Silvertips lose Memorial Cup: ‘We rode this train as long as we could’

Published 12:33 am Monday, June 1, 2026

KELOWNA, B.C. — The Everett Silvertips still had a fighting chance.

Despite trailing 3-1 to the Kitchener Rangers approaching the end of the second period in the 2026 Memorial Cup Championship at Prospera Place on Sunday, Silvertips coach Steve Hamilton felt good about his team’s ability to work the game back to a tie in the third.

However, before Everett could head into the locker room to strategize, Kayd Ruedig committed a holding penalty at 19:05, and Zackary Shantz cross-checked Kitchener forward Sam O’Reilly on the ground with just 1.9 seconds left to give the Rangers 1:06 of a 5-on-3 power-play to start the final frame.

Against the average Canadian Hockey League team, that’s a gut punch. Against these Kitchener Rangers, that’s a death sentence.

The Rangers scored at 5-on-3 just 26 seconds into the third, and again at 5-on-4 to take a 5-1 lead at 1:03, and that all but settled it.

With a 6-2 win, Kitchener secured the Memorial Cup Championship. With the loss, the best season in Silvertips franchise history came to a crushing end.

“We were still well-positioned for a third-period charge. Obviously early in the third, that kind of killed that,” Hamilton said. “But good team, really good team, and we rode this train as long as we could. We played 91 games and never lost back-to-back. I don’t know if any other teams can say that, and (I’m) incredibly proud of our group. I mean, we’re WHL Champions. This is the greatest team in Everett Silvertips history.”

Even prior to trailing 3-1, Everett thought it had leveled the score just 1:28 into the second period when Shantz finished off a scramble in front of the net by jamming the puck through from the right post. However, upon review, the officials determined Shantz had batted the puck in with his arm, and the goal was taken off the board.

The ensuing offensive zone possessions came up empty, and the Rangers slowly tilted the ice the other way before taking the multi-goal lead at 15:26. Minutes later, the back-to-back penalties put the game out of reach.

“I took a bad penalty at the end there,” Shantz said. “… We had so many comeback wins this year, I think. Just couldn’t get it done I guess.”

O’Reilly had a goal and three assists, earning Memorial Cup MVP honors to round out his trophy case that includes MVP awards in both the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) regular season and postseason. This also marks the Tampa Bay Lightning prospect’s second consecutive Memorial Cup Championship after winning with the London Knights last season.

As for the Silvertips, Landon DuPont recorded two assists to lead the scoring, while Carter Bear and Matias Vanhanen each scored a goal. Goalie Anders Miller stopped 26 of 31 shots.

In the end, Everett could just not top this Rangers team, which defeated the Silvertips 6-2 in the round-robin on May 25 as well.

“Everyone’s obviously down right now and upset,” said Jesse Heslop, the longest-tenured player on the team. “But I think in a few years time, we’re going to look back, and it’s going to be a lot of fun memories to look back on, right? Winning the WHL, first time in Silvertips history, it’s nothing to be ashamed about, so we’re going to hold our heads high coming out of this.”

Play moved back-and-forth to begin the game, but Kitchener had more success getting into danger areas. DuPont blocked a Matthew Andonovski shot in transition before Christian Humphreys fired a shot off Miller’s shoulder, and the Rangers finally broke through at 5:47 when Luke Ellinas redirected Alexander Bilecki’s shot from behind the left circle.

Before Kitchener could build anything off that goal, the Silvertips responded just 28 seconds later. Playing catch with Vanhanen through the neutral zone, DuPont ultimately put a shot on net from the right circle, and Vanhanen crashed into the crease to punch in the rebound at 6:15.

Everett received a prime opportunity to take the lead when Lukas Kaplan took a high stick that cut his chin, which gave the Silvertips a four-minute power play at 7:17. However, the Rangers did not allow much in their zone for the first two minutes, and Everett did not record a shot on goal until it crossed the three-minute mark.

Through 14 minutes, the Silvertips held a 14-3 lead in shots on goal, but Kitchener struck again where it counted on its next one. Finding numbers in transition, O’Reilly applied the breaks along the right boards and fed Dylan Edwards, who cut through the middle of Everett’s zone all alone to make it 2-1 at 13:15.

“They were built for this,” Hamilton said. “All kinds of respect for the way they played, and they’re deserving champions. I can’t sit here and say that, you know, that we could have done anything miraculously different. They’re deserving champions.”

The Silvertips started the second period with more consistent action in the offensive zone, which led to Shantz’s overturned goal but ultimately left them with nothing to show for it.

“I didn’t think we shot enough,” Shantz said. “We were kind of just trying to pass it into the net, so I think when we’re shooting and getting it back, it just gave us momentum.”

Everett continued to send waves of attack for the first half of the frame, but they could not find the back of the net as the Rangers clogged the lane and blocked shots before wrestling back control down the stretch.

Their powers peaked entering the final five minutes when they sustained a long offensive zone shift against the Shantz line, which defenseman Luke Vlooswyk stopped after nearly two minutes with a timely poke to Shantz, who cleared it into the neutral zone.

“They’re a team that’s great in the (offensive zone),” Heslop said. “They’re going to roll around, so we just stick to our guidelines and try to shut that down and create momentum for the next guys coming on.”

But just when the Silvertips thought they escaped, Kitchener doubled the lead on the following shift. Miller left the puck for Jaxon Pisani to pick up behind the net, but the Rangers won it back and cycled it over to Jared Woolley, who fired far side while cutting to the left to extend it to 3-1 at 15:26.

Any chance at a comeback from there was effectively nullified by the two penalties late in the second, with Jack Pridham scoring on a tight angle from next to the left post at 5-on-3, and O’Reilly’s rebound attempt bouncing in off Vlooswyk’s skate at 5-on-4 to make it 5-1 at 1:03.

“It happens,” Hamilton said about the penalties. “They’re split-second decisions. Those guys— I mean, penalties happen, and you’d like a rewind button on every penalty through 91 games, but we don’t get that luxury.”

Bear cut it to 5-2 on a cross-crease pass from Julius Miettinen at 2:59 of the third, and while Everett made a handful of last-ditch efforts in the offensive zone throughout the rest of the period, the Rangers hunkered down until Humphreys scored on an empty net with Miller pulled for an extra attacker at 18:23. DuPont slammed the puck into the end boards in frustration, and Vanhanen followed suit as Kitchener celebrated.

The Silvertips bench and the coaches behind them remained still as the clock ticked down to 0:00 and the Rangers spilled off their bench to bask in their new title atop the CHL. Ruedig and Rhys Jamieson comforted Miller, who was kneeling in the crease until the rest of the team piled over the boards to show appreciation to the net minder, one-by-one.

Following the handshake line, Everett stood together on the ice for one last time before skating off to the locker room.

This bullet train of a Silvertips team had reached its terminal destination.

“The sting will fade,” Hamilton said. “With time, you are able to have a bit of perspective and look back and celebrate this year, celebrate each other, celebrate the moments. There’s a lifetime of memories packed into a year. And right now, you can’t see past the sting of losing the final game of the season. …

“This was a special group. I’ve said that many times, and like I said, we rode the train to the very last stop.”