O’Reilly powers Rangers to 6-2 win in Memorial Cup final

Silvertips unable to avoid “Curse of the Drop”

Sam O’Reilly showed that experience matters.

The Kitchener Rangers star centre, who turned 20 in late March, had arguably one of the most memorable nights of his major junior career on Sunday in the championship game of the Memorial Cup tournament. In that contest, O’Reilly had one goal and three assists to power the OHL champion Rangers past the WHL champion Everett Silvertips 6-2 before a sellout crowd of 6,007 spectators at Prospera Place in Kelowna, B.C. He also won 19-of-36 draws in the faceoff circle.

With the win, the Rangers captured the Memorial Cup to become CHL champions for the third time in team history. The Rangers previously won major junior hockey’s biggest prize in 1982 and 2003.

O’Reilly was awarded the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as the MVP of the Memorial Cup tournament. He recorded three goals, five assists and a plus-five rating in the plus-minus department as the Rangers posted a perfect 4-0 record at the tournament.

The Toronto product is very familiar with the Memorial Cup tournament. In the previous two years, O’Reilly played in the Memorial Cup as a member of the London Knights, when they won OHL titles in 2024 and 2025. The Knights fell in the Memorial Cup championship game in 2024 and won the event’s title game in 2025.

O’Reilly, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning, was acquired by the Rangers along with defenceman Jared Woolley, who turned 20 in late February, in a blockbuster trade back on January 7. The Rangers sent defenceman Jacob Xu, who turned 18 in March, and 10 picks scattered across four different OHL Priority Selection Drafts.

Woolley would net the Memorial Cup winning goal for the Rangers on Sunday. He was also with the Knights when they fell in the Memorial Cup title game in 2024 before winning the Memorial Cup championship contest in 2025.

The Silvertips were playing in their first Memorial Cup tournament since first hitting the ice in the 2003-04 campaign. They finished this year’s event with a 3-2 mark.

Everett was also the latest WHL champion that was trying to end that circuit’s drought when it came to winning the Memorial Cup. The last WHL club to win the Memorial Cup was the Edmonton Oil Kings in 2014. Current Silvertips head coach Steve Hamilton was an associate coach with the Oil Kings in 2014.

In 2014, Edmonton captured the WHL and CHL titles that year playing to honour the memory of former player Kristians Pelss, who was with the Oil Kings 2012 WHL championship team and passed away in June of 2013 due to a recreational diving accident. In the championship game of the 2014 Memorial Cup tournament played in London, Ont., on May 25 of that year, the WHL champion Oil Kings downed the OHL champion Guelph Storm 6-3.

The WHL is currently in its longest drought as a league when it comes to winning the Memorial Cup.

Before the Oil Kings triumph in 2014, the previous Memorial Cup championship win by a WHL club came in 2008 by the Spokane Chiefs. For the superstitious types, the “Curse of the Drop” started for WHL squads at that Memorial Cup.

That event took place on May 25, 2008 after the WHL champion Chiefs downed the host Rangers in Kitchener 4-1 in the Memorial Cup tournament’s championship game. After receiving the trophy, Chiefs captain Chris Bruton had the Memorial Cup fall apart in his hands as he attempted to give it to veteran defenceman Trevor Glass.

Since that moment, only the Oil Kings were able to get past the “Curse of the Drop” in playing to win WHL and CHL titles in honour of the memory of a recent teammate in Pelss.

In Sunday’s Memorial Cup title clash, the Silvertips were in it for the first two periods. They were controlling play during the first five minutes of the first period only for the Rangers to break on to the scoreboard first.

At the 5:47 mark of the first, Rangers sophomore defenceman Alexander Bilecki put a point shot on goal that deflected off Rangers veteran right-winger Luke Ellinas into the Everett net to give the OHL champs a 1-0 lead.

