2025 Memorial Cup Head-to-Head: Flames prospects Basha and Morin poised for fiery matchup<\/p>\n
Rimouski, Que.\u00a0\u2013 The Calgary Flames know how to pick \u2019em.<\/p>\n
And, if you don\u2019t believe us, tune into the 2025 Memorial Cup on Monday, May 26 for the proof.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s then where viewers can catch highly-touted Flames prospects Andrew Basha and Etienne Morin ignite the Sun Life Financial Coliseum, when the Medicine Hat Tigers and Moncton Wildcats collide for a round robin tilt at the Memorial Cup.<\/p>\n
Set to be an inferno of the highest intensity, the meeting will see the WHL Champions and QMJHL Champions battle for a berth in the tournament\u2019s elimination stage \u2013 and, at the centre of it all, is Basha and Morin.<\/p>\n
Pivotal pieces in both Club\u2019s respective championships, the pair Flames prospects act as the coals for their roster. Without them, their team\u2019s drive for the Memorial Cup is at risk to flicker out.<\/p>\n
For Medicine Hat, Basha\u2019s presence in the locker room and on the ice has proved to be invaluable \u2013 and nearly instantaneous.<\/p>\n
Sidelined due to an injury for a large part of the 2024-25 WHL Regular Season and the WHL Playoffs (inactive since December 28), Basha returned to the Tabbies line-up for Game 1 of the 2025 WHL Championship Series.<\/p>\n
A clear catalyst for the Southern Alberta club, Basha\u2019s injection back into the roster ignited an extra level of determination across the Tigers ranks.<\/p>\n
This new-found fuel for the League\u2019s title was further stoked when the Calgary, Alta. product logged the first goal of the WHL Championship, just 54 seconds into Game 1.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a moxie that has continued to build since landing in Rimouski.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like I got better every game, every shift,\u201d Basha said ahead of Medicine Hat\u2019s opening game against the Rimouski Oceanic.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaking an impact was just important \u2013 in the [locker] room wise.\u201d<\/p>\n
But, Basha\u2019s tour through Quebec will come with challenges.<\/p>\n
After picking up a tournament-opening win against Rimouski on Friday night, Calgary\u2019s second-round selection from the 2024 NHL Draft is scheduled to see a somewhat familiar face come Monday evening.<\/p>\n
Suiting up with the QMJHL Champions, Moncton, is Calgary\u2019s second-round selection from the 2023 NHL Draft, Etienne Morin.<\/p>\n
For Basha, it\u2019s a challenge he eagerly awaits.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreat shot, good brain. A lot of the qualities you want in a high-end defenceman,\u201d Basha praised.<\/p>\n
In a similar fashion as Basha, Morin also acts as an integral cog in Moncton\u2019s roster.<\/p>\n
As a top defenceman for the Wildcats, Morin has spent the season as an offensive quarterback \u2013 and has done so perfectly.<\/p>\n
Returning for his fourth-season with the Wildcats, the product of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Que., posted 58 points (14G-44A) in 62 regular season appearances.<\/p>\n
The blueliner\u2019s offensive flair only continued to heighten as he entered the post-season with Moncton.<\/p>\n
In 19 playoffs games, Morin notched 20 points (2G-18A) to lead all QMJHL in points and assists during the post-season.<\/p>\n
It was the same story during Moncton\u2019s Memorial Cup-opening game on Saturday, as he found the back of the net in the first period with a stunning shot from the point.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also one of four defencemen in the 2025 Memorial Cup to have recorded goals through the opening weekend of the tournament.<\/p>\n
Now, after a brief moment to exchange pleasantries prior to puck drop, Basha and Morin will continue their trek to hoist the 2025 Memorial Cup.<\/p>\n
Opening face-off is slated for 5:00 p.m. MST on Monday, May 26, with TSN broadcasting the match to fans in Canada, while viewers in the United States and around the world can stream the game on the NHL Network and Victory+.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"2025 Memorial Cup Head-to-Head: Flames prospects Basha and Morin poised for fiery matchup Rimouski, Que.\u00a0\u2013 The Calgary Flames…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48778,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[8984,6632,895,26,5294,896,5,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-48777","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-calgary-flames","8":"tag-2025-memorial-cup","9":"tag-andrew-basha","10":"tag-calgary","11":"tag-calgary-flames","12":"tag-calgaryflames","13":"tag-flames","14":"tag-hockey","15":"tag-nhl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/114576741167915528","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}