Despite the uncertainty of playing in Friday's semifinal game for the Everett Silvertips, Landon DuPont put on a dominant performance to help his team advance to the 2026 Memorial Cup final and is reaching records among exceptional status players.
KELOWNA, B.C.- Landon DuPont has been exceptional at the 2026 Memorial Cup.
After posting two assists over his first two games, the 17-year-old picked up his first two goals of the tournament as the Everett Silvertips defeated the Chicoutimi Sagueneens in the semifinal.
With his goals, DuPont became just the second exceptional status player in CHL history to score at a Memorial Cup, joining Joe Veleno, who scored three times for the Saint John Sea Dogs in 2017.
DuPont's performance was extra special as there was a chance that he would miss Friday's semifinal.
The projected 2027 first-overall pick missed Everett's final round-robin game earlier this week and was listed as a game-time decision by head coach Steve Hamilton. In the end, DuPont was able to return and put together one of his most dominant performances of the Memorial Cup.
"Obviously, a lot of excitement coming into the game," DuPont said after the Silvertips' victory. "You know, I hate watching our team play. I hate being in the crowd. I just wanted to be out there and to get one in the first. Almost felt like a relief. I was just super happy to be back and playing, and to get those two goals felt good."
Receiving exceptional status in the CHL can put a lot of pressure on a player. Only two have received the designation in the WHL, with DuPont joining Connor Bedard in the exclusive club.
Not only are there challenges for the player, but also for the coaching staff, as they need to ensure that whoever gets the designation is ready for the challenge.
"Landon's situation was unique," Hamilton said. There's only been less than two handfuls, I guess, of them that have come into the league. A big part of what we wanted to do is make sure that Landon had the opportunity to be Landon. And he would decide how much he could take in, and became pretty apparent, I would say only a practice or two before we all realized this kid's probably going to make the team.
"He's taking it from there... But yeah, it was all about just making sure that we gave him the space to be who he needed to be. Our organization allowed him to be him, and you know, hockey-wise, not a lot of time spent on going over things time and time again. (He) picks things up quickly," the Silvertips bench boss added.
Letting Landon "be Landon" has worked out well for Hamilton and Everett over the last two years. He was named CHL Rookie of the Year in 2025 and put up 23 points in 18 playoff games this year en route to a WHL championship. The bigger the stage, the better DuPont seems to get, as evidenced by his four points and 13 shots in three games at the 2026 Memorial Cup.
"In a game like this, it's win or go home, and no guy wanted to go home," said DuPont on Friday. "So, I think we did a good job at showing up. Just mentally, it's not hard getting up from your nap and heading to this game. The whole atmosphere being in Kelowna. It's been really cool, but we got one more big game on Sunday, and it's gonna be good to hopefully get that one."
With a win on Sunday, DuPont would join Sean Day and Michael Misa as the only exceptional status players in CHL history to win the Memorial Cup.
DuPont is also one point away from tying Misa's record for points by an exceptional status player at the historic tournament. Ultimately, if the Silvertips want to capture their first-ever Memorial Cup, they will need DuPont to have yet another exceptional performance.
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