Everett responded just 28 seconds later. Silvertips star defenceman Landon DuPont, who turned 17 on Thursday, fired a shot from the right of the Kitchener net that rebounded off the pads of Rangers import rookie netminder Christian Kirsch to Silvertips star import left-winger Matias Vanhanen in front of the Kitchener goal. Vanhanen buried the rebound to even the score at 1-1.

The Silvertips proceeded to have a four minute penalty when Bilecki took a double minor for high-sticking after clipping the chin of Silvertips defenceman Kayd Ruedig. Everett applied lots of pressure on that opportunity with the man advantage but was not able to take the lead.

With 6:45 remaining in the first period, O’Reilly had the puck at the right point in the Everett zone and made a slick backhand pass that sprung star 20-year-old left-winger Dylan Edwards on a breakaway to the Everett net. Edwards went forehand to backhand and put home a backhand shot to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead on their fourth shot on goal of the contest. The Silvertips were outshooting the Rangers 14-4 at that point in the game.

Just 88 seconds into the second, Silvertips standout centre Zackary Shantz appeared to have netted another equalizer scoring off a net scramble around the Kitchener zone. The officials went to a video review and would disallow the tally ruling Shantz batted the puck with his arm into the net.

The Rangers started to slowly assert control of the contest through the second period. With 4:34 remaining in the second, Rangers right-winger Haeden Ellis made a backhanded pass from the right faceoff dot in the Everett zone across the front of the Everett net to Woolley. Woolley fired home a shot to the top right corner of the Everett net to push the Rangers lead out to 3-1.

At the tail end of the second period, the Silvertips ran into penalty troubles. First, Ruedig took a holding minor with about 55 seconds remaining in the frame. In the dying seconds of the stanza while working on a power play, O’Reilly tried to score on an individual effort and ended up face down on the ice in the left corner of the Everett zone. Shantz cross checked O’Reilly in the back and was given a cross checking minor with about two seconds remaining in the frame.

Kitchener would use those power play chances to deliver the knockout blow early in the third. First while working on a two-man advantage, O’Reilly made a fake pass at the top of the left faceoff circle before dishing the puck low to the left side of the Everett net to Rangers star 20-year-old right-winger Jack Pridham. Pridham tucked home a power-play goal just 26 seconds into the frame to make the Rangers advantage stand at 4-1.

Just 37 seconds later working on a one-man advantage, Pridham one-time a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle in the Everett zone that rebounded to O’Reilly in close at the left side of the Everett net. O’Reilly potted home the rebound to push the Rangers lead to 5-1.

Silvertips star right-winger Carter Bear scored at the 2:59 mark of the third to trim Kitchener’s lead to 5-2. The Rangers really clamped things down defensively from that point.

Rangers star left-winger Christian Humphreys scored a short-handed goal into an empty net with 1:37 remaining in the third to round out the 6-2 final score in favour of the Rangers.

Kirsch stopped 30 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Rangers. He went the distance in goal for Kitchener at the Memorial Cup stopping 120-of-126 shots for a .952 save percentage, while picking up one shutout. Anders Miller turned away 26-of-31 shots to take the setback in net for the Silvertips.

Pridham had a pair of assists to go with his goal, while Ellis finished with two helpers for Kitchener. DuPont had assists on both Everett tallies.

The Rangers were 2-for-3 on the power play, while the Silvertips failed to score on three opportunities with the man advantage.

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.

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.

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.

Ultimately, the Rangers were the class of the 2026 Memorial Cup tournament outscoring their foes 20-6 in posting a 4-0 mark. Their push for winning a CHL title was greatly assisted by O’Reilly and Woolley, who both helped the Knights win OHL and Memorial Cup titles a year ago.

The experience of O’Reilly and Woolley won the day and the 2025-26 campaign for the Rangers resulting in the team’s first CHL championship in 23 years.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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DuPont return paces Silvertips to 6-1 romp over Sagueneens

Everett to face Kitchener in Memorial Cup final

A game off worked wonders for Landon DuPont.

