Guelph Storm hosting the 2027 Memorial Cup

The Canadian Hockey League announced that Guelph will play host for the 2027 Memorial Cup, beating out Kitchener, which just invested millions into its arena.

The 107th edition of the championship will have the backdrop of the Royal City in the spring, when the municipality will be celebrating its 200th anniversary. Exact dates for the tournament will be released at a later time.

The Guelph Storm was selected over the Kitchener Rangers, which last hosted the tournament in 2008. Guelph last hosted in 2002 and has yet to win the cup.

Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie told 570 NewsRadio he’s on cloud nine following the announcement. He said it’s a great feeling for the city to get this recognition.

“To know there was an independent committee that looked at all of the applicants, it’s nice to have a fresh set of eyes to know that Guelph is able to host such an event, and I know the community is already buzzing about it.”

Guthrie added that while much of the praise should be directed to the team that put together the successful bid, it was the Storm faithful who made the difference.

“The whole bid can always come from the business sector, or it could come from politicians. But, at the end of the day, I think the part of the bid that really put it over the top came from the community itself really rallying around this opportunity.”

Downtown Guelph is currently undergoing a major revitalization with quite a bit of work happening in the vicinity of the Sleeman Centre.

Guthrie was asked if the work would be completed by the spring of 2027.

“No, It probably won’t. However, we were always going to be structuring the downtown construction in a way that still maintained access to everything our downtown has to offer,” he said. “Now that the Memorial Cup has been chosen to come here around the similar time, we’ll be able to work with the organizing committee, the construction that’s going to be happening, to make sure none of that will be interfering with the welcoming atmosphere we’ll have here.”

While the Royal City was celebrating, Kitchener Rangers fans were naturally feeling let down. The team took to social media following the announcement.

Guthrie said he empathizes with Rangers fans, but they should know they’ll be welcomed with open arms.

“It’s always nice to have a really good neighbour just over the fence, and that would be the Kitchener area.”

An official announcement will come on Friday with a press conference at the Sleeman Centre at 2:00 p.m.

The stage for the 2026 Memorial Cup is already set, and the Kelowna Rockets will play host for the first time since 2004.

With files from CityNews Kitchener’s Josh Piercey and Natasha O’Neill.