That was the feeling among practically all Everett Silvertips fans when their second-round opponent, the Kelowna Rockets, tied Game 5 late in regulation on Friday.
It was only two nights prior in Game 4 when the Rockets came back from a 3-0 deficit, tying it with seven seconds left and eventually winning in overtime to stave off elimination.
The Silvertips have had their fair share of blunders in the playoffs in recent memory, but this would have easily taken the cake.
There was plenty of reason to worry among Everett faithful as overtime began, but it didn’t take long into the extra frame for those in attendance to remember, these are not the same Silvertips as seasons past.
The Everett Silvertips are moving on to the Western Conference Finals!
Landon DuPont is the hero in overtime, as the Tips beat the Rockets 2-1.
Everett bested Kelowna in the series 4 games to 1, advancing to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2017-18.
So, how did it happen?
Recapping Round 2
Everett was rolling through the first seven and a half games of these playoffs without much adversity, outscoring opponents 40-9 up to that point. Sure, there were little moments of momentum swings, but nothing that looked derailing.
But Game 4 happened, then for the first 60 minutes of Game 5 where Rockets goaltender Josh Banini only allowed one out of 53 shots to pass him. There were certainly times where things could have snowballed out of control, but to this Silvertips team, adversity is often turned into fuel.
“I said to them after Game 4… adversity’s not a bad thing,” head coach Steve Hamilton said. “We’ve been rolling pretty well for a long time, and to have a game where the outcome is undecided and there’s a heartbreaking loss, there’s a lesson in that.”
Landon DuPont, the overtime hero and leader among all WHL defensemen with 13 points this playoffs, echoed that sentiment.
“It’s just versatility and finding different ways to win,” DuPont said. “Not every game we’re going to get five or six goals, sometimes it’s going to be a 1-1 game going into overtime.”
Plenty more to like from Round 2
The Everett Silvertips franchise has a long lineage of great goaltending, and Anders Miller is making his mark as another player in a storied group.
According to QuantHockey, of goalies who have played in nine games or more in a single playoffs in WHL history, no one has ever recorded a higher save percentage than Miller, who sits at a .948 through two rounds of the playoffs. That’s not bad for a simple mid-season acquisition.
“I just really like his demeanor,” Hamilton said. “The guys trust him and count on him, and he’s lived up to it.”
And limiting that Tij Iginla guy was a big thing, too. One of the top point-getters in the WHL, Iginla was held off the scoresheet just six times during the regular season, yet the Silvertips held him scoreless in four out of five games during this series.
Everett is hoping it will get the chance to face Iginla and the Rockets again when Kelowna hosts the Memorial Cup in late May.
“We don’t want to give up time and space to anybody,” Hamilton said. “And when you get a player of that caliber—he’s crafty, he’s going to make things happen—you’ve got to limit his looks and take away as much time and space as you can.”
Previewing the Conference Finals
Who could have guessed the Penticton Vees, the newest expansion WHL team, would be the last ones standing from a talented B.C. Division?
A story that likens itself to the Vegas Golden Knights, the Vees are now four wins away from the franchise’s first finals appearance. The Vees are led on the top line by Seattle Kraken prospect Ryden Evers, Jacob Kvasnicka, and Tristan Peterson.
But in order to get to the Finals, they’ll have to go through the buzz saw Silvertips. Everett took the season series three games to one, though the games were competitive.
Everett captain Tarin Smith missed the entire second round for the Silvertips. Hamilton said its a similar timeline for Smith to Brek Liske’s injury from earlier this season, an injury that sidelined Liske for over a month.
The first two games of this series will be at Angel of the Winds Arena on Thursday, April 23, and Saturday, April 25.
— xyz – Everett Silvertips (@WHLsilvertips) April 20, 2026
Matchup to watch
Julius Miettinen and Ryden Evers might be teammates one day in the Kraken organization, but for now, the towering forwards will duke it out to see who will be the representative for the Kraken organization in the WHL Finals. This will be the third consecutive season that the Kraken prospect pool is represented in the Finals (Jagger Firkus in 2024, Berkly Catton in 2025).
Miettinen (6-foot-3) is second in the playoffs for goals scored with eight thus far for the Silvertips, while Evers (also 6-foot-3) is 10th with six for the Vees.
Header Courtesy of Evan Morud and the Everett Silvertips
The Everett Silvertips cruised through the first round of the Western Hockey League playoffs, defeating the Portland Winterhawks in four games.
They have had their sights set on the Memorial Cup in Kelowna since the puck dropped on the 2025-26 season.