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 17^th 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.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Heslop paces Silvertips to win in team’s Memorial Cup debut

Everett slips past Chicoutimi in classic encounter 5-3

Jesse Heslop is getting rewarded again for his hard work.

On Saturday, the standout right-winger with the Everett Silvertips had one goal, one assist and was a plus-one in the plus-minus department in pacing his club to a 5-3 victory over the Chicoutimi Sagueneens in a preliminary round contest at the Memorial Cup tournament in Kelowna, B.C. The game was the tournament opener for both squads at the event that will crown a CHL champion.

During the WHL regular season, Heslop had 56 points coming off 15 goal and 41 assists to go with a plus-34 rating in 62 games. He skated in all 18 games Everett played in the WHL Playoffs, but his offensive production slowed a little as he recorded 10 points off four goals and six assists to go with a plus-10 rating.

The Silvertips, who began play in the 2003-04 campaign, are making their first trip to the Memorial Cup after winning their first WHL title. The Sagueneens, who are the champions of the QMJHL, are making their first appearance at the Memorial Cup since 1997, when they advanced to that year’s event in Hull, Quebec as the QMJHL finalist.

Playing before a sellout crowd of 6,007 spectators at Prospera Place on Saturday, Heslop, who turned 20 in April, made history for his squad just 74 seconds into the contest. He got the puck at the right side of the Chicoutimi net and put home a backhand shot to give his Silvertips a 1-0 lead. Heslop goes down as the person who scored the Silvertips first goal in the history of the Memorial Cup tournament.

Actually, the Silvertips came out of the gates on fire recording the first nine shots on goal in the contest, while keeping the Sagueneens pinned in their own zone for much of that stretch.

Chicoutimi got a traction moment at the 9:13 mark of the opening frame, when the puck came to veteran left-winger Christophe Berthelot in front of the Everett net. Berthelot fired home his team’s first shot on goal from point-blank range to even the score at 1-1.

That tally gave the Sagueneens jump for the rest of the opening frame. Everett held a 10-6 edge in shots on goal heading into the first intermission.

The Sagueneens proceeded to jump in front 2-1 at the 5:39 mark of the second, when star defenceman Alex Huang wired home a shot from the right side of the right faceoff dot in the Everett zone. That lead wouldn’t last.

Just 33 seconds later, Silvertips 18-year-old centre Lukas Kaplan drilled home a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle in the Chicoutimi zone to even the score at 2-2. Kalpan’s tally sparked Everett’s offence in the stanza.

With 6:05 remaining in the second, Heslop had the puck behind the Chicoutimi net and he made a slick backhanded pass to the left side of the goal to standout 20-year-old centre Zackary Shantz. Shantz had an empty cage to shoot at, and he made no mistake firing home the go-ahead goal that put the Silvertips up 3-2.

Jesse Heslop had one goal and one assist for the Silvertips.

Everett would strike again just 50 seconds later. Silvertips star 16-year-old sophomore defenceman Landon Dupont had the puck at the right side of the Chicoutimi net and a backdoor pass across the front of the goal to Silvertips star right-winger Carter Bear at the left side of the net. Bear popped the puck home to make Everett’s lead sit at 4-2 heading into the second intermission.

The Silvertips started the third applying all sorts of pressure on the Sagueneens. Sagueneens star netminder Lucas Beckman, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Ottawa Senators, made all sorts of big saves to keep the Sagueneens in the contest.

The Sagueneens responded with a huge push back inside the final four minutes of the third. Sagueneens star left-winger Emile Guite had a breakaway with 3:30 remaining in the frame, but he missed the Everett net on a backhand shot.

A short time later, Sagueneens star centre Mavrick Lachance wired a shot off the post of the Everett net. On the heels of that opportunity, Sagueneens import rookie right-winger Anton Linde had a prime scoring chance at the right side of the Everett net, but he was denied by a shot block from Dupont.

