The Canadian Hockey League says the 2023 Memorial Cup in Kamloops raised over $180,000 for several causes.

The majority of that – $133,390 – was raised through the in-arena 50/50 program – with $15,000 being allocated to KidSport Canada, $68,390 to the Canadian Mental Health Association BC Division, and $50,000 to the Memorial Cup Legacy Scholarship Program.

Money was also raised at a Memorial Cup fan breakfast and through a pair of jersey auctions held over the course of the tournament’s 11-day run.

The first of those auctions were for game-worn jerseys from players who represented Team Canada at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships. It raised over $38,500 with the proceeds going to the CMHA’s Talk Today program, which provides support to CHL players and staff while also raising awareness about mental health and suicide prevention.

“We’re grateful for the Canadian Hockey League’s generous donation and commitment to supporting mental health,” CMHA BC CEO, Jonny Morris, said. “Through our Talk Today partnership with the CHL and its member leagues, we’re working to end the stigma around mental health both on and off the ice across Canada.”

The auction of the game-worn commemorative jerseys worn by the Kamloops Blazers during the tournament’s opening game and the fan breakfast event raised over $11,000 for the Kamloops Legion and the Royal Canadian Legion’s Poppy Trust Fund, the latter of which funds programs that support veterans and their families in need across Canada.

“As we saw again in Kamloops, the Memorial Cup is truly a catalyst for positive change within a host community and serves as an important platform to support a number of worthy causes,” CHL President, Dan MacKenzie, said.

“In addition to our continued efforts to aid Canadian veteran programs and promote positive mental health through the CMHA, the CHL is proud to be carrying on its Memorial Cup Legacy Scholarship Program in Kamloops, which no doubt will be one of many legacies produced from the 2023 Memorial Cup.”

The legacy scholarship, which began at the 2022 tournament in Saint John, N.B., will give two Kamloops students a $5,000 scholarship for the next five years.

“That is going to live on and next year there will be a couple of students who are going to get $5,000 bursaries for the following year, and we’ll be doing that for multiple years so that it just isn’t sort of a one-and-done tournament,” MacKenzie told Radio NL earlier this month.

“We did it in Saint John and we’ll be doing it in Kamloops too.”

Interested applicants from both Saint John and Kamloops can apply online in September when the application process begins.