Everett to face Kitchener in Memorial Cup
final
On Wednesday, the Everett Silvertips star defenceman took warm-ups but didn’t play in the final preliminary round contest in the Memorial Cup tournament that determines a CHL champion. The WHL champion Silvertips blanked the event’s host club in the Kelowna Rockets 4-0 that night at Prospera Place to eliminate the Rockets from the tourney with an 0-3 mark.
On Friday just one day after his 17th birthday, DuPont again took warm-ups before his team’s clash with the QMJHL champion Chicoutimi Sagueneens in a Memorial Cup semifinal contest. DuPont did indeed play, and he played regularly pacing the Silvertips with a pair of goals and posting a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department in a 6-1 victory played before a sellout crowd of 6,007 spectators at Prospera Place.
With the win, the Silvertips improve their tournament record to 3-1 and advance to the event’s championship game to face the 3-0 OHL champion Kitchener Rangers at Prospera Place (5 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN). The Silvertips, who began play in the 2003-04 campaign, will be attempting to win their first Memorial Cup title in team history and in their first appearance at the CHL championship tournament.
The Rangers, who are playing in their first Memorial Cup since 2008, are looking to capture their third Memorial Cup title in team history having won major junior hockey’s biggest prize in 1982 and 2003.
The Sagueneens depart the Memorial Cup after posting a 1-3 record. They are still in search of their first Memorial Cup championship.
Chicoutimi finished second overall in the QMJHL’s Eastern Conference and second overall in the QMJHL regular season standings with a 49-10-3-2 mark. The Sagueneens advanced through the QMJHL Playoffs posting a stellar 16-4 mark to win their first league title since the 1993-94 campaign. Chicoutimi participated in the 1997 Memorial Cup as the QMJHL finalist as the host Hull Olympics won the QMJHL title and followed up with a Memorial Cup title win.
The Silvertips and Sagueneens met in a preliminary round contest last Saturday, where Everett posted a 5-3 victory at Prospera Place.
Friday’s semifinal got off to an auspicious start for the Sagueneens. At the 7:56 mark of the opening frame, Sagueneens veteran offensive-defenceman Tomas Lavoie fanned on passing the puck just inside his own blue-line to start a rush up ice.
Silvertips centre Lukas Kaplan picked up the loose puck and sprung right-winger Jaxsin Vaughan towards the Chicoutimi net on a short breakaway. Vaughan fired the puck home to the top right corner of the Chicoutimi goal to put the Silvertips up 1-0.
Lavoie would later make up for that misplay. At the 12:01 mark of the first, Lavoie cruised across the front of the Everett net with the puck, got down low to the right side of the goal and tucked home a shot that bounced off the back bar in the net and shot out the other side of the goal.
At first, the officials didn’t rule that Lavoie’s shot went in, but a few seconds after the shot, the clock operator hit the period buzzer to halt play and alert the officials on the ice that Lavoie’s shot did indeed go into the net. The rearguard’s tally evened the score at 1-1.
The two sides were playing an even game at that point in the contest. That changed with 6:01 remaining in the first as DuPont got the puck in the Chicoutimi zone and wired a midrange shot through a screen to the left corner of the Sagueneens net to put the Silvertips up 2-1.
Silvertips star right-winger Carter Bear set up DuPont with a brilliant pass from behind the Chicoutimi goal.
Everett exited the first period holding a 2-1 lead with a 9-6 edge in shots on goal. The Silvertips proceeded to pretty much land a knockout blow in the second period outscoring the Sagueneens 3-0 in the frame while holding an 18-6 edge in shots on goal.
At the 5:39 mark of the second, Silvertips 20-year-old utility player Nolan Chastko sprung Bear on a breakaway with a long stretch pass. Bear snapped a shot to the top right corner of the Chicoutimi net to push the Silvertips lead out to 3-1.
With 7:25 remaining in the second, a net scramble broke out in front of the Chicoutimi goal. Silvertips standout 20-year-old centre Zackary Shantz got a hold of a loose puck and fired home a shot from the front of the net to make the Silvertips advantage stand at 4-1.
The Silvertips would find themselves on the power play with 82 seconds remaining in the second, when DuPont would strike again. DuPont one-timed home a shot from the top of the left faceoff dot to push the Silvertips lead out to a sizable 5-1 advantage. The rearguard converted a sweet setup pass from star import left-winger Matias Vanhanen.
A big fight would take place with 41.1 seconds remaining in the second as Vaughan took on Sagueneens power forward Liam Lefebvre. Both threw fierce bombs at each other before falling to the ice.
Both were given fighting majors and game misconducts for their efforts. The bout was the fifth fight at this year’s Memorial Cup tournament.
Just 45 seconds into the third and working on the power play, the Silvertips got the game’s final tally of the night, when star import centre Julius Miettinen one-timed home a shot from the left slot to round out the 6-1 final score in Everett’s favour. The tally was the first point of any kind for Miettinen in the tournament. He reacted to his goal by making a hand motion of pulling a monkey off his back.
The Sagueneens elected to pull starting netminder Lucas Beckman after Miettinen’s tally. Beckman turned away 22-of-28 shots to take the loss in net for Chicoutimi. Raphael Precourt played the rest of the way in relief and turned away all eight shots he faced.
After Miettinen’s goal, the Silvertips rolled all their lines consistently in the third period and focused more on the shutdown defensive side of the game. Chicoutimi held a 14-9 edge in shots on goal in the third period.
Anders Miller stopped 25 shots to pick up the win in goal for Everett. During his team’s four games at the Memorial Cup tournament, Miller has stopped 97-of-107 shots for a .907 save percentage.
Bear had an assist to go along with his goal, while Vanhanen finished Friday’s contest with two helpers.
Everett
entered the Memorial Cup without star defenceman and captain Tarin Smith due to
an upper body injury that has kept him out of the lineup for a lengthy stretch.
Smith was injured in Game 4 of a 6-3 victory over the Winterhawks in Portland
as Everett closed out the first round series in the WHL Playoffs between the
two clubs at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum. He hasn’t played since that
contest.
Chicoutimi was without overage defenceman Jordan Tourigny
on Friday. He was suspended
for the remainder of the 2026 Memorial Cup tournament after receiving a match
penalty for attempting to injure via kicking in his team’s 3-2 preliminary round
loss to the Rangers
on Tuesday at Prospera Place in Kelowna.
Sunday’s Memorial Cup championship game between the Silvertips and Rangers should be a heavyweight tilt.
The Silvertips topped the WHL regular season standings, the Western Conference and the U.S. Division with a 57-8-2-1 record and were rated first in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. Everett’s 57 wins and 117 standings points are team records. The Silvertips motored through the WHL Playoffs posting an impressive 16-2 mark to capture their first league title in team history.
They are trying to become the first club from the WHL to win the Memorial Cup since the Edmonton Oil Kings in 2014.
The
Rangers topped the OHL’s Western Conference and finished second in the OHL’s
regular season standings with a 47-14-5-2 mark. Kitchener motored through the
OHL Playoffs posting an impressive 16-2 record to win their first league title
since the 2007-08 campaign. The Rangers were rated seventh in the final CHL Top
10 Rankings.
The Silvertips and Rangers met in a preliminary round contest on Monday, where the Rangers posted a solid 6-2 victory. The Silvertips held a 42-28 edge in shots on goal in that encounter.
Now, one of these two clubs who have had storybook seasons will skate to a storybook ending by becoming CHL champions.
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