Published: Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Everett loves its taste of the NHL
Hockey fans warmly welcome the pro game to town, but cheer loudest for former Silvertip Shaun Heshka
EVERETT — The NHL came to Everett on Tuesday night, but despite the presence of several NHL standouts on the ice, hockey fans at Comcast Arena reserved their biggest cheers for one they consider their own.
Former Everett Silvertip Shaun Heshka, a player who has yet to register a minute in the NHL, received the loudest ovations during Tuesday’s NHL exhibition between the Phoenix Coyotes and Tampa Bay Lightning.
Tampa Bay won the game 2-1 thanks to two goals from Jeff Halpern and 32 saves from goaltender Mike Smith. Yet it was Heshka, a career minor-league defenseman merely trying to crack Phoenix’s roster, who drew the lavish affections of the 7,281 fans at the game.
“I wouldn’t say I was expecting (the ovation),” said Heshka, who acknowledged the crowd’s cheers with a little wave when put on the video board during a third-period stoppage. “I know the fans here, they’re very passionate about their team and very loud. It’s heartwarming that they appreciate me as a player.”
Heshka was left alone to accept the cheers as Phoenix’s other former Silvertip, forward Peter Mueller, was unable to play after tweaking a groin muscle during practice Monday. Mueller took the morning skate and tried to talk himself into the lineup, but the Coyotes weren’t about to risk the health of one of their best young players in an exhibition game.
“It was obviously disappointing, I wanted to play for all the fans who supported me through the two years I was here,” Mueller said.
“It’s one of those times where you don’t realize how much you miss it until you get off the plane and start seeing familiar faces,” Mueller added. “You come to the rink and it’s like I’m coming here all over again.”
Mueller wasn’t the only absence Tuesday. Also missing was Phoenix coach Wayne Gretzky. Hockey’s “Great One” has been forced away from the team throughout the preseason because he is one of the team’s minority owners, and the franchise is currently undergoing bankruptcy litigation. All of Tampa Bay’s big names — Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman — were also on the scratch list.
But that seemed to matter little to the fans in attendance, who were prepared to cheer for anything and everything during the NHL’s first visit to Everett — and the first time the NHL has been to the Puget Sound region since Gretzky’s Los Angeles Kings and the Pittsburgh Penguins played an exhibition game in Tacoma in 1992. Before the gates opened, the line to get into the building stretched the length of Hewitt Avenue along the Everett Events Center, many of the fans clad in brick red Phoenix Coyotes jerseys and T-shirts bearing Mueller’s No. 88. Then during the game the fans shouted with glee for every goal, hit and scoring attempt.
There were also several familiar names who passed through Comcast Arena as opposing WHL players in recent years. Tampa Bay had former Spokane goaltender and Silvertip nemesis Dustin Tokarski in reserve, while the likes of former and current Vancouver stars Andrej Meszaros and James Wright were among the handful of other former WHLers who took part.
Phoenix was the home team and the crowd treated it as such, with chants of, “Let’s go Cay-Yotes,” started up at intervals.
However, it wasn’t enough to propel Phoenix to victory. Despite outshooting the Lightning 33-18, Petr Prucha’s goal was all the Coyotes could muster.
“I thought we started a little slow,” said Heshka, who nearly scored a goal on a lucky deflection early in the third period which would have tied it at 2-2. “The second and third period we got our feet going. Tampa Bay plays a real tight defense, they clog up the middle. We were trying to get in there, we had our chances, we just didn’t bury them.”
Neither team was able to find the net in the first period. The best chances fell to Phoenix, but Smith’s lunging stick save denied Radim Vrbata’s wraparound attempt, and Prucha fired wide when found on a two-on-one.
The game then picked up steam in the second period. Tampa Bay jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to a pair of goals from Halpern, the first coming on a rebound on the power play at 2 minutes, 32 seconds, the second coming when he dived over a prone defenseman to poke in a loose puck in the crease at 5:18.
Phoenix got one back at 10:35 when Vrbata’s cross-crease pass banked in off Prucha’s skate to make it 2-1. But the Coyotes were unable to get anything else past Smith.
Lightning 2, Coyotes 1
Tampa Bay 0 2 0 — 2
Phoenix 0 1 0 — 1
First Period—None. Penalties—Craig, TB (roughing), 8:33; Lombardi, Pho (roughing), 8:33; Krajicek, TB (holding stick), 15:12.
Second Period—1, Tampa Bay, Halpern 1 (Wright, Meszaros), 2:33 (pp). 2, Tampa Bay, Halpern 2 (Wright, Miller), 5:18. 3, Phoenix, Prucha 1 (Vrbata, Hanzal), 10:34. Penalties—Aucoin, Pho (roughing), 2:24; Smolenak, TB (high-sticking), 6:57; Krajicek, TB (hooking), 11:19.
Third Period—None. Penalties—Lombardi, Pho (tripping), 1:40.
Shots on Goal—Tampa Bay 3-8-6—17. Phoenix 9-12-10—31.
Power-play opportunities—Tampa Bay 1 of 2; Phoenix 0 of 3.
