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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If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.