Chicoutimi caught a break with 65 seconds remaining in the third, when Bear was given a minor penalty for closing his hand on the puck. With Beckman pulled for an extra skater, Sagueneens star right-winger Maxim Masse one-timed home a shot from the top of the left faceoff dot in the Everett zone for a power-play goal that trimmed the Silvertips lead to 4-3 with 28.1 seconds remaining in the frame.

The Sagueneens kept Beckman pulled for an extra skater for the ensuing faceoff. They proceeded to win the ensuing faceoff back into their own zone to star centre Nathan Lecompte.

Lecompte attempted a cross-ice pass that was picked off by Silvertips rookie star import left-winger Matias Vanhanen. Vanhanen, who had an assist earlier in the contest, made no mistake scoring into an empty net with 20.9 seconds remaining in the frame to seal the 5-3 victory for the Everett side.

Anders Miller stopped 22 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Silvertips. Beckman turned away 32-of-36 shots to take the setback in net for the Sagueneens.

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.

The Sagueneens 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. They advanced through the QMJHL Playoffs posting a stellar 16-4 mark to win their first league title since the 1993-94 campaign.

Chicoutimi doesn’t have too long to mull over Saturday’s loss. The Sagueneens return to action in the preliminary round on Sunday when they take on the host Kelowna Rockets (7 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN). Both the Sagueneens and Rockets are 0-1 at the tourney.

Landon DuPont had an assist and a key late third period shot block.

The Silvertips get back at it on Monday taking on the OHL champion Kitchener Rangers (7 p.m. Saskatchewan time, TSN). Both the Silvertips and Rangers are 1-0 at this year’s event.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Silvertips rebound with 6-2 win over Raiders in Game 2

WHL Championship Series tied 1-1 heading to P.A.

The Everett Silvertips got the bounce back and bounces they were looking for.

Business is also picking up in the best-of-seven WHL Championship Series too between the Silvertips and Prince Albert Raiders. Signs of rivalry are starting to spring up between the two clubs that only play each other once in the regular season due to being in separate conferences.

On Saturday, the host Silvertips downed the Raiders 6-2 to the delight of 7,987 spectators at the Angel of the Winds Arena. The win was a big one for the Silvertips as they even the series 1-1 and avoid falling behind 2-0 in the set with the next three games slated for the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert.

Game 3 is scheduled for Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. local time, and Game 4 follows on Wednesday also at 7:30 p.m. local time. Game 5 will be on Friday, May 15 at 7:30 p.m. local time.

Game 2 was a little more competitive than the final score would indicate. The Silvertips were holding a 4-2 lead when star import centre Julius Miettinen scored into an empty net with 62 seconds remaining in the third and standout right-winger Jesse Heslop scored on a five-on-three power play with less than one second to play.

Frustration also came out during the final moments of the contest too. After Miettinen’s empty-net goal, Raiders star defenceman Daxon Rudolph, who had assists on both Prince Albert goals, was in a battle with Silvertips star right-winger Carter Bear.

Rudolph hit Bear with a cross check and was given a major penalty for cross-checking by the officials for his actions. The major penalty to Rudolph will be automatically reviewed by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

After Heslop’s power-play goal with less than a second to play, the officials decided to have one more faceoff at centre ice. Raiders centre Evan Smith tried to charge at opposite Silvertips centre Lukas Kaplan and was quickly grabbed by the officials and ushered off to the dressing room. Smith did pick up a minor penalty for roughing.

Under WHL rules, officials can elect to run out the clock in cases where there are five or fewer seconds left in a game and the contest is decided on the scoreboard, if they believe tensions are high enough an altercation can ensue. In this case, they likely didn’t need to have one more faceoff.