But now, in order to get to Kelowna for the tournament, they will have to go through Kelowna, the team, as they are set to face the Rockets in the second round.
— xyz – Everett Silvertips (@WHLsilvertips) April 6, 2026
Tons of future NHL talent will be on display this series, with a total of 12 players combined from both teams affiliated with NHL clubs. A normal series may have somewhere in the three-to-five range of affiliated prospects.
From Kelowna, that’s Tomas Poletin (NYI), Tij Iginla (UTAH), Carson Wetsch (SJS), Vojtech Cihar (LAK), Kanjyu Gojsic (NSH), Parker Alcos (VAN), and Peyton Kettles (PIT)
From Everett, it’s Carter Bear (DET), Julius Miettinen (SEA), Shea Busch (FLA), Tarin Smith (ANA), and Luke Vlooswyk (PHI).
Add in Landon DuPont, Brek Liske, and other future draft eligibles, it’s looking to be a promising series from a talent standpoint.
But before we get to the series ahead, let’s look back at the series that was for the Silvertips versus the Portland Winterhawks, and then we’ll get to what to expect from this star-studded series against the Rockets.
Recapping Round 1
This series was dominated by Everett from the start. Just 1:37 into Game 1, the Winterhawks were already playing catch-up with the Silvertips scoring twice early.
From there, Everett, the No. 1 overall seed in the WHL playoffs, was just flat out dominant. They rattled off wins in four straight games en route to a sweep, outscoring Portland 25-5 and avenging the playoffs losses at the Winterhawks’ hands the prior two seasons.
Despite gaining back Shea Busch, who had missed the majority of the season from an upper-body injury, the Silvertips lost Tarin Smith to an injury he suffered along the end boards early in Game 4. There is no word yet on Smith’s status heading into the second round.
Looking at Round 2
Now, a look at the opponent: the Kelowna Rockets are on a mission — not just to compete for the Memorial Cup they will host, but to win the WHL championship and to be the ultimate Memorial Cup champs.
The last time a CHL team won the Memorial Cup as a host and winner of their own league was in 2005 when the London Knights hosted and won the OHL. The Rockets are looking to do the same this season, but it’s going to be a tall task.
The Rockets are led offensively by Utah Mammoth first-rounder Tij Iginla. The former Seattle Thunderbird returned from injury and a stint at the World Junior Championship and has recorded 90 points in 48 regular-season games. He is currently tied for second in the playoffs with 10 points.
Everett drew a hard hand with this series being early on, but with the way things have been going for the team that’s lost just eight games all year, this is a great series to find out what the Silvertips are made of and if they have what it takes to go the distance.
Everett player to watch in Round 2
Aside from the star players who light up the scoresheet every night, forward Jaxsin Vaughn was seemingly involved in nearly every scrum last series for Everett and delivered several big hits throughout.
Head coach Steve Hamilton admires the ferocity with which Vaughn plays.
“He knows exactly who he is and what he needs to do. He had four or five real punishing hits (during Game 2),” Hamilton said. “That’s part of the investment in the series, and for a guy like him, it’s not always gonna show up on the scoresheet what he brings.”
Header courtesy of Evan Morud and the Everett Silvertips
Sept. 22, 2018. That was the last time the Everett Silvertips hoisted a green-colored banner, their 2017-18 Western Conference championship banner to be specific, to the rafters at then-Xfinity (now Angel of the Winds) Arena in downtown Everett.
Despite three (technically four, counting the shortened 2021 season) U.S. Division titles, two Scotty Munro Trophies for best regular-season record, and never missing the playoffs, the ultimate prize of WHL champion has eluded the Silvertips’ grasp.
The Silvertips will host Games 1 and 2 of their first-round playoff series on Friday, March 27, and Saturday, March 28, against *gulp* their arch-rival Portland Winterhawks, the team that has knocked them out each of the last two seasons.
It sounds like a broken record at this point, but the Silvertips have been fixtures in the playoffs every season, qualifying all the way back to the franchise’s first year. In fact, to put into detail how impressive the team’s longevity of regular-season success is, all but one team in the WHL has missed the playoffs at least three times since the team entered the league in 2003-04. The lone team with only one miss is Medicine Hat. Insane.
Winning the Scotty Munro Trophy and having regular-season success is fun, but it’s not the ultimate goal.
“It signifies, obviously, we’ve had a good run here in the regular season,” head coach Steve Hamilton said. “It’s not the trophy we’re here to play for.”
The playoffs are “a whole different animal” for the Silvertips, especially of late. This year’s team just feels different, though.
