EVERETT – The king is dead. Long live the king.
A changing of the WHL guard took place at the Everett Events Center on Sunday evening. One dynasty was toppled, another may have just begun.
Elizabeth Armstrong
giving Everett a 1-0 lead. Mueller scored two of the Silvertips three first-period goals.
Everett brought the reign of the Kelowna Rockets to an end with a performance befitting a successor to the throne, and the Silvertips advanced to the Western Conference finals by defeating the defending league champs 6-2 in Game 6 of their second-round series.
Everett scored five unanswered goals in the first 25 minutes of the game, and the Tips prevailed 4-2 in the best-of-seven series against a Kelowna team that reached the Memorial Cup each of the last three years.
“Everyone’s very happy,” said Everett’s Peter Mueller, who scored the game’s first two goals. “They’re the champions, they’re the kings, and we were just the little guys coming into town and trying to take a whack at it.”
Ondreaj Fiala also scored twice and John Lammers added a goal as Everett jumped out to a commanding 5-0 lead.
Kelowna’s Chris Ray scored twice late in the second period to lend a little intrigue to the third period, but the Tips routinely salted away the final 20 minutes.
“Any time you can beat the team that’s been the top in the league in the last three years is a good feeling,” Lammers said. “Any time you can go to the third round of the WHL playoffs is a good feeling.”
Mark Kress added an empty-net goal, Zach Hamill dished out four assists and Leland Irving made 23 saves in goal for Everett, which advanced to face the Vancouver Giants in the conference finals.
Vancouver won its series with Portland 4-1, defeating the Winter Hawks 2-0 Sunday in Game 5. The schedule for the conference finals has not been determined, but it’s expected to start Friday in Vancouver.
Kelowna has lost just two playoff series the last four years, both to Everett. The Tips also knocked off the Rockets in an epic seven-game series in the 2004 Western Conference finals.
“Every game except tonight was so close,” Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. “I thought it was rounding out to be as classic a series as the first time we played these guys. The games were so close, so dramatic, teams were coming from behind, almost every game was tied in the third period. It had the makings of a fabulous series. Thank God we got it done tonight.”
Kelowna was making what is likely its last hurrah for some time, with a battle-tested roster filled with players likely in their last season in the WHL. But the upstart Tips, considered a year too young to contend, proved they’re ready to make noise now.
Meanwhile, the Rockets must confront the idea that their run has come to an end.
“It’s tough,” Kelowna right wing Troy Bodie said. “Everett’s a good team, they played really well throughout the series. We give them all the credit because they came out with the wins and we didn’t. They’re a good team and they deserve it.
“We’ve been so successful the last four years,” Bodie said. “The way we’ve been playing, to go out in the second round is tough for us. I don’t want to sound greedy, but I guess you’ve got to be.”
Sunday’s game was never in doubt. The Tips dominated from the opening faceoff, playing with an energy and enthusiasm that overwhelmed Kelowna.
“We were hungry for it tonight,” Mueller said. “We wanted to make sure every loose puck was ours.”
That hunger resulted in a 3-0 lead after one period.
First, at 6 minutes, 16 seconds, the Tips took the lead on a five-on-three power play. Hamill found Mueller open in the center slot, and Mueller took his time before picking out the top corner to make the score 1-0.
Mueller struck again at 12:01. Fiala forced a turnover in the Kelowna zone, Torrie Wheat swept in and whipped a pass out front to Mueller, and Mueller one-timed a shot past Derek Yeomans to make it 2-0.
The Tips made it 3-0 with 49.1 seconds remaining with another power-play goal. Lammers’ shot from the right point was saved by Yeomans, but the rebound fell to Fiala at the right post, and Fiala put the puck in behind Yeomans.
Everett put the game away with two more goals in the first four minutes of the second period.
At 1:04 Hamill won a faceoff in the Kelowna zone, sending the puck back to Lammers, who one-timed a shot past Yeomans to make the score 4-0.
Then at 3:53 with the Tips on the power play, Fiala got the puck behind the Kelowna net and fed Hamill in the left corner. Hamill waited for Fiala to come back around the net at the far post, sent a pass across the crease for Fiala to tip in and give the Tips a 5-0 lead.
Silvertips 6, Rockets 2
Kelowna020-2
Everett321-6
First Period-1, Everett, Mueller 6 (Hamill, Heshka), 6:16 (pp). 2, Everett, Mueller 7 (Wheat, Fiala), 12:01. 3, Everett, Fiala 3 (Lammers, Heshka), 19:10 (pp). Penalties-Schenn, Kelowna (hooking), 4:42; Comeau, Kelowna (high sticking), 6:00; Card, Kelowna (unsportsmanlike conduct), 6:50; Wheat, Everett (unsportsmanlike conduct), 6:50; Fiala, Everett (roughing), 9:22; Beach, Everett (roughing), 15:18; Schenn, Kelowna (roughing), 18:47.
Second Period-4, Everett, Lammers 5 (Hamill), 1:04. 5, Everett, Fiala 4 (Hamill, Beach), 3:53 (pp). 6, Kelowna, Ray 4 (Edler, Comeau), 14:54 (pp). 7, Kelowna, Ray 5 (Comeau, Cumiskey), 19:38. Penalties-Edler, Kelowna (high sticking), 1:55; Keller, Kelowna (roughing), 12:48; Heshka, Everett (roughing), 12:48; Potuer, Everett (holding), 13:32.
Third Period-8, Everett, Kress 1 (Hamill), 19:41 (en). Penalties-Comeau, Kelowna (roughing), 2:39; Ellington, Everett (hooking), 9:29; Bodie, Kelowna (interference), 11:09; Joe, Kelowna (holding), 14:56; Everett bench (unsportsmanlike conduct, served by Beach), 16:36.
Shots on goal-Kelowna 9-10-6-25. Everett 14-12-6-32. Power-play opportunities-Kelowna 1 of 5. Everett 3 of 7.
Goalies-Kelowna, Yeomans 6-6 (21 shots, 16 saves), Westblom (10 shots, 10 saves). Everett, Irving 8-3 (25 shots, 23 saves).
A-5,826.
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