Saturday’s game was likely decided by the fact the Silvertips had an explosive first period jumping out to a 3-0 lead as puck luck seemingly went their way on every tally. Just 3:20 into the first, Bear picked up a puck that deflected to him at the left side of the Prince Albert net after a Raiders player blocked a shot from Miettinen. Bear wired a shot past Raiders star 18-year-old rookie import netminder Michal Orsulak to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

Brock Cripps had the Raiders first goal on Saturday.

Just 2:11 later, Silvertips 18-year-old defenceman Kayd Ruedig collected a loose puck after a faceoff just inside the top of the right faceoff circle in the Prince Albert zone. He wired a shot past a screen to the top right corner of the Prince Albert net to push Everett’s edge out to 2-0.

Everett completed the three-goal first getting a beneficial board bounce similar to the ones the Edmonton Oilers used to get in the 1980s playing out of the Northlands Coliseum. While working on the power play, Miettinen took a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle that missed the net but deflected off the boards behind the Raiders goal to star 20-year-old left-winger Rylan Gould at the left side of the net. Gould popped the puck from the positive bounce into an empty cage with 42.3 seconds remaining in the first to give the Silvertips their 3-0 advantage.

The host side held a 15-11 edge in shots on goal over the opening 20 minutes. The Raiders had great chances to score in the opening frame too, but they couldn’t Silvertips star 19-year-old netminder Anders Miller.

The Raiders came with a push back in the second period. While working on the power play at the 4:24 mark of the second, Rudolph had the puck low in the right corner of the Everett zone, and he put a pass out to rising star 16-year-old rearguard Brock Cripps at the top of the left faceoff circle. Cripps blew home a shot to the top right corner of the Everett net for a power-play goal that cut the Silvertips lead to 3-1.

Prince Albert continued to push after that tally. Raiders defenceman Linden Burrett hit the crossbar of the Everett net at about the midway point of the second. Following that missed chance, Raiders standout 19-year-old left-winger Maddix McCagherty was later stopped in close to the Everett net by Miller.

After those opportunities, the Silvertips came up with a killer tally. Working in the Prince Albert zone on a delayed penalty call, Miettinen fired a shot on goal from the left side boards that rebounded out to Bear all alone at the right side of the Raiders net. Bear fired his second of the contest into an empty cage to push the Silvertips advantage out to 4-1 with 22.2 seconds remaining in the second.

Prince Albert held a 15-9 advantage in shots on goal for the frame, but Everett still went into the second intermission holding a three-goal lead.

Bear’s second tally proved to be very important. At the 9:46 mark of the third, Raiders captain Justice Christensen fired home one of his “Juice Bombs” from the point to trim the Silvertips lead to 4-2.

Justice Christensen had the Raiders second goal on Saturday.

When the Raiders pulled Orsulak for an extra skater with three minutes remaining in the third, star centres Max Heise and Braeden Cootes along with Christensen all had prime scoring chances and were denied by Miller.

That set the stage for the Silvertips to score twice in the final 62 seconds of the third and all the extracurricular activities that occurred as the end of the contest played out.

Orsulak turned away 32-of-37 shots to take the setback in net for the Raiders. Miller stopped 37 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Silvertips.

Miettinen finished the contest with four points coming off one goal and three assists. Ruedig had a pair of assists to go with his goal, and Silvertips star 16-year-old defenceman Landon DuPont had a pair of helpers in the win.

One day earlier, the Raiders posted a 4-2 victory in Game 1 of the series at the Angel of the Winds Arena.

Going into the WHL final, there was no clear cut favourite.

Everett topped the WHL regular season standings, the Western Conference and the U.S. Division with a 57-8-2-1 record and was rated first in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The Silvertips 57 wins and 117 standings points are team records.

Prince Albert topped the Eastern Conference, claimed the East Division title and finished second overall in the WHL with a 52-10-5-1 mark. The Raiders were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Raiders and Silvertips went head-to-head once in the regular season, where Prince Albert posted a 4-1 victory on November 11, 2025 at the Angel of the Winds Arena.