Setting franchise records for wins (57), points (117) and goals (304) in a single season, many factors play into the Silvertips’ favor. They play at a pace much faster than everyone else, and it’s tough for opponents to match their energy. The team finished the season with four of the top five leaders in plus/minus in the WHL.
Led up front by Seattle Kraken prospect Julius Miettinen, his fellow Finn Matias Vanhanen, and Rylan Gould, alongside a cast of players such as Detroit Red Wings prospect Carter Bear and Zackary Shantz, the Silvertips boast a lineup of speed, versatility, and power. These are players who can will their team to victory night after night.
Landon DuPont leading the way on blue line
While the forward corps has been good, Everett’s bread and butter is on the blue line, particularly star defenseman Landon DuPont. Ahead of what is sure to be a hectic, attention-filled draft year for DuPont, the Calgary, Alberta, native has proven repeatedly this season why he is projected to be chosen first overall in 2027.
In 63 games this season, he scored 18 goals and added 55 assists. The intangibles and details that make up his game are worth the price of admission alone, and it will be fascinating to see his second go-around in the WHL playoffs. As a reminder, he’s still just 16 years old.
Having a player like him on the back end has been a key element to the team’s sustained success over the last two seasons. Anaheim Ducks third-rounder and Silvertips captain Tarin Smith attested to this.
“That kid does some ridiculous things with the puck,” Smith said. “I feel like no matter what he’s doing with it or where I am, like he can always find me,” Smith said. “It’s like, he’s got seven pairs of eyes all around his head.”
Along with the pairing of DuPont and Smith, the defensive corps is rounded out by reliable players such as Brek Liske and Kayd Ruedig.
And in goal, following in the long lineage of great Silvertips netminders, Anders Miller and Raiden LeGall have been steady all year. A 2.54 team save percentage ranks second in the league. There isn’t really a flash-of-the-leather type who can steal a game this year, but sometimes steadiness is all you need, and in the case of this team, that will be important if it expects to achieve its goal.
This year’s Memorial Cup is in Kelowna, British Columbia, about a five-hour drive from Everett. While it may be a bit premature to count eggs before they hatch and guarantee victory for the green and silver, let just say it’s a very convenient year for the tournament to be relatively close.
“We’re a confident group,” Smith said. “A lot of times, no matter what the scoreboard says or stuff like that, we know that no matter what, we have it in us.”
Seattle gets in
This season has been a rocky one for the Seattle Thunderbirds. What was expected to be a step-forward year turned into a process of finding the right pieces and putting everything together.
Trading Braeden Cootes midseason to Prince Albert put a dent in expectations, but acquiring Cameron Schmidt from Vancouver helped get the team back on track.
Finishing seventh in the Western Conference, the Thunderbirds will take on the Penticton Vees in their first playoff appearance since ascending from the BCHL. The Thunderbirds are always feisty in playoff series and aren’t an easy out by any means, so it will be interesting to see how they navigate this one against a good Vees team.
Header courtesy of Evan Morud and the Everett Silvertips.
When the Seattle Kraken drafted Julius Miettinen No. 40 overall in the 2024 NHL Draft, they selected him for his size and his ability to impose himself in the offensive zone.
Though he plays with a lot of intensity on the ice, off the ice he couldn’t be further from that. With a beaming smile, the Kraken are getting one of the brightest, most charming personalities in the WHL.
The 20-year-old from Helsinki, Finland, has enjoyed plenty of success this season with the Everett Silvertips. He has 26 goals, 38 assists, and a plus-51 rating, including a hat trick and two assists last night, Feb. 27, against the Kamloops Blazers. His five-point performance marked a WHL career high.
Now, in what is likely his final season with the Tips before turning pro, Miettinen is looking to lead the franchise to its first WHL championship in team history. He’s focused on leading his team by dominating in tight areas.
“Just small details that the pro game needs you to have. Those are what I’ve been focusing on right now because the jump (to the pros) is gonna be hard,” Miettinen said. “Now I feel like I’m so much better than I was. And I mean, just everything you do as a center affects the game so much.”
Miettinen played in his second World Junior Championship in Minnesota. While wearing an A, he had two goals and two assists in six games, helping lead the team to a silver medal.
“It was awesome,” Miettinen said. “To be there with the Finnish guys as a second-year player, and having that first-year experience under your belt, helped so much.”
According to Miettinen, the Kraken have been paying close attention, monitoring his development ahead of the jump to the pros. He’s worked on his skating and edge work over the last two seasons since being drafted.
He has been in a locker room filled with NHL talent over the past four seasons, including former Silvertips captains Austin Roest and Ben Hemmerling. He named those players as guys who made the jump to the pros and lead by example.
