Silvertips prepare for familiar foe in Memorial Cup

Published 4:23 pm Tuesday, May 26, 2026

KELOWNA, B.C. — It’s not often that a team gets an immediate opportunity for revenge against the one that eliminated them in the postseason, which makes Wednesday’s Memorial Cup round-robin matchup between the Everett Silvertips and Kelowna Rockets extra compelling.

In this case, it’s the Memorial Cup hosts that get the rare opportunity, as Everett defeated Kelowna in five games during the second round of the WHL Playoffs. With each side playing to extend its life in the tournament, emotions will be running high.

“They’re definitely going to have a little salt (in) the wound that we eliminated them in the playoffs,” Silvertips goalie Anders Miller said on Tuesday. “I feel like they’re going to come out hungry, wanting to play us. I think we’ve just got to stay to our game and keep playing our game.”

Miller himself will be looking for redemption after a rough performance in Monday’s 6-2 loss to the Kitchener Rangers, which tied Everett (1-1) with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens in the middle of the standings.

Not all six goals should be blamed on Miller, but even coach Steve Hamilton acknowledged that the usually steady netminder could have made an extra save or two.

“Anders would be the first one to tell you he’d probably like a couple back,” Hamilton said on Monday. “That guy’s been our rock for two months. I thought about making a change, and he wanted to work through it, and I thought he was excellent in the third period. And that’s part of giving your guys the belief that we have their back.”

Although the Rangers potted one last goal in the third period, Miller solidified himself in the final period. For the 19-year-old, it felt more important to right the ship, even if the game became out of reach.

“I feel like my first two periods, I wasn’t playing my game,” Miller said. “I feel like I was a bit out of it, and I just feel like we might play (Kitchener), see them later on in the Championship (or) semifinal, so I just feel like I got to go out there and prove myself, and show them, like, this is the real me.”

After posting a .932 save percentage and 1.91 goals-against average across 18 WHL playoff games, Miller’s track record certainly suggests Monday represented more of an off-night than anything more concerning.

The players in front of Miller expect a collective rebound as well. After all, the 2025-26 Silvertips have never lost back-to-back games. At least not yet. They don’t plan on changing that now.

“I think it starts from early on in the year,” said Rylan Gould, who had a goal and an assist in the loss on Monday. “We’ve had dips in games, and we’ve (come) back, and for us it’s just that trust level with everybody. I mean, we do everything together — whether it’s at the rink, outside of the rink — and when you trust the guys in the room, it’s easy to go to battle with them. For us, we’re not worried. We’re excited for the next opportunity.”

That opportunity will come against a Rockets team not only desperate to avenge its playoff loss to Everett, but also desperate to get a Memorial Cup win on home ice. After a 5-0 loss to Kitchener on Friday and a 3-2 overtime loss to Chicoutimi on Sunday, Kelowna is at risk of walking away empty-handed should they lose to the Silvertips on Wednesday.

With both teams getting a taste of what the best of the OHL and QMJHL have to offer, it should be refreshing for them to face a familiar opponent. Everett successfully shut down Rockets star Tij Iginla in the WHL Playoffs. After Iginla scored 90 points in just 48 games during the regular season, the Silvertips held him scoreless in four of the five games in the second round.

However, Everett also had a hard time solving Kelowna goalie Josh Banini, who replaced starter Harrison Boettiger in the middle of Game 4 on April 15. Banini stopped all 29 shots he faced in 47:33 to anchor a comeback that forced Game 5, where he made 53 saves in a 2-1 overtime loss that just barely clinched the series for the Silvertips. Banini took over the net from Boettiger once again following the Rockets’ 5-0 loss to the Rangers, and he made 26 saves in the 3-2 overtime loss to the Saguenéens.

Both teams know each other well, but Everett plans to maintain an internal focus heading into the game.

“We always just focus on ourselves,” Silvertips defenseman Mattias Uyeda told The Herald on Tuesday. “If we bring our game, our A-game, every game, I think we are setting ourselves up for lots of success. I think in our room, just focus on ourselves more than the other team and just bring in our 100 percent every night.”

In Wednesday’s case, that will include cutting down on the puck management problems that doomed them against the Rangers on Monday while also getting back to rolling all four lines in the heavy forechecking game that has wreaked havoc all year.

Puck drop is set for 6 p.m. PT at Prospera Place. Depending on Wednesday’s outcome and the Kitchener-Chicoutimi result on Tuesday, Everett will either secure its advancement — to the semifinal or potentially the championship game — or see its dream season come to an end.