KELOWNA, BC – The final two games of the round-robin stage of the 2026 Memorial Cup get started tonight, with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens taking on the Kitchener Rangers. There are some significant stakes on the line regarding the standings and who will advance to Sunday’s Memorial Cup final.

Here are all of the different types of scenarios, depending on what happens with these final two games:

Scenario 1: Kitchener beats Chicoutimi, and Everett beats Kelowna: Kitchener to the final, Everett gets home-ice vs. Chicoutimi in the semifinal, and Kelowna is eliminated.

Scenario 2: Kitchener beats Chicoutimi, and Kelowna beats Everett: Kitchener to the final. If Kelowna wins by two or more, the Rockets advance to the semifinal, Everett vs. Chicoutimi tiebreaker.

Scenario 3: Chicoutimi beats Kitchener, Everett beats Kelowna: Kitchener advances to the final, unless Chicoutimi beats the Rangers by three goals, then Chicoutimi advances to the final. The non-final team plays Everett in the semifinals, and Kelowna is eliminated.

Scenario 4: Chicoutimi beats Kitchener, Kelowna beats Everett: Chicoutimi advances to the final, Kitchener to the semifinal, and Kelowna vs. Everett in the tiebreaker.

The Saguenéens started the tournament off with a 5-3 loss to the Everett Silvertips on Saturday. Saguenéens goaltender Lucas Beckman looked a little leaky in this game, allowing two goals that would have left his team tied had he made those stops. He, along with the rest of his teammates, bounced back in a big way with a 3-2 overtime victory on Sunday over the Kelowna Rockets. Chicoutimi dominated the extra frame before Liam Lefebvre fired a one-timer past Josh Banini for the winner.

The Rangers are perfect so far through the Memorial Cup. They walked away with a 5-0 victory in the tournament opener against the host Kelowna Rockets. The game was close for the first 50 minutes, but three goals in less than three minutes blew the game out of the water. In what was a much more difficult game on Monday night against the Silvertips, the Rangers busted out another trio of quick goals in the second period to beat the Silvertips 6-2 and control their own destiny heading into tonight.

Chicoutimi has its hands full tonight against an undefeated Kitchener squad. The Saguenéens’ biggest flaw so far this tournament has been its slow starts. In both games, they struggled to start on time but managed to pick things up as the game went on. It’ll be tough for them to have the same success against the Rangers, who thrive on getting out to an early lead, sitting on it until their opponent makes a mistake, and capitalizing on the counterattack.

We touched on him already, but the Saguenéens would not be in this situation, with a chance to still book their ticket to the Memorial Cup final without the pair of goals from Liam Lefebvre. He leads the Saguenéens with two goals and three points in the tournament thus far. Alex Huang had a beautiful goal to give the Saguenéens the lead over the Silvertips in their first game, finishing the game with a game-high six shots on goal. But the Nashville Predators draft pick did not have much of an impact against the Rockets. Goaltender Lucas Beckman bounced back against the Rockets. He will need to carry that over if the Saguenéens have any chance of victory tonight.

Vancouver Canucks prospect Gabe Chiarot made his mark on the Memorial Cup against the Silvertips, picking up a goal and an assist. This came with a demotion down to the third line, where he could thrive against weaker competition. If he remains in that role, he could be another impact player in this match. Jack Pridham leads the tournament in goals with three. We’ll see if he can add to that total. But the Rangers’ MVP of the tournament has been goaltender Christian Kirsch. The San Jose Sharks prospect had a shutout against the Rockets and stopped 40 of the 42 shots he faced against the Silvertips. Are the Saguenéens the team that can get him off his game?