“New place, new guys, new team — that’s always a jump. But I try to live in the moment,” Miettinen said. “It’s cool to see guys live their dreams. Not a lot of guys get the chance to do that. But from their last years, just seeing how they do things, like the life they live — you gotta be a pro.”
Plus, playing with that Landon DuPont guy has been pretty cool, too.
“That guy’s just unbelievable at everything he does,” Miettinen said. “He is so mature. I wouldn’t believe he’s 16 if I didn’t know. How he practices, how he treats his body — it’s just unbelievable. Just everything he does, he’s a pro.”
It’s been an incredible year for the green and white once again. At 47-7-2-1 with 97 points and first place in the Western Conference, they sit a staggering 36 points ahead of the second-place team in the U.S. Division.
The Silvertips seem to be well on their way to another deep playoff run with Miettinen at the helm. The team has fallen short in prior years, but this year feels more promising to him.
“Every year is a new year. You have a different team, different guys with you. But I feel like this year is different. I don’t know how many games we’ve been trailing in the last period, and then we just find a way to come back and win the games.
From the experience of last year, we know what it’s like. We know it’s a battle. It’s one game at a time. We’ve got to focus on the little details. One shift might change the whole season.”
Photo Courtesy of Evan Morud and the Everett Silvertips
We’re about a week away from lighting the torch in Milan for the Winter Olympics, to which NHL and PWHL players will be making the voyage over the Atlantic Ocean to play in the tournament, which means there will be few games locally for most of February.
For the players not going to the Olympics, the break will be a nice time to relax, recover and get ready for the race to the playoffs. But for fans, especially those of the Seattle Kraken and Torrent, the shortest calendar month of the year is about to feel like the longest.
The Kraken only play one home game in February, which is the very last day of the month against the Vancouver Canucks. That’s the same with the Torrent, who will play just a day earlier against the Toronto Sceptres.
No live hockey for a month? Really?
Have no fear, there are plenty of alternative ways for fans to get some games in. Here’s what’s happening around the region this month to get your live hockey fix until the pro teams return to Seattle.
WHL season in full swing
Fans will need to head north to Everett or south to Kent to catch live WHL action.
The Silvertips are flying high once again this season. At now 38-6-2-1, they sit 12 points ahead for first place in the Western Conference. Get up there to see Landon DuPont while there’s time! He’s really something special to watch in person. Check in on Seattle Kraken forward prospect Julius Miettinen too, who has 19 goals and 25 assists in 31 games this season.
Everett is looking tough to beat once again. Having made the playoffs every year in team history, the Tips are still searching for their elusive first WHL championship. It’s bound to come one of these years, right?
Meanwhile, down at accesso ShoWare Center in Kent, things have not been as smooth.
What was shaping up to be a promising year for the Thunderbirds coming in quickly went south, as the team struggled out of the gate, traded star Canucks prospect Braeden Cootes to Prince Albert, and retooled on the fly. Additions such as top-five WHL point-getter Cameron Schmidt and Noah Kosick have helped stabilize the lineup, though the T-Birds still sit just 10th in the conference at 18-22-3-2.
While things haven’t been perfect, the T-Birds are still hanging around the Western Conference playoff picture, only five points behind Victoria for the final spot. A rematch of last year’s playoff series with Everett could be in store if they find a way to get there.
Other hockey in the region worth noting includes the Seattle Totems and Bremerton Sockeyes of the USPHL, whose seasons are ramping up. And if you’re really starved for hockey, head to Cheney for the ACHA PAC-8 tournament from Feb. 6-8, featuring UW, WSU, WWU and EWU.
February hockey calendar (notable promotions included):
Sunday, Feb. 1: Everett vs. Tri-City, 4 p.m., Angel of the Winds Arena -Mascot Mania Night
Sunday, Feb. 1: Seattle vs. Penticton, 5 p.m., accesso ShoWare Center
Friday, Feb. 6: Everett vs. Kamloops, 7 p.m., Angel of the Winds Arena
Friday, Feb. 6: Seattle vs. Portland, 7 p.m., accesso ShoWare Center
Saturday, Feb. 7: Everett vs. Victoria, 6 p.m., Angel of the Winds Arena -Great Small Dog Race Night
Friday, Feb. 13: Seattle vs. Tri-City, 7 p.m., accesso ShoWare Center
Friday, Feb. 20: Seattle vs. Portland, 7 p.m., accesso ShoWare Center -Girls Night Out
Saturday, Feb. 21: Everett vs. Seattle, 6 p.m., Angel of the Winds Arena
The holiday season winding down means the World Junior Championship is also soon coming to a close.
