You didn’t think it was going to be easy?
After two games of the best-of-seven WHL Championship Series, the Prince Albert Raiders and Everett Silvertips find themselves locked in a 1-1 tie. The first two games were held at the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett with the Raiders taking Game 1 last Friday 4-2 and the Silvertips rebounding with a 6-2 triumph in Game 2 one night later.
Both teams likely believe they could have exited the first two games holding a 2-0 series lead after reviewing video of the first two contests. A split was likely the fair outcome to start the set.
Going into the WHL final, there was no clear cut favourite.
Everett topped the WHL regular season standings, the Western Conference and the U.S. Division with a 57-8-2-1 record and was rated first in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The Silvertips 57 wins and 117 standings points are team records.
Prince Albert topped the Eastern Conference, claimed the East Division title and finished second overall in the WHL with a 52-10-5-1 mark. The Raiders were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.
The Raiders and Silvertips went head-to-head once in the regular season, where Prince Albert posted a 4-1 victory on November 11, 2025 at the Angel of the Winds Arena.
Actually, the Silvertips were likely the first squad to feel a bit of a bigger pressure on their shoulders. After falling in Game 1, Everett did not want to face the daunting task of falling behind 2-0 in the series and then traveling to Prince Albert to face the Raiders at the storied and historic Art Hauser Centre for three straight games.
Game 3 is scheduled for Tuesday, Game 4 follows on Wednesday, and Game 5 will be on Friday. All three contests will start at 7:30 p.m. on their respective game days.
Both the Raiders and Silvertips are living the clichés of one day at a time, one period at a time, one shift at a time and one moment at a time. Both sides have so many talented players it will be which ones of those talented players will make more plays to give their teams the edge.
First, the star goaltenders on both sides have come to play.
In the Raiders win in Game 1, rookie import 18-year-old netminder Michal Orsulak was sensational making 39 saves to power Prince Albert to victory. He has a .910 save percentage in two games so far in the WHL final. In the Game 2 setback, he kind of was on the wrong end of three positive puck luck developments for the Silvertips on their first three goals.
Silvertips 19-year-old netminder Anders Miller, who is from Anchorage, Alaska, has also been sensational and shown why the Everett coaching staff has gone with him throughout the WHL Playoffs over Raiden LeGall. Miller has a .922 save percentage in two games so far in the WHL final and was sensational making 37 saves in Everett’s Game 2 victory. He was named the WHL goaltender of the week on Monday.
The star players have come to play on both sides.
Raiders defenceman Daxon Rudolph, who turned 18-years-old in March, has three assists in the series. He continues to lead the WHL post-season scoring race with 26 points coming off nine goals and 17 assists.
Raiders centre Braeden Cootes, who turned 19-years-old in February, had one goal and two assists in the two contests so far in the WHL final. Cootes, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Vancouver Canucks, has been extremely valuable with the creative plays he has made in the offensive zone and the smarts he shows disrupting opposition plays in the defensive zone.
Raiders 16-year-old breakout rookie defenceman Brock Cripps has one goal and one assist so far in the WHL final and was named the WHL’s rookie of the week on Monday. He has already shown the poise of a veteran player.
On the Silvertips side, import centre Julius Miettinen, who turned 20-years-old in January, has been outstanding playing in the middle of Everett’s top line with Carter Bear on right wing and import Matias Vanhanen on left wing. Miettinen had two goals and four assists so far in the WHL final and was named the WHL player of the week.
He currently sits second in the WHL post-season scoring race with 24 points coming off 12 goals and 12 assists. Miettinen’s 12 goals lead all players in the WHL Playoffs.
Bear, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Detroit Red Wings, has three goals so far in the WHL final. He also brings the right type of feistiness to a game that gets opposition players off their games. That is an in demand element the way hockey is played today.
Landon DuPont has been everything that has been advertised, and you know why he had exceptional player status to play in the WHL last season as a 15-year-old rookie. He has been even better this season as a 16-year-old. DuPont has three assists so far in the WHL final and is someone you want on the ice playing the shutdown final two minutes of a game when you are protecting a one-goal lead.