In the WHL Playoffs, Rudolph leads the post-season scoring race with 26 points coming off nine goals and 17 assists to go with a plus-12 rating in the plus-minus department. Miettinen sits second in the post-season scoring race with 24 points coming off 12 goals and 12 assists to go with a plus-17 rating. His 12 goals are tops in this year’s WHL Playoffs.

Daxon Rudolph had two assists for the Raiders on Saturday.

Now, all the attention in the series turns to Game 3 in Prince Albert on Tuesday, where one team will try to knock the other into the ropes by taking the series lead. Even with that immediate focus in mind, this series feels like it ultimately can venture into deep waters in going long.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Raiders ride Orsulak to Game 1 win in WHL final

Netminder makes 39 saves in 4-2 victory over Silvertips

Michal Orsulak made 39 saves in goal for the Raiders.

The more shots Michal Orsulak sees the better he plays.

In Game 1 of the WHL Championship Series, the star 18-year-old import rookie netminder of the Prince Albert Raiders had a sensational outing. Orsulak, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 220 pounds, stopped 39 shots to backstop the visiting Raiders to a 4-2 victory over the host Everett Silvertips before 7,697 spectators at the Angel of the Winds Arena.

The opener of the WHL final lived up to the hype of what would be expected of a championship series between two powerhouse teams.   

Everett topped the WHL regular season standings with a 57-8-2-1 record and was rated first in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The Silvertips 57 wins and 117 standings points are team records.

Prince Albert topped the Eastern Conference, claimed the East Division title and finished second overall in the WHL with a 52-10-5-1 mark. The Raiders were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

The Raiders and Silvertips went head-to-head once in the regular season, where Prince Albert posted a 4-1 victory on November 11, 2025 at the Angel of the Winds Arena.

Game 1 started with both teams bringing physical play that continued throughout the whole contest.

The Silvertips got on the board first at the 6:07 mark of the first period. Silvertips star rookie import left-winger Matias Vanhanen passed the puck from left side behind the Prince Albert net to the front of the goal to linemate and star right-winger Carter Bear. Bear fired home a shot to the top right corner of the Prince Albert net to put the host side up 1-0.

The officials checked out Bear’s goal with a lengthy video review looking for a puck being knocked down by a high stick at some point in the play. Once the review concluded, the goal was ruled as good.

Everett held a 12-8 edge in shots on goal after 20 minutes and had a territorial edge in play in the opening frame.

The Silvertips came out of the game flying trying to build on their lead. Early in the frame, star 16-year-old defenceman Landon DuPont wired a shot off the crossbar while working on the power play.

A short time later at even strength, Silvertips right-winger Jaxsin Vaughan, who turned 20 in January, was sprung in on a breakaway into the Prince Albert zone. Vaughan tried to go five-hole on Orsulak only to be denied by the Prince Albert netminder.

Braeden Cootes had one goal and one assist for the Raiders.

The host side then had a third golden opportunity a short time after that. Star import centre Julius Miettinen had an opportunity to score at the left side of the Prince Albert net only to be stoned by Orsulak.

Then at the 5:12 mark of the second, the Raiders evened the score at 1-1. Raiders star centre Braeden Cootes had the puck behind the Silvertips net and made a backhanded centring pass coming out of the right side of the goal. The puck came out to standout rookie right-winger Jonah Sivertson, who quickly potted the equalizer for the visitors.

Both teams played physically in Game 1, and some work in the physical department would lead to the Raiders second goal of the contest. With 5:56 remaining in the second, Raiders defenceman Linden Burrett nailed Bear with a big hit.

Silvertips standout defenceman Brek Liske, who turned 18-years-old in January, took exception to the hit, and he cross-checked Burrett. Liske was given a minor penalty for cross-checking.

On the ensuing power play, Cootes fired a seeing-eye shot through a screen along the ice for a tally that put the Raiders up 2-1 with 4:53 remaining in the second.