The IIHF World Junior Championship is an annual, two-week tournament featuring the world’s premier under-20 players. Many current and former NHLers have become household names after playing in this event, ringing especially true for Kraken captain Jordan Eberle.
Four Seattle Kraken prospects have participated in this year’s tournament: Julius Miettinen and Kim Saarinen for Finland, Loke Krantz for Sweden, and Jakub Fibigr for Czechia.
While the participating players have been showing out for their home nations, things haven’t been going swimmingly in the Twin Cities when it comes to attendance.
Group A, which included the U.S., played at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, home of the Minnesota Wild. Canada’s Group B competed at 3M Arena in Minneapolis, home of the NCAA’s Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Games involving the United States drew relatively strong crowds, averaging about 13,500 fans per game, but attendance for other nations has lagged. Some games have drawn just 28 percent of capacity, prompting online questions about the future of the event in the United States.
The U.S. has hosted the tournament three times since 2005, twice in Buffalo, N.Y., and once split between North Dakota and Minnesota.
The 2018 tournament in Buffalo saw Canada outdraw U.S. games at KeyBank Center, with the Canada–Sweden gold medal game the only contest to draw more than 10,000 spectators (not counting the USA–Canada outdoor game).
What might be contributing is the tournament being predominantly CHL-driven. In a historically college-dominated region like Minnesota, it might be difficult for local fans to keep track of all of the players and teams involved, since many top prospects play in Canadian markets with less U.S. media coverage.
No U.S. market will ever truly match the intensity and devotion of Canadian markets, which have hosted the tournament a record 17 times and will host two of the next three.
But if there’s a region in the U.S. with the junior hockey foothold and infrastructure to replicate that atmosphere, it’s Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, which has previously attempted to attract the tournament.
The U.S. won’t host the tournament again for at least three years, with host locations set through the 2028–29 season, which leaves ample time to begin building the case for the Pacific Northwest as the next host region.
The Seattle area venues
There are many great venues in the region that could be enticing host sites. The obvious flagship would have to be Climate Pledge Arena in downtown Seattle (home of the Kraken and Torrent), which holds 17,151 spectators for hockey. It would bring in the NHL and WHL crowds, as the Seattle Thunderbirds called it home from 1989 to 2008, and the two local WHL teams have played each other there once a year for the last five years.
Typically, the host country’s group plays in the larger venue, with the other group playing in the secondary venue. The U.S. at CPA sure would be a sight to behold.
The two other WHL venues would offer similar amenities for the other group as well.
Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett is an unmatched setting for WHL games, with a seating capacity of 8,149. About 45 minutes north of Seattle, Silvertips fans consistently pack the arena during the season. Complete with deafening cowbells that add to the intimate experience, it’s a unique environment in which to watch a game.
Everett is also about an hour south of the Canadian border, well located to draw fans in the Vancouver metro area and beyond to make their way down.
There’s also a second ice rink attached to the arena that could be used for team practices.
Accesso ShoWare Center in Kent is another facility that could be used for the event. About 30 minutes south of Seattle, the Thunderbirds always have the venue rocking no matter the year.
The horseshoe-like footprint of ShoWare might make it challenging for visiting fans to maneuver, but given its proximity to Sea-Tac Airport, it would offer added ease of access for visiting fans and media flying in.
Practice venues include the aforementioned rink attached to Angel of the Winds Arena, Kraken Community Iceplex, and various other rinks throughout the Seattle metro area.
Other possible hosts
The IIHF doesn’t strictly limit itself when it comes to proximity of the buildings used. The event usually stays within the same general region, but it does branch out from time to time and utilize venues that are farther away from each other. Right now, it’s in the Minneapolis–St. Paul region, with the two cities about 15 minutes apart, but in 2026, Edmonton and Red Deer, Alb. will share hosting duties despite being almost two hours apart.
Strong arguments also exist for other venues, such as Numerica Veterans Arena in Spokane or the Toyota Center in Kennewick. Both cities offer excellent facilities and top-tier fanbases who consistently show their support. There’s also a compelling case to include Portland, or even having the Rose City serve as the primary host city on its own, given its two venues and the strength of its fan base.
But Seattle and Everett makes the most sense. It would offer ease of coordination for the event, with other factors to consider like transportation accessibility, arena availability, and things to do in the area.
There are some challenges and work-arounds too with hosting a tournament like this. If done in an NHL city, often the NHL team goes on a prolonged road trip. The Wild had a seven-game road trip to accommodate the tournament this season. That would be something to consider for the Kraken.
But what do you think? Where would you like to see World Juniors games played if they came here?