Another thing that could change the outcome of the series is if the Raiders can get star left-winger Brandon Gorzynski back or Silvertips can get star defenceman and captain Tarin Smith back.
Gorzynski is out with an undisclosed injury. He was injured in Game 2 of the WHL Eastern Conference Championship Series that the Raiders dropped 5-0 to the visiting Medicine Hat Tigers at the Hauser on April 25.
Smith has been out even longer with an undisclosed injury. He was injured in Game 4 of a 6-3 victory over the Winterhawks in Portland as Everett closed out the first round series between the two clubs at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum on April 1.
Both Raiders and Silvertips fans have likely been riding the highs and lows their teams have experienced over the first two games. For someone that doesn’t follow either team, you are looking forward to how the stories of this WHL Championship Series will play out, and you are engaged.
The next step of the story of this series is to show how magical the Hauser is in front of a live national audience on TSN.
Who will be “the guy” from Raiders 2026 WHL Prospects Draft picks
With the Raiders playing in the WHL final, the WHL Prospect Draft, which ran this past Wednesday and Thursday, was a bit of a different one.
The Raiders and Silvertips weren’t able to trade any of their roster players due to playing in the WHL Championship Series, if either wanted to make a major deal to try and land first round draft capital. The Kelowna Rockets were also in the same boat as they will host the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup – from May 22 to 31. The Rockets have been practising since falling in a Western Conference Semifinal Series in five games to the Silvertips.
When a Prospects Draft is completed, usually all teams are happy with how they made out. For every team including the Raiders, you always anticipate seeing who will be “the guy” or the standout that makes a difference.
The Raiders made their first selection in the third round and 60th overall by taking centre Caleb Mozell from Saskatoon. The 15-year-old, who stands 5-foot-9 and weighs 141 pounds, recorded eight goals and 19 assists in 13 regular season contests with the Saskatoon Outlaws U15 AA squad.
Mozell was a solid selection. The Raiders also picked two players from Anchorage, Alaska, who both played for Team Alaska 14U AAA. They might be arguably the two most interesting selections if they become impact players.
The first of those two picks was defenceman Nolan Scott, who was taken in the fourth round and 90th overall. The 15-year-old, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 155 pounds, had 15 goals and 12 assists in 39 games with Team Alaska, whose schedule was made up from traveling around and playing tournaments.
In the 10th round and 229th overall, the Raiders selected forward Brooks Carlson. Carlson, who is 15-years-old, recorded 26 goals and 30 assists in 35 games this past season.
Now for the draft selections, a new level of work starts, and we all get to see who rises up to be “the guy.”
- On Sunday, the Kitchener Rangers claimed a 4-3 double overtime victory over the host Barrie Colts in Game 3 of the OHL Championship Series. Star 20-year-old left-winger Dylan Edwards netted the winner at the 5:24 mark of the second overtime frame. With the win, the Rangers lead the series 3-0. They will try to close the set out in Game 4 on Tuesday in Barrie.
- The QMJHL Championship Series between the Moncton Wildcats and Chicoutimi Sagueneens is tied 1-1. In the first two games at Moncton, the Wildcats claimed Game 1 on Friday 5-2, and the Sagueneens claimed Game 2 on Saturday 3-2. The next two games of that set are in Chicoutimi on Tuesday and Wednesday.
- It is a special time to still be playing major junior hockey at this time of year. Out of the 61 teams that make up the CHL, only six are still playing and one in the Rockets is practicing as the Memorial Cup hosts. The other 54 clubs’ campaigns are all wrapped up. At the moment in the NHL, only seven of that circuit’s 32 teams are still in action, while the 2025-26 campaign has ended for the rest. Almost all of amateur hockey in Canada that is regular for the fall and winter seasons have wrapped up. If you are still playing hockey right now especially in major junior, your campaign has been pretty special.
Darren Steinke is a Saskatoon-based freelance sportswriter and photographer with more than 25 years of experience covering the WHL. He blogs frequently at stankssermon.blogspot.com.
