For most junior hockey players, hoisting the Memorial Cup is the pinnacle of their career. For a select few, it’s only the beginning.

Not too long ago, Tampa Bay Lightning forwards Tyler Johnson and Jonathan Drouin got their hands on major-junior hockey’s ultimate prize. Today, they’re seven wins away from lifting the Stanley Cup.

Trailing the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 in the NHL Eastern Conference Final, Johnson and Drouin are among the Lightning’s top producers in the post-season. Johnson is knotted up with winger Nikita Kucherov for the team scoring lead with five goals and nine assists while Drouin isn’t far behind with three goals and eight assists in 13 games.

Drouin has been welcomed back to the Lightning after some friction between he and GM Steve Yzerman put his status with the franchise into question. A brief stint in the AHL with the Syracuse Crunch seems to have humbled the 21-year-old forward and his earlier trade request appears to be in the rear view mirror.

Looking Back: Johnson and Drouin’s Memorial Cup Championships

As the 2016 Memorial Cup tournament kicks off on Friday at the ENMAX Centrium in Red Deer, NHL hopefuls from the 2015 draft class like Brandon Wheat Kings defenceman Ivan Provorov, London Knights centre Mitch Marner, Red Deer Rebels winger Jake DeBrusk and Rouyn-Noranda Huskies forward Timo Meier can look to the pair of Lightning to see just how far a Memorial Cup title can take them.

C Tyler Johnson (undrafted)

2008 Memorial Cup Champion with the Spokane Chiefs

After his team swept the Lethbridge Hurricanes to win the 2008 WHL Championship, Playoff MVP Johnson and the Chiefs headed to Kitchener for the Memorial Cup. With Dustin Tokarski between the pipes, the Chiefs went 4-0 to win the tournament, defeating the host Kitchener Rangers 4-1 in the final. The Chiefs join the Portland Winterhawks as the only American teams to win the tournament. Johnson, a native of Spokane, failed to find the scoresheet in the tournament, but played in all four games, posting a rating of plus-2.

Other 2008 Memorial Cup champs that went on to play in the NHL include:

LW Drayson Bowman

D Jared Spurgeon

D Justin Falk

D Jared Cowen

G Dustin Tokarski

Quotable

Two years later, Johnson was named captain of the Chiefs. In a Sept. 30, 2010 story by Dave Trimmer of the The Spokesman-Review, Johnson was thrilled to be awarded the captaincy of his hometown squad.

“It’s something I’ve always dreamt about. Now that it’s actually happened, it’s still setting in. I’ve always tried to be a leader. Now that I’m recognized as one, it really touches home for me. I can’t believe it.”

Jonathan Drouin (2013 – Round 1, 3rd overall – Tampa Bay)

2013 Memorial Cup Champion with the Halifax Mooseheads

Drouin was just five points shy of tying PEI Rocket forward Ben Duffy for the 2012-2013 QMJHL scoring title with a blistering 41 goals, 64 assists and 105 points in 49 games as he led Halifax to a league title. At the 2013 tournament in Saskatoon, the Mooseheads defeated the Winterhawks 6-4 to take home Halifax’s first Memorial Cup. Drouin tallied a goal and eight assists in four games against the Winterhawks, London Knights and Saskatoon Blades.

The only other player on the 2012-2013 Mooseheads roster to go on to a NHL career is 2013 No. 1 pick Nathan MacKinnon. MacKinnon scored 52 points this season for the Colorado Avalanche.

Quotable

In the Mem Cup final against Portland, MacKinnon blew his way past 2013 fourth overall pick Seth Jones – now a defenceman with the Columbus Blue Jackets – to score his second of three goals in the game. Drouin recalled his teammate’s marker with Willy Palov of the Halifax Chronicle-Herald.

“I think he was happy about it. Seth was probably not happy but that’s just part of the game. Nate has that speed to burn and he used it there.”

The 2016 Memorial Cup gets going at 8 p.m. ET as the London Knights take on the host Red Deer Rebels.