Goalies—Tampa Bay, Smith 1-0-0 (31 shots-30 saves). Phoenix, Bryzgalov 1-1-0 (17-15).
A— 7,281 (8,513). T—2:30.
Referees—Dennis LaRue, Tim Peel. Linesmen—Vaughan Rody, Jay Sharrers.
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
Former Everett Silvertip Shaun Heshka, a player who has yet to register a minute in the NHL, received the loudest ovations during Tuesday’s NHL exhibition between the Phoenix Coyotes and Tampa Bay Lightning.
Tampa Bay won the game 2-1 thanks to two goals from Jeff Halpern and 32 saves from goaltender Mike Smith. Yet it was Heshka, a career minor-league defenseman merely trying to crack Phoenix’s roster, who drew the lavish affections of the 7,281 fans at the game.
“I wouldn’t say I was expecting (the ovation),” said Heshka, who acknowledged the crowd’s cheers with a little wave when put on the video board during a third-period stoppage. “I know the fans here, they’re very passionate about their team and very loud. It’s heartwarming that they appreciate me as a player.”
Heshka was left alone to accept the cheers as Phoenix’s other former Silvertip, forward Peter Mueller, was unable to play after tweaking a groin muscle during practice Monday. Mueller took the morning skate and tried to talk himself into the lineup, but the Coyotes weren’t about to risk the health of one of their best young players in an exhibition game.
“It was obviously disappointing, I wanted to play for all the fans who supported me through the two years I was here,” Mueller said.
“It’s one of those times where you don’t realize how much you miss it until you get off the plane and start seeing familiar faces,” Mueller added. “You come to the rink and it’s like I’m coming here all over again.”
Mueller wasn’t the only absence Tuesday. Also missing was Phoenix coach Wayne Gretzky. Hockey’s “Great One” has been forced away from the team throughout the preseason because he is one of the team’s minority owners, and the franchise is currently undergoing bankruptcy litigation. All of Tampa Bay’s big names — Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman — were also on the scratch list.
But that seemed to matter little to the fans in attendance, who were prepared to cheer for anything and everything during the NHL’s first visit to Everett — and the first time the NHL has been to the Puget Sound region since Gretzky’s Los Angeles Kings and the Pittsburgh Penguins played an exhibition game in Tacoma in 1992. Before the gates opened, the line to get into the building stretched the length of Hewitt Avenue along the Everett Events Center, many of the fans clad in brick red Phoenix Coyotes jerseys and T-shirts bearing Mueller’s No. 88. Then during the game the fans shouted with glee for every goal, hit and scoring attempt.
There were also several familiar names who passed through Comcast Arena as opposing WHL players in recent years. Tampa Bay had former Spokane goaltender and Silvertip nemesis Dustin Tokarski in reserve, while the likes of former and current Vancouver stars Andrej Meszaros and James Wright were among the handful of other former WHLers who took part.
Phoenix was the home team and the crowd treated it as such, with chants of, “Let’s go Cay-Yotes,” started up at intervals.
However, it wasn’t enough to propel Phoenix to victory. Despite outshooting the Lightning 33-18, Petr Prucha’s goal was all the Coyotes could muster.
“I thought we started a little slow,” said Heshka, who nearly scored a goal on a lucky deflection early in the third period which would have tied it at 2-2. “The second and third period we got our feet going. Tampa Bay plays a real tight defense, they clog up the middle. We were trying to get in there, we had our chances, we just didn’t bury them.”
Neither team was able to find the net in the first period. The best chances fell to Phoenix, but Smith’s lunging stick save denied Radim Vrbata’s wraparound attempt, and Prucha fired wide when found on a two-on-one.
The game then picked up steam in the second period. Tampa Bay jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to a pair of goals from Halpern, the first coming on a rebound on the power play at 2 minutes, 32 seconds, the second coming when he dived over a prone defenseman to poke in a loose puck in the crease at 5:18.
Phoenix got one back at 10:35 when Vrbata’s cross-crease pass banked in off Prucha’s skate to make it 2-1. But the Coyotes were unable to get anything else past Smith.
Lightning 2, Coyotes 1
Tampa Bay 0 2 0 — 2
Phoenix 0 1 0 — 1
First Period—None. Penalties—Craig, TB (roughing), 8:33; Lombardi, Pho (roughing), 8:33; Krajicek, TB (holding stick), 15:12.
Second Period—1, Tampa Bay, Halpern 1 (Wright, Meszaros), 2:33 (pp). 2, Tampa Bay, Halpern 2 (Wright, Miller), 5:18. 3, Phoenix, Prucha 1 (Vrbata, Hanzal), 10:34. Penalties—Aucoin, Pho (roughing), 2:24; Smolenak, TB (high-sticking), 6:57; Krajicek, TB (hooking), 11:19.
Third Period—None. Penalties—Lombardi, Pho (tripping), 1:40.
Shots on Goal—Tampa Bay 3-8-6—17. Phoenix 9-12-10—31.
Power-play opportunities—Tampa Bay 1 of