The Ontario Hockey League announced on May 9, 2007 that the city of Kitchener, Ontario and the Kitchener Rangers would host the 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup.

The City of Kitchener has previously hosted the Memorial Cup in 1975 and 1984, while the Rangers were victorious in the tournament in 1982 and 2003.

The 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup in Kitchener marked the 90th anniversary of the Memorial Cup. The tournament took place from May 16-25, 2008.

After a record-breaking season, the Rangers headed into the 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup not as the host team but as OHL Champions after they claimed a 4-1 victory over Belleville on May 12, 2008.

6,705 came out for the opening game of the 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup. Justin Azevedo scored the game winning goal at 6:59 in overtime to give the Kitchener Rangers a 6-5 win over the Gatineau Olympiques.

The Rangers wore a special commemorative jersey during the opening game. The commemorative jersey was designed by the Rangers and Ironhead Originals in honour of the Canadian Forces. The design was derived from a recruiting poster that was used in England during WWI. This popular recruiting poster was inspired by "Lord Kitchener", the same individual that the City of Kitchener was subsequently named after. The poster`s popularity led the United States to use this poster as the basis for the creation of their "I Want You - US Army" poster in their recruiting efforts on this side of the Atlantic.

The Rangers in conjunction with the Canadian Hockey League announced that the online auction of the special commemorative jerseys and helmets that the Rangers wore during the opening game of the 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup raised $49,000.

The proceeds from the auction went towards supporting the Kitchener-Waterloo Poppy Fund. Poppy funds are spent to support veterans and their families, buy hospital equipment, support cadet groups, and provide student bursaries.

The Rangers faced the Spokane Chiefs in their second game of the tournament. Drayson Bowman of the Spokane Chiefs beat Kitchener Rangers goaltender Josh Unice at 5:24 to give the Chiefs a 2-1 win.

The Rangers would return to the ice Wednesday, May 21st looking for a victory against the Belleville Bulls.  It wasn’t meant to be as Keaton Turkiewicz of the Belleville Bulls scored the game-winning overtime goal at 8:55 to claim a 4-3 win over the Kitchener Rangers.

The Kitchener Rangers and the Belleville Bulls would face-off Friday, May 23 in the 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup Semi-Final at 7:00 pm.

A 9-0 win over the Belleville Bulls would take the Rangers into the 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup Final against the Spokane Chiefs on Sunday, May 25, 2008 at 4:30pm.

The Championship Final saw the Chiefs claim a 4-1 victory over the Rangers. The Rangers ended their 2007-08 season as OHL Champions and 2008 MasterCard Memorial Cup Finalists.

Game Schedule and Scores (round robin)
Fri. May 16 – Gatineau Olympiques 5 vs. Kitchener Rangers 6, 7:00 p.m.
Sat. May 17 – Belleville Bulls 4 vs. Spokane Chiefs 5, 4:00 p.m.
Sun. May 18 – Kitchener Rangers 1 vs. Spokane Chiefs 2, 4:30 p.m.
Mon. May 19 – Belleville Bulls 6 vs. Gatineau Olympiques 3, 7:00 p.m.
Tues. May 20 – Spokane Chiefs 3 vs. Gatineau Olympiques 1, 7:00 p.m.
Wed. May 21 – Kitchener Rangers 3 vs. Belleville Bulls 4, 7:00 p.m.

Semi-Final Game
Fri. May 23 – Kitchener Rangers 9 vs. Belleville Bulls 0, 7:00 p.m.

Championship Final Game
Sun. May 25 – Kitchener Rangers 1 vs. Spokane Chiefs 4, 4:30 p.m.