Kelowna, B.C.- They’re a long way from Speedy Creek, but former Swift Current Broncos Peyton Kettles and Rylan Gould are ready to get out of the stable and onto the ice with their new clubs at the 2026 Memorial Cup.
The pair suited up for parts of three seasons with the Broncos before Gould was traded to the Everett Silvertips and Kettles was acquired by the Kelowna Rockets three games into the 2025-26 season.
Kettles, 18, missed the bulk of the campaign with a shoulder injury that required surgery, but recovered in time to skate in the host squad’s Memorial Cup-opening game.
The 6-foot-6, 198-pound rearguard also signed his entry-level contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins in November after being selected with the 39th overall pick in the second round of the 2025 NHL Draft.
“It’s definitely been a long journey, painful too, but just super excited to be able to be on this team and play in the tournament with the guys,” Kettles said after Kelowna’s match against Kitchener.
Gould, 20, is capping off his major junior career in style after winning the West with the Silvertips.
The 5-foot-10, 180-pound forward assisted Everett’s game-tying goal en route to a 5-3 win over the Chicoutimi Sagueneens in their tournament opener, and logged a goal and a helper in a 6-2 loss to the Kitchener Rangers.
While the pair have caught up briefly in Kelowna, it’s largely friends off for the Manitobans- Kettles from Winnipeg, and Gould from Headingley, heading into the high-stakes tilt.
“I’m excited,” Gould said on Tuesday morning. “Peyton’s a good player, glad to see him healthy. You never really want to see anyone hurt or sidelined for that long, so it’s good to see that he’s healthy, but yeah, he won’t be my friend tomorrow.”
“I think it’s going to be pretty fun to play against him,” Kettles added. “Obviously, guys get traded, and all that stuff, but it’s gonna be cool to play against him. (I) train with him in summer, so it’s gonna be a lot of fun.”
There’s plenty on the line as Kelowna hunts for its first win of the Memorial Cup and Everett fights to keep its sparkling record of zero back-to-back losses alive.
An Everett win would eliminate Kelowna, while a single-goal Rockets win would send Everett to the semifinal and set up a tiebreaker game between Kelowna and Chicoutimi.
If Kelowna wins by two or more goals, the Rockets will advance to the semifinal and the Silvertips and Sagueneens will face off in the tiebreaker.
The round-robin finale begins at 6:00 p.m. PT on Wednesday, May 27.
