Two Former Peterborough Petes Square Off at the Memorial Cup In the Battle of Undefeated

In last year’s Memorial Cup, Owen Beck and Michael Simpson were teammates with the Peterborough Petes.

This year, they are opponents in the battle of undefeated with the Saginaw Spirit and London Knights, respectively, as the two teams face off at the DOW Event Center in Saginaw on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.

Photo courtesy of Ken Andersen and the Peterborough Petes.

The Spirit and Knights (both from the Ontario Hockey League) share 2-0 records with the winner advancing to the championship game. The loser will play in the semi-final matchup.

Beck was traded to the Spirit for three draft picks and forward Aiden Young on Jan. 8 as part of the Petes rebuild.

He was originally acquired from the Mississauga Steelheads in exchange for Jack Van Volsen, Justin DeZoete, Peterborough’s second and third-round picks in 2025, Erie’s second-round pick in 2025 and Peterborough’s fourth-round pick in 2026 on Jan. 7 last year.

The Montréal Canadiens prospect played 30 games in the regular season last year, scoring seven goals and 18 assists. He logged another eight goals and eight assists in the playoffs to help Peterborough win an OHL Championship.

Beck played another 25 games with 16 goals and 14 assists prior to being traded to Saginaw.

Simpson was selected by the Petes in the 10th round, 193rd overall, by the Petes in the 2019 OHL Priority Selection.

He was given the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award as the playoff MVP when the Petes won the OHL Championship last year.

The London native was traded to his hometown team before this regular season’s start for goaltender Zach Bowen and Kingston Frontenac’s third-round pick in 2025.

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