The decision is in, and the Guelph Storm have been selected by the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) to host the 2027 Memorial Cup. It will be the seventh time the Storm have competed in the event and the second time they have hosted it since the Sleeman Centre opened in September 2000.
In August, the Guelph Storm officially submitted their bid to host the tournament, along with three other teams, the Kitchener Rangers, Kingston Frontenacs, and Niagara Ice Dogs. After the initial process, the Storm and Rangers were selected as the finalists.
While both cities had compelling cases, many may be shocked by the committee’s decision. However, the strength of an up-and-coming Storm team, along with the Royal City’s history on the year of its 200th birthday, had to be significant factors in this decision.
Kitchener Would Have Been The Better Venue
The Kitchener Memorial Auditorium has approximately 2000 more seats, and it has plenty of on-site parking, compared to the nightmare that is parking in downtown Guelph on the best of nights.
Related: Kitchener Rangers & Guelph Storm’s Cases to Host 2027 Memorial Cup
Before this season, the Sleeman Centre would have had at least a restaurant in the building over the Memorial Auditorium. However, even that will change with the City of Kitchener starting construction on a restaurant in the Aud. But the strength of the Storm’s pitch was not their building. Otherwise, the decision would have been made months ago.
The CHL Believes in The Storm
Last season, the Storm finished among the worst teams in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with a 21-38-5-4 record. They have already announced that they intend to have a contending team in 2026-27, with General Manager George Burnett saying, “The Storm organization has focused on the 2026-2027 season for the past twelve months. With a core of young players expected to make significant progress this season and an abundance of draft inventory, the organization is positioned to host the Memorial Cup and compete at the highest level.”
The Storm have already shown signs of this, with an 11-8-2-0 record through 21 games and several notable recent wins over the Windsor Spitfires, London Knights, Kitchener Rangers, and Ottawa 67’s.
The young roster only has one player who will not be eligible to play in the OHL next season. Outside of that, the Storm already have four drafted NHL prospects, five players who have been ranked by NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary prospect rankings, and one potential top prospect for the 2027 NHL Entry Draft, with Jaakko Wycisk having 13 points in his first 16 OHL games after being selected second overall by the Storm in the 2025 OHL Selection Priority.
The team has an average age of 17.48 and has already proven itself to be highly competitive in the OHL. The committee has good reason to believe that the team will be a contender next season.
Guelph, A City Full of History
Guelph is considered one of the first planned towns in Canada, and was named after the British Royal Family. “King George the IV, the monarch at the time of Guelph’s founding, was from the Guelph lineage, a German family.”
Guelph is also where the wire coat hanger was invented in 1920, and the Yukon Gold potato was developed in 1980. Most notably, Colonel John McCrae, who wrote “In Flanders Fields,” was born and raised in Guelph before writing these timeless words.
The city is rich in hockey history. Guelph has had a junior hockey team dating back to 1908 under various names and in different venues throughout the city. It is fitting that a city with so much history, and one of the longest-standing supporters of junior hockey, will host the Memorial Cup tournament in its bicentennial year.
