Memorial Cup Top Performer: May 26, 2025
Rimouski, Que.- Ryder Ritchie says his recent scoring success is a matter of being in the right place with the right teammates.
Medicine Hat Tigers Head Coach Willie Desjardins believes it’s more about the right time.
“His best hockey has been in the playoffs, for sure,” Desjardins said. “It’s not just one or two games in the playoffs. He’s played well the whole playoffs. I think the biggest thing is he can score. He knows where the net is, but he’s more than that too. He’s made some really good plays, like playmaking as well. For sure, it’s his best hockey and we’re certainly happy to see it at this time of year.”
The Minnesota Wild prospect scored twice, including the game-winning strike, and added an assist in a 3-1 win over the QMJHL Champion Moncton Wildcats on Monday night to help his Tigers improve to 2-0-0 at the 2025 Memorial Cup.
The victory guarantees that Medicine Hat will advance to the semifinals- with a chance to move straight to the title match with a win on Tuesday.
Ritchie, 18, kicked off the scoring for a second-straight game after a Gavin McKenna turned a breakaway attempt into a slick passing play, with Captain Oasiz Wiesblatt sliding the puck to Ritchie to rip the puck into a yawning net for the lone goal of the first period.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound winger went back to work in the second period with a powerful one-timer from just above the right faceoff dot, courtesy an assist from Calgary Flames prospect Andrew Basha.
As Moncton pushed back late in the game in search of an equalizer, Ritchie gave Tigers fans a sigh of relief as he batted down a wild puck and set up McKenna for an empty-net insurance marker.
“I think my linemates are making it easy for me,” Ritchie grinned. “They’re finding me, and I’ve just kind of tried to put my put myself in good spots for them.”
The Kelowna, B.C. product leads all skaters at the tournament with three goals in two games and is in a three-way tie for the most points with four.
Ritchie buried nine goals and nine assists for 18 points in 18 games during the 2025 WHL Playoffs presented by Nutrien to bring Medicine Hat its first WHL Championship since 2007.
In the regular season, he potted 29 goals and 32 assists for 61 points in 53 games, finishing third on the Tigers in points despite missing a sizeable chunk of the season recovering from surgery after catching a skate blade up high in early October.
“Anytime you get get injured, it’s a process coming back,” Ritchie explained. “It takes time- and then you’ve got to rebuild your confidence on the ice. So, I just think I kind of try to work as hard as I can and regain the confidence from from getting hurt.”
As for where his confidence is now?
“I’d say it’s pretty good,” he added. “I mean, it’s easy playing with playing with my linemates. I think we have such great chemistry that it makes it makes it easy on all three of us.”
Ritchie and the Tigers get back to work on Tuesday, May 27 as they close out round-robin play against the OHL Champion London Knights.
Puck drop is set for 5:00 p.m. MST on TSN for viewers in Canada, while those outside the country can tune in on Victory+.