Silvertips rested, ready for WHL Championship series

Published 10:25 am Thursday, May 7, 2026

EVERETT — As the Everett Silvertips celebrated their series sweep of the Penticton Vees in the WHL Western Conference Finals at South Okanagan Events Centre on April 28, Jesse Heslop made his way to Carter Bear.

The two forwards have been in Everett longer than anyone else on the roster. Heslop has appeared in parts of five seasons, playing in a full-time role over the past four. Bear played 19 games in 2022-23 before elevating to one of the team’s top players in the three seasons since. If that wasn’t enough time together, they are also billet roommates.

So when the clock hit 0:00 in a 4-2 comeback win to clinch the Western Conference title, it only made sense that they would soak in the moment alongside each other.

“(I was) just hugging him after we won the Western Conference and kind of saying, ‘Now’s our time,’” Heslop told The Herald on Monday. “‘We’ve been working towards this. It’s four more (wins).’ We’re stoked.”

After 520 combined WHL regular-season and playoff games, the two will finally have an opportunity to play for the Ed Chynoweth Cup in the WHL Championship Series against the Prince Albert Raiders, who topped the reigning champion Medicine Hat Tigers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

By the time the puck drops for Game 1 at Angel of the Winds Arena on Friday, 10 days will have passed since Everett’s last game against Penticton. When it comes to the age-old “rest vs. rust” debate, the Silvertips believe they have mastered the happy medium.

Everett had the same amount of time off following its first-round sweep of the Portland Winterhawks, and promptly took a 2-0 series lead over the Kelowna Rockets before ultimately advancing to the Western Conference Finals in five games.

“We’ve kind of had the same mentality all year where we just look to the next day and just trying to get better that one percent every single day,” forward Rylan Gould said. “I think that’s huge for us, and obviously, you play in a longer series, you can maybe get banged up more, but you’re also playing at a super high pace.

“There’s advantages to both, but I like our group when we’re well-rested, and we’re definitely ready, for sure.”

The key for the Silvertips has been implementing steps to use the rest to their advantage rather than letting it passively lead to “rust.”

After giving the team a day off following the series-clinching win, coach Steve Hamilton along with athletic trainer Blake Draughon and assistant coach Mike Field provided each player with a flexible plan through this past weekend, which included simple treatment and recovery as well as gym work depending on what the specific player needed most.

The team also had the opportunity to step away from the game entirely, heading south to T-Mobile Park on May 2 to watch the Seattle Mariners and Randy Johnson’s number retirement ceremony.

According to the players, thinking about an upcoming series for a week and a half can be mentally taxing, so excursions like that have them coming back refreshed in the days immediately leading up to Game 1.

“It was a nice, like, reset, I guess,” defenseman Brek Liske said. “All of us could just go hang out, no hockey talk, go watch some baseball. So yeah, it was a great experience. …

“No one’s at risk of getting burnt out here. I’m sure that can happen. So I mean, I think the culture (here) and what’s been going on, no one’s at risk of getting burnt out or anything. Everyone’s excited for the next series because of things like that.”

Following Prince Albert’s series-clinching win in Game 6 on Sunday, the Silvertips truly began ramping back up for the upcoming series on Monday. The two sides met just once this season, a 4-1 Raiders win in Everett on Nov. 11, so there’s significantly less head-to-head familiarity compared to the previous Western Conference opponents. However, based on the team’s initial observations watching the Eastern Conference Finals, several things jumped out.

The overarching conclusion was that the Raiders play a similar game to the Silvertips.

“I think both teams are pretty tight defensively, generate a lot in the (offensive) zone,” Hamilton said. “There’s movement. Got active defensemen involved in the play. So there’s quite a few similarities. They got really good depth in their team and good goaltending, and I would say the same about us.”

Prince Albert boasts five of the top 12 WHL playoff scorers. Leading the crop is defenseman Daxon Rudolph, a projected lottery pick in this summer’s NHL Draft who leads the league with 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists) in 15 games this postseason.

Former Seattle Thunderbird Braeden Cootes is second on the team with 18 points (six goals, 12 assists), and fellow forwards Aiden Oiring and Brayden Dube, as well as rookie defenseman Brock Cripps (17 points each), are right behind as top producers.

Of teams with at least 30 power-play opportunities this postseason, the Raiders rank second at 29.2%, just ahead of Everett (26.2%). The Silvertips will hope to combat that with a penalty kill that ranks second in the league (85.1%) and first among teams with at least 15 times on the kill.

On top of performing well while short-handed, Everett has made a concerted effort to cut down its time playing short-handed. After committing 22 penalties for 67 penalty minutes (PIM) in the series against Portland, and 35 infractions for 81 PIM in five games against Kelowna, the Silvertips committed just 11 penalties for 22 minutes against Penticton.

“They have some top-line players, but I think we’re a very disciplined team, kind of like we showed in that Penticton series,” Heslop said. “We don’t need to take penalties, and we’re still going to play super physical. As you’ve seen, our penalty kill has been doing really well, so just keep that going when we have to use it.”

Everett has more than held its own while playing with a man-advantage as well, although interestingly the power play has performed much better on home ice this postseason. The Silvertips are a staggering 8-for-20 (40%) at Angel of the Winds Arena, but just 3-for-22 on the road (13.6%).

Some of that can be explained away by the small sample size, but it’s a disparity Hamilton said he would like to close the gap on. In any case, it’s not something the team is overly concerned about. They feel good about their process no matter which barn they’re in.

“Our fans give us a lot of juice, I know that,” said Gould, who shares the league playoff lead with four power-play goals. “But in the postseason, there’s not many calls. A lot of stuff is played within the lines and everything. I think for us as a unit, we don’t really look into that kind of stuff. We’re just looking for the next opportunity.”

Speaking of opportunity, perhaps no single player has elevated his game like Liske this postseason. Stepping into a top pair role following the injury to captain Tarin Smith at the end of the first round, the 18-year-old has flourished with 11 points in 13 games, including three assists in the close-out game against Penticton.

Everett will continue to rely on Liske in a larger role for the championship series. Hamilton confirmed Smith is “not likely” to play in the Finals, although one can’t rule out the possibility of some gamesmanship to set up a surprise return later in the series.

In either scenario, Liske is prepared to do whatever is asked of him.

“I couldn’t think negatively or else I wouldn’t be doing good,” Liske said about being thrust into a bigger role. “So I knew that right away, and I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ve been preparing for this,’ and that kind of helped me out playing bigger minutes.”

Games 1 and 2 will take place at Angel of the Winds Arena on Friday and Saturday, respectively, before the series shifts to Prince Albert for Games 3-5 on Tuesday, Wednesday and next Friday, May 15, if necessary. Should the series go beyond five games, Everett would host Games 6 and 7 on May 17 and 18, respectively.

For now, all the focus lies solely on Game 1. The Silvertips have put the opportunity to win the franchise’s first Ed Chynoweth Cup at the top of their priority list since last year’s second-round exit to Portland, and in Heslop and Bear’s case, for the past four years.

All that anticipation will undoubtedly lead to some nerves, but Everett remains confident that this is its year.

“I think nerves are a great thing,” Heslop said. “I think we’re going to be a little nervous, but excited. And I think we know how to use those nerves to our advantage.”