Landon DuPont and the Everett Silvertips are entering uncharted territory.
The Silvertips captured their first WHL title in franchise history with a 7-2 road win over the Prince Albert Raiders in Game 5 of the league final on Friday.
The win sends the team from just north of Seattle to the Memorial Cup, May 22-31 in Kelowna, B.C.
DuPont, who entered the league a year early last season after being granted exceptional status, finished second among all WHL defencemen in the playoffs with 23 points (five goals, 18 assists) in 18 games after scoring the team's final goal on Friday.
DuPont is in the running to be picked first overall in the 2027 NHL Draft.
Of the nine players to be granted exceptional status in CHL history, DuPont will be the third to go to the Memorial Cup — Sean Day of the 2016-17 Windsor Spitfires and Michael Misa of the 2023-24 Saginaw Spirit are the others. Both those players won the title with the host teams.
Seattle Kraken second-round pick Julius Miettinen of the Silvertips led the WHL in playoff scoring while teammates Matias Vanhanen (undrafted in NHL) and Carter Bear (Detroit Red Wings first-round pick) were third and fourth, respectively.
Florida Panthers prospect Shea Busch led the Silvertips with a hat trick in Game 5. Everett won three games in a row in Prince Albert, Sask. to take the series.
The Silvertips went 57-8-2-1 in the regular season before going 16-2 in the playoffs.
Everett will join the host Kelowna Rockets and OHL champion Kitchener Rangers at the Memorial Cup.
The fourth and final team will be the winner of the QMJHL final.
The Chicoutimi Sagueneens took a 3-2 lead in that series by rallying from a 4-0 deficit to beat the host Moncton Wildcats on Friday.
Game 6 is Sunday in Chicoutimi, Que.
