KELOWNA — All eyes were already on Everett Silvertips defenceman Landon DuPont as the marquee name at this year’s Memorial Cup.
Now everyone is waiting to see whether the projected top prospect for the 2027 NHL draft will play in Friday’s semifinal against the QMJHL champion Chicoutimi Saguenéens, with the OHL champion Kitchener Rangers awaiting the winner in Sunday’s final.
DuPont, who turned 17 on Thursday, was a surprising late scratch for Wednesday’s round-robin finale due to an undisclosed injury. But the WHL champion Silvertips prevailed 4-0 over the host Kelowna Rockets to reach the semifinal without their exceptional defender.
That listless loss eliminated the hosts, who failed to score a first-period goal in the tournament and never led in any of their three games while getting shut out twice.
DuPont was always going to be in the spotlight here. Now the focus has shifted to his uncertain status for the remainder of the tournament.
Everett coach Steve Hamilton wouldn’t put a percentage on Dupont’s expectancy to suit up for the semifinal.
“I don’t know if I can put a number on that right now. What I do know is if there’s a possibility, he’s in. He’ll find a way,” Hamilton said Wednesday. “Part of it is us making sure we take care of our players. You never want to put a guy in a situation where he’s not capable of being himself. We just felt tonight wasn’t a fit to get him in there, but a couple of days could go a long way with him. So we’ll see where we’re at come Friday.”
DuPont was on the ice for Wednesday’s warm-up and didn’t appear noticeably limited, but he has taken several hard hits during the tournament — including one from Chicoutimi captain Emmanuel Vermette on his first shift of Everett’s 5-3 win Saturday and another into the sideboards during Monday’s 6-2 loss to Kitchener that he didn’t see coming.
DuPont was slow to get up from the latter hit and was visibly wincing on his way to the bench, but he remained in the game and finished with a point and a penalty.
Call him questionable for the semifinal, but Hamilton’s optimistic tone made it sound more probable than doubtful.
“He is a little nicked up,” Hamilton admitted after joking that DuPont was a healthy scratch. “He wanted to give it a try (in warm-ups), and I think he’ll be pretty good going forward.”
That is good news for hockey fans wanting to watch this phenom who is drawing comparisons to Matthew Schaefer and Cale Makar.
DuPont had assists in each of Everett’s first two games, including a primary helper against Chicoutimi that provided a glimpse of his dynamic abilities in setting up Carter Bear for what stood up as the winner.
Opponents have tried to limit DuPont with physical play, and Kelowna had been throwing its weight around in prior losses, so the scratch may have been precautionary to some extent.
Without DuPont, the Silvertips persevered by shifting overager Nolan Chastko back to defence — he performed admirably in DuPont’s spot alongside Brek Liske — with fellow blueliners Kayd Ruedig and Jaxon Pisani stepping up to score first-period goals. Anders Miller made that 2-0 lead stand up, bouncing back with a 28-save shutout after surrendering six goals against Kitchener.
“Really good team effort; we dug in together,” said Hamilton, noting they also blocked 28 shots in front of Miller. “A lot of the year, we talked about picking each other up in big moments. It was a big moment as a group to rally around the fact that we were (without DuPont). They handled it as well as we could ask.”
That shouldn’t come as a shock, considering the adversity Everett overcame in their playoff run. Their captain, Tarin Smith, who had been DuPont’s partner before Liske, suffered a dislocated shoulder during their first-round sweep of Portland that required season-ending surgery.
“We’ve always been resilient,” said Hamilton. “I just kind of knew that the guys would respond, and they would find a way. That’s been a strength of ours.”
Chicoutimi also lost a defender on Wednesday, when overager Jordan Tourigny was suspended for the remainder of the tournament following a match penalty for a stomping incident in Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to Kitchener.
“I am sorry not to be able to continue the tournament and help my teammates. I regret using my skate in that type of situation, and I am aware that this kind of action is prohibited. I am relieved to learn that (Kitchener forward Christian Humphreys) is not injured and that he will be able to play in Sunday’s final,” Tourigny said in a statement issued through the Canadian Hockey League.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 28, 2026.
Larry Fisher, The Canadian Press
