The man who never misses the Memorial Cup

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“This is 45,” he says with a smile. “I missed one when my son was born in 1985, and then we missed the two for COVID. So 45.”

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Forty-five Memorial Cups.

It’s a number that is difficult to comprehend.

When Doerksen attended his first tournament, Wayne Gretzky had not yet played an NHL game. The WHL looked dramatically different. Teams have moved, leagues have expanded, and generations of players have come and gone.

Yet one constant remains.

The Memorial Cup still matters.

“We always look forward to the Memorial Cup,” Doerksen says. “It’s the culmination of great years in all three leagues.”

Over the years, he has become something of the tournament’s unofficial historian. Mention a year and chances are he can tell you who hosted, what happened, and what made it memorable.

Ask him if every Memorial Cup feels different.

“They’re all exciting going in,” he says. “Sometimes they can get a little bit long if your team doesn’t perform well and gets eliminated early. But every one has its own story.”

His memory remains remarkably sharp.

When the conversation turns to Kelowna’s previous Memorial Cup in 2004, he instantly recalls the details.

“I’ll always remember the night we had the thunderstorms and we had two stoppages during the game,” he says. “We weren’t sure if we were going to get the game completed.”

The game was finished. The tournament was a success. The host Kelowna Rockets won the Memorial Cup.

More than two decades later, Doerksen returned to the Okanagan for another championship event.

And while the Rockets did not enjoy the same on-ice success this time around, he believes Kelowna delivered another outstanding tournament.

“Kelowna has been just a tremendous host,” he says. “Ontario and Quebec are nothing short of ecstatic over the city, the rink, the hotels, everything to do with hosting the Memorial Cup.”

One visiting official from Quebec was even more direct.

“He said if we could play the next 10 Memorial Cups in Kelowna, we’d be in favor of that.”

For Doerksen, comments like that matter.

Few people understand the complexity of staging a Memorial Cup better than he does.

The event isn’t simply about four teams arriving and playing hockey. Years of planning are required. Hotels must be booked. Facilities reserved. Sponsors secured. Volunteers recruited.

That is why Doerksen remains a strong supporter of the host-team format, even after Kelowna finished 0-3 in the round robin.

“I think it’s essential that the host team be involved,” he says.

The debate resurfaces every time a host team struggles.

Critics argue a team should earn its way into the tournament. Doerksen understands the argument but believes the benefits of having a hometown team far outweigh the negatives.

“When the host team wasn’t involved, it didn’t really mean anything to the local community,” he explains. “Once we put the host team in it, there was enthusiasm in the community. Everybody was on board because their team had a chance.”

The challenge, he says, is ensuring the host club is competitive.

He believes Kelowna was.

In fact, Doerksen thought the Rockets showed during the WHL playoffs that they were capable of much more than what they displayed at the Memorial Cup.

“I thought Kelowna gave Everett the toughest run in their playoff series,” he says. “We thought they would play to that same degree. Unfortunately, sometimes things just don’t click.”

Even after the Rockets were eliminated, the city remained fully engaged. Fans continued to fill the building, proving once again that the Memorial Cup can become a community event rather than simply a hockey tournament.

For a man who has witnessed nearly half a century of junior hockey history, there is another topic that remains a source of frustration.

The WHL has not won the Memorial Cup since the 2014 Edmonton Oil Kings.

For a league that once expected to win regularly, the drought has become impossible to ignore.

“When we didn’t win it years ago, we’d have discussions about what went wrong,” Doerksen says. “Now we can’t win it for anything, and it’s very, very disappointing.”

He points to the league’s demanding travel schedule as one possible reason.

No major junior league covers more territory than the WHL. Players routinely endure long bus rides and extensive travel throughout both the regular season and playoffs.

“Our playoffs are difficult,” he says. “The amount of miles we travel really takes a toll on the players.”

Yet despite the championship drought, Doerksen remains optimistic about the future.

The WHL continues to produce NHL talent. New NCAA eligibility rules have made the league increasingly attractive to players who previously may have chosen different paths.

“There are a lot of bright spots,” he says. “We’re very excited about our league.”

After 48 years, it would be understandable if the excitement faded.

It hasn’t.

Perhaps that’s because every Memorial Cup still offers something new.

A new city.

A new champion.

For Richard Doerksen, he just can’t stay away.