Tips Week in Review: Everett starts 2026 with win

Published 9:33 am Tuesday, January 6, 2026

The World Junior Championships wrapped up on Monday with Sweden defeating Czechia 4-2 in the gold medal match.

No Everett Silvertips players came away with a gold medal, but Carter Bear earned the bronze with Team Canada, while Julius Miettinen and Matias Vanhanen helped Finland finish fourth, knocking out Team USA in the quarterfinals to get there.

In those players’ absence, the Silvertips split their two matchups last week, but they remain atop the WHL standings with a 29-5-2-1 record and 61 points.

Everett has created quite a bit of breathing room atop the Western Conference in particular, sitting 13 points ahead of second-place Prince George (23-12-2-0, 48 points), which is nearly the same separation between the Cougars and 10th-place Vancouver (16-22-1-1, 34 points).

Portland 5, Everett 2

The Silvertips closed out 2025 in the loss column in a road matchup against the Winterhawks. It was a 2-2 game entering the third period, when Portland utilized two power-play goals among three unanswered to pull away for good.

Luke Wilfley put the Winterhawks ahead just 1:29 into the game, but Rhys Jamieson tied it up for Everett at 2:41 of the second period, surging in to rebound Clarke Schaefer’s shot past Portland goalie Cruz Chase.

After Portland took the lead back with a goal from Jordan Duguar at 14:27, Landon DuPont tied it up 2-2 at 18:11, rocketing a shot to the top left corner from along the right-side boards.

In the decisive third period, the Winterhawks outshot Everett 14-5, taking the lead on a power-play goal at 3:31 from Ryan Miller, who punched in a netfront rebound. Carter Sotheran extended it to 4-2 at even strength from the slot at 8:08, and Alex Weiermair pushed it to 5-2 with a power-play goal at 12:45 to tuck things away.

Everett 6, Wenatchee 0

The Silvertips rebounded from their New Year’s Eve loss with a decisive home win against Wenatchee. Raiden LeGall made 22 saves in the shutout, and DuPont (one goal, two assists) and Tarin Smith (three assists) each had three-point nights to lead the scoring.

Everett also received an immediate contribution from new acquisition Luke Vlooswyk, a right-shot defenseman traded by Red Deer on Jan. 2 in exchange for forward Cole Temple and defenseman Cameron Dillard.

A 2025 fifth-round pick to the Philadelphia Flyers, Vlooswyk registered a primary assist on Jamieson’s goal to extend the lead to 4-0 at 3:53 of the third period.

Prior to that, Jesse Heslop opened the scoring on the power play at 6:52 of the first period, scoring from the right circle off a pass from DuPont. Hunter Rudolph made it 2-0 with his first career WHL goal at 1:29 of the second period, sending in a backhand rebound off a one-timer from Jamieson.

Rylan Gould extended it to 3-0 at 14:00 of the second, deflecting Smith’s shot at the net before Vlooswyk set up Jamieson at the netfront to make it 4-0 at 3:53 of the third.

Mirco Dufour and DuPont added the fifth and sixth tallies at 6:07 and 12:10 of the third, respectively.

Three Stars of the Week:

First Star: Landon DuPont. The 16-year-old defenseman had two goals and two assists over the two-game slate, raising his season totals to 30 points (nine goals, 21 assists) in 32 games, which puts him just outside the top 10 among WHL defensemen.

Second Star: Rhys Jamieson. The 17-year-old forward scored in both games and added an assist in the win against Wenatchee. The rookie out of Calgary has nine goals and 14 points through 23 games this season.

Third Star: Raiden LeGall. The 19-year-old goaltender bounced back after allowing four goals in two of his previous three starts to record his second shutout of the season. He moved into a three-way tie for second in the WHL with his 16th win of the season.

The week ahead:

The Silvertips will spend the upcoming weekend in Prince George with back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday, when they will look to increase their gap between first and second-place in the Western Conference.

Everett is 1-0-1-0 against the Cougars so far this season, with both matchups going into overtime.