At this point, the Raiders offence was on a roll. Playing a spot of four-versus-four hockey due to off-setting penalties, the Raiders found themselves working the puck in the offensive zone.

Raiders star defenceman Daxon Rudolph passed the puck to captain and his defensive partner Justice Christensen in the left faceoff circle. Christensen wired home one of his “Juice Bombs” to push the Raiders advantage out to 3-1 with 2:10 remaining in the second.

The Silvertips came with a huge push in the third outshooting the Raiders 13-5 in the frame. Still, Orsulak stood tall keeping the host side at bay.

Silvertips star 20-year-old left winger Rylan Gould tried to resort to a pest measure to get Orsulak off his game. With about four minutes remaining in the third, Gould snuck in and got away with a slash to the back of the netminder’s leg. Orsulak was down on the ice for a moment before continuing in the contest.

With 2:23 remaining in the third, the Silvertips went to their fourth power play of the contest as standout 19-year-old rookie import defenceman Matyas Man was given a tripping minor.

Everett had star 19-year-old sophomore netminder Anders Miller pulled for an extra skater with the chance with the man-advantage. Just seconds into the ensuing power play, Miettinen jetted into the Prince Albert zone down the right wing and put home a backhand shot from the right faceoff circle with 2:09 remaining in the third for a power-play goal that cut the Raiders lead to 3-2.

Aiden Oiring had a long distance empty-net goal for the Raiders.

Now training by one goal, the Silvertips had Miller pulled again as they pressed in the Prince Albert zone. It appeared the Silvertips were going to have a glorious scoring chance as they moved the puck toward 20-year-old star centre Zackary Shantz at the left side of the Prince Albert net. Shantz wasn’t able to do anything as his stick was tied up by a backchecking Rudolph.

Raiders star 20-year-old centre Aiden Oiring got the puck and fired the puck down the ice for a long distance empty-net goal with 65 seconds remaining in the frame to round out the 4-2 final score in favour of the Raiders.

With 7.5 seconds remaining in the third, Man apparently didn’t forget about Gould’s slash to Orsulak about four minute earlier. As Orsulak froze the puck during a scramble around the Prince Albert net, Man took the opportunity to cross-check Gould down to the ice keeping him away from the Prince Albert puck stopper.

Miller turned away 22-of-25 shots to take the setback in net for the Silvertips.

Cootes finished the contest with one goal, one assist and a plus-two rating in the plus-minus department. He also had a key blocked shot early in the third period. Miettinen finished with one goal and one assist for the Silvertips.

The Raiders were 1-for-1 on the power play, while the Silvertips were 1-for-4 with the man advantage.

The Raiders were without star left-winger Brandon Gorzynski with an undisclosed injury. He was injured in Game 2 of the WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series that the Raiders dropped 5-0 to the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre.

The Silvertips were without star defenceman and captain Tarin Smith with an undisclosed injury. He was injured in Game 4 of a 6-3 victory over the Winterhawks in Portland as Everett closed out the first round series between the two clubs at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Game 2 is set for Saturday at the Angel of the Winds Arena at 6 p.m. local time or 7 p.m. Saskatchewan time for those looking to catch the contest on TSN of Victory+ in “The Wheat Province.”

The pressure will be on the Silvertips to get a win in Game 2 to force a split in the first two contests of the series. If the Raiders win Game 2, they will hold a 2-0 series lead as the series shifts to Prince Albert for Games 3 and 4 and potentially Game 5 at the Hauser.

Game 3 is slated for Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. local time and Game 4 follows on Wednesday also at 7:30 p.m. local time. If necessary, Game 5 will be on Friday, May 15 at 7:30 p.m. local time.

Justice Christensen had the winning goal for the Raiders.

If the Silvertips aren’t able to win Game 2, they might find themselves in a hole that they can’t get out of. If Orsulak has a second straight stellar game, that might end up being the case.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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