023 Men's U18 National Club Championship". www.hockeycanada.ca.

External links

• Telus Cup website

• Telus Cup
• Ice hockey tournaments in Canada
• Canadian ice hockey trophies and awards
• Hockey Canada