Jared Woolley Advances to Memorial Cup Final, Vojtech Cihar’s Season Ends

LA Kings prospect Jared Woolley is one game away from his second consecutive Memorial Cup championship, as he and the Kitchener Rangers skated to a perfect 3-0 record in the round-robin section of the 2026 tournament, earning a bye directly to the final game. For Vojtech Cihar, however, his season came to a close as he and the host team, the Kelowna Rockets, were eliminated in the group stage of the tournament.

For Woolley, he began his tournament in a big way, as he found the back of the net in his team’s first win, coming against Kelowna. With the Rangers leading 1-0, Woolley activated from the left point and crashed the net, burying a pass from close range to put Kitchener up 2-0. It was Woolley’s second goal of the postseason as Kitchener skated to a 5-0 win in total over the host team. Highlights from Game 1 are below, with Woolley’s goal coming in around the 2:39 mark.

In total, Woolley scored the one goal and was +2 across two games in the round-robin stage. The bruising defenseman also got into a pair of fights, coming against Kelowna and Chicoutimi, as he leads all players with 12 penalty minutes in total. Woolley and his teammates now advance to the championship game on Sunday, May 31, after finishing first in the round-robin stage. They will take on the winner of the semifinal matchup between Everett and Chicoutimi, with that game set for Friday, May 29.

For Cihar, his whirlwind season came to an end with three defeats in the round-robin stage of the tournament. Kelowna scored only two goals across three games played, with Cihar held off the scoresheet. Cihar finished second on his team with nine shots on goal across the three games played but was unable to get one to go, despite a few good looks in the tournament. Overall, while the ending was disappointing, it was an extremely eventful season for Cihar. He won a silver medal at the World Junior Championships in January with his native Czechia and earned tournament MVP honors in the process. He moved to the WHL and scored at a point-per-game pace in the second half of the 2025-26 regular season, improving to over a point-per-game pace in the WHL Playoffs. Cihar’s draft plus-one season was ultimately a very successful and accomplished one and it also included an entry-level contract with Los Angeles. He’s got options going forward. He could play another season in the WHL or he could play professionally in the AHL with the Ontario Reign next season. I think the AHL is a legitimate option for Cihar next season, though it is also a pretty big step for a 19-year-old player. Remains to be seen. We should expect to see him at his first NHL training camp in the fall, get a sense for where he’s at and where it makes sense for him to play next season. Feels like there are a couple of options in play, we will see where he winds up.

Memorial Cup Schedule
Everett vs. Chicoutimi – Friday, May 29 @ 6:00 PM Pacific
Kitchener vs. SF Winner – Sunday, May 31 @ 4:00 PM Pacific

Both the semifinal and championship game will be broadcast live in the United States on NHL Network. Sunday is likely to be the final game of Woolley’s CHL career, with an entry-level contract already signed with the Kings and Woolley now 20-years-old. Expect him to come to training camp in the fall and likely begin his professional career with the Reign. One more game between now and then, though! Woolley will try to become one of the most accomplished players in CHL history with Sunday’s final match. One Memorial Cup and three OHL Championships already in the bank, with the potential to add one final title before he begins his professional career.