U.S. Division titans Everett and Spokane go head-to-head in Wednesday Night in the Dub action

Spokane, Wash.- All eyes are on the veterans as the top two powers in the WHL’s U.S. Division clash in the home stretch of the 2024-25 regular season.

The league-leading Everett Silvertips and streaking Spokane Chiefs have long since clinched their berths in the 2025 WHL Playoffs presented by Nutrien.

Now, it’s all about preparing for battle.

Few players on these teams have a better idea of what it takes to go all the way than WHL leading goal-scorer and Chiefs alternate captain Shea Van Olm.

The 21-year-old lifted the Ed Chynoweth Cup as a rookie with the Edmonton Oil Kings in 2022 (along with current Chiefs bench boss, Brad Lauer) and battled for the Kamloops Blazers as hosts of the 2023 Memorial Cup.

Van Olm remembers the tremendous leadership of players on both squads and how they handled the pressure of critical moments.

It’s something that’s been on his mind as he embarks on a tremendous final season of junior eligibility.

The 6-foot-1, 199-pound winger leads all WHL skaters with 48 goals and ranks fourth across the entire CHL.

“It’s the last kick of the can,” Van Olm added. “I think every 20-year-old wants their last year to be their best year. That’s kind of what’s come to fruition for me… That’s something that I was thinking about before the year, too. Just kind of leave the WHL on the highest note I can.”

To be clear, Van Olm has been around the top of the goals leaderboard long before Spokane acquired electric Washington Capitals prospect Andrew Cristall at the 2025 WHL Trade Deadline, though the duo and Spokane Captain Berkly Catton (Seattle Kraken) have formed one of, if not the most, potent lines in the Western League.

Cristall is in prime position to claim the CHL scoring title with 121 points (44G-77A) in 52 games and recently became the first WHLers in the 21st century to surpass 400 career points.

Catton has become the fifth player in Chiefs franchise history to record back-to-back 100-plus point seasons.

Not to be outdone, Everett has weathered quite a storm to remain atop the WHL’s overall standings and on-pace to claim the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as WHL regular season champions for the second time in franchise history.

The Silvertips are the third-highest-scoring team in the league and have allowed the second-fewest goals against, despite battling a series of injuries in the second half of the season.

Top 2025 NHL Draft-eligible forward Carter Bear is out indefinitely, but the ‘Tips have a 30-goal scorer in veteran Tyler MacKenzie and have seen Seattle Kraken prospects Kaden Hammell and Julius Miettinen make their return to the ice within the last week.

On the blueline, exceptional-status defenceman Landon DuPont has made history as the first blueliner aged 16 or younger to record 50 points in a season and 2024 Anaheim Ducks pick Tarin Smith has doubled his goal total from last season while surpassing 100 career points.

Everett is one of only two teams (the other being the Vancouver Giants) to have two defencemen breeze past 50 points.

Few have been watching Everett’s incredible run closer than 2024 Silvertips co-captain Austin Roest.

The Nashville Predators prospect had been preparing to embark on his first professional hockey season in September when an injury left him sidelined for five-and-a-half months.

Now healed and ready for action, the 21-year-old has been presented a unique opportunity to get a final chance at battling for a Championship.

“All the years I’ve been in the Dub, I’ve never really had a good chance of going on a long playoff run,” Roest said. “So to see how the team was doing here and to come back to a team like this and hopefully help them out and go on a long playoff run, it’s really exciting. I can’t wait.”

While he admits he had some nerves in his first game back, they were quickly put to rest as the 5-foot-10, 181-pound winger picked up the game-winning goal and an assist against the Tri-City Americans on March 7.

Roest has also been impressed by the closeness and tenacity of the new-look Silvertips and will play an important role when the 2025 WHL Playoffs presented by Nutrien kick off on March 28, 2025.

Spokane currently owns a 3-1-0-0 regular season series lead against the Silvertips that’s seen three games decided by a single goal (one Chiefs win also came in a shootout).

Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m. PST at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena.

All Wednesday Night in the Dub featured games will be free to stream on WHL Live and the WHL’s YouTube Channel.

STAT PACK

	Everett Silvertips	Spokane Chiefs
Record	43-12-4-4 (1st U.S.)	43-18-1-1 (2nd U.S.)
Leading Scorers	Carter Bear (40G-42A, 82PTS) Tyler MacKenzie (32G-43A, 75PTS) Dominik Rymon (28G-36A, 64PTS)	Andrew Cristall (44G-77A, 121PTS) Berkly Catton (38G-67A, 105PTS) Shea Van Olm (48G-42A, 90PTS)
Leading Goaltender	Jesse Sanche (21-9-2-0, 2.79 GAA, .900 save percentage, one shutout)	Dawson Cowan (33-13-0-1) 2.64 GAA, .907 save percentage, four shutouts)
Powerplay	25.3% (9th)	28.9% (1st)
Penalty Kill	78.9% (7th)	82% (2nd)

 

NHL PROSPECTS

Everett Silvertips

F- Austin Roest (Nashville Predators)

F- Julius Miettinen (Seattle Kraken)

D- Eric Jamieson (Calgary Flames)

D- Tarin Smith (Anaheim Ducks)

D- Kaden Hammell (Seattle Kraken)

Spokane Chiefs

F- Berkly Catton (Seattle Kraken)

F- Andrew Cristall (Washington Capitals)

D- Nathan Mayes (Toronto Maple Leafs)

D- Will McIsaac (St. Louis Blues)

