Guelph gets ready for its Memorial Cup close-up
Posted May 27, 2026 03:46:41 PM.
Last Updated May 27, 2026 03:46:45 PM.
The Guelph Storm are on the clock.
With the 2026 Memorial Cup tournament underway in Kelowna, the unofficial hand-off has happened. As the hosts for 2027, it’s now Guelph’s turn to shine in the junior hockey spotlight.
A contingent of Guelph Storm staff has been here all week in the Okanagan, watching how this tournament is being managed and taking notes for their turn next May. At the same time, the Storm launched a social media campaign to draw attention to their event, promising more than 50 free events over 11 days, with a strong connection to Guelph’s 200th birthday as a city.
“You come (to Kelowna) a year away (from your tournament) and you think, ‘oh, we’ve got a handle on this.’ And then you stop and look and you realize it’s a bigger lift than you thought,” admits Matt Newby, vice-president of business operations for the Storm. “Things like security and bringing in outside security. The media is a big push. We’re expanding that space for the tournament. You quickly learn how big the event is.”
Newby, who’s been with the Storm for 27 years, was also involved in the execution of the tournament when Guelph hosted in 2002. Back then, the host city was only given about five months to prepare. Now, with more time, Newby and the Storm are thinking about a bigger community impact.
“We’ll be doing one thousand road hockey sticks and having one thousand kids stickhandling from our city hall to the Fanfest,” Newby reveals. “The idea with that is to put a stick in the hands of people who have never played. I don’t want to give this to a thousand little kids who play hockey, I want to give it to a thousand kids who have never played.”
The Storm have appeared in six Memorial Cups, including the event they hosted in 2002, but have never won the trophy. With four appearances since 2000 – including most recently in 2014 and 2019 – Guelph has been to the third most championships of any CHL team. Newby admits that finally winning the big prize would be the perfect end to the 2027 tournament but adds the community impact is equally important.
“We’re going to make sure this is the best Memorial Cup ever,” Newby enthuses. “Everybody says that, but I think everything we’re doing to connect our community, we hope that if it’s not the best Memorial Cup in every aspect, we hope that it stands out that we had a community that may not have known what a Memorial Cup was going in, but everyone knew what a Memorial Cup was when it was done.”
While the 2026 Memorial Cup continues in Kelowna, work is well underway for the next tournament in Guelph, beginning May 20, 2027.