D- Saige Weinstein (Colorado Avalanche)

Top 2025 NHL Draft Eligibles (per NHL Central Scouting’s Midterm Rankings of North American Skaters)

Everett Silvertips

F- Carter Bear (11)*

F- Shea Busch (169)

F- Cole Temple (173)

Spokane Chiefs

F- Owen Martin (69)*

F- Asanali Sarkenov (125)

D- Owen Schoettler (131)

*-Unable to participate

Sound Off

Austin Roest

On playing his first hockey of the season and scoring the game-winning-goal on March 7:

A little nervous. I think that was kind of normal coming back. It’s been five and a half months since I played in a full game, so it was definitely a weird feeling. But right when the game started, I kind of settled in pretty nicely, and it felt like home again…A great feeling, especially after having to wait that long to even play a game and to come back and jump right into it and end up scoring the game winner is pretty cool.

On having unfinished business in his final season of junior eligibility:

All the years I’ve been in the Dub, I’ve never really had a good chance of going on a long playoff run. So to see how the team was doing here and to come back to a team like this and hopefully help them out and go on a long playoff run, it’s really exciting. I can’t wait.

On how this season’s Everett squad is different from years past:

I think the biggest difference this year compared to other years has been just how everyone’s close on the team. I think in past years, obviously, people are close, but it’s not this type of close. I think we’ve got a really cool bond on this team. I think that’s going to be one of the main things that takes us far in the playoffs, is just how close we are. We stick together and play the right way, and good things will happen.

On being roommates with former WHL foe and Silvertips rookie Clarke Schaefer’s older brother, Reid Schaefer, in the AHL:

He (Reid) played in Seattle for all of his years in the Western League, so I got to live with him. He actually won the Western league a couple years ago, so he’s been telling me about it, and kind of gives me an idea of what to expect for a long playoff run, hopefully. So, it was pretty cool to live with him. It’s funny, we didn’t really like each other much when we played either, so I couldn’t really stand him, and then I ended up living with him and we’re like best buddies now. It’s pretty cool how the game brings you together like that.

On the message he got from the Nashville Predators after being assigned to Everett:

I think the biggest thing was just going down there and getting my game back, get my confidence back, and then being ready to roll for them, for main camp next year. I think their biggest message is go down to Everett, have fun, play your game and be ready to go for September.

On WHL leading goal-scorer Shea Van Olm:

I think he’s just always in the right spot. Seems like he’s always ready to shoot the puck. He makes plays, fast, strong, works hard, yeah, just a really good player, and definitely need to be aware when he’s on the ice.

Shea Van Olm

On closing in on the 50-goal milestone for the first time in his career:

Super hungry. You know, it was something that I hadn’t really put too much thought into throughout the whole season, but now that it’s just kind of inches away it’s on my mind a bit. Number one goal is to win games. But you know, individual stuff is something that I take pride in, players take pride in. There’s a little something there, for sure.

On leaving a lasting impression in his final season:

It’s the last kick of the can. I think every 20-year-old wants their last year to be their best year. And you know, that’s kind of what’s come to fruition for me… That’s something that I was thinking about before the year, too. Just kind of leave the WHL on the highest note I can.

On what he took away from winning the 2022 WHL Championship with Edmonton as a Rookie:

Being a young guy coming into the league and being on such a star studded lineup, for me, I was just trying to be as big as a sponge as I could and learn from guys like Jake Neighbours (St. Louis Blues) and Kaiden Guhle (Montreal Canadiens), Sebastian Cossa (Detroit Red Wings), Dylan Guenther (Utah Hockey Club)… You can go down the whole roster and we had really good leadership. So just being a leader now on a really good team this year and learning from the leaders I had previously, that’s been a big thing. I was the in-and-out of the lineup type of player and just trying to earn my ice time as much as I could, but the biggest thing for me was just watching how those other guys who were playing the top line minutes and had all the pressure on them and seeing how they handled it. It’s kind of my time to be in their shoes.

On lessons learned from competing with the Kamloops Blazers at the 2023 Memorial Cup

We didn’t win, but we were the host of the Memorial Cup team, and that was a different experience as well, being knocked out in the playoffs, but still having something to play for even after the playoffs. Both of those two teams I was on, you know, learned a lot from tons of great leaders. I bring not only my experience, but the experience from some of my past teammates as well.

On the championship mentality inside the Chiefs’ locker room:

Every team wants to win, and it’s the same in our locker room. Coming into the year, we had the youngest team on paper in the whole league.  Narrowing it down to the end here at the deadline, you know, kudos to our General Manager (Matt Bardsley) for making some great moves and not only good players, but high character guys in the locker room. For sure, something we have our sights on. One thing we’ve been talking about a lot is, you know, what I’ve been telling the guys, is, the group never dies if you win, right? You’ll be friends for life and brothers for life.

On the importance of playoff-style matches against Everett in the home stretch of the regular season:

It’s huge to benchmark yourself against the top team in the league and potential playoff matchup down the road, also. Just seeing different line matchups and obviously seeing the special teams, as well is going to be big. They’re a really good team with us, so you know they’re going to be tight-checking games. I think that’s good for any team going into the playoffs.

On Nashville Predators prospect and Everett Silvertips alternate captain Austin Roest.

He brings a lot of leadership to their team on and off the ice. Obviously, coming back from pro, he got to see what it’s like at the next level. But for his game, I think he’s a fast, 200-foot player that could put the puck in the net and make plays at any spot on the ice. So, you know, it’s been fun to compete with him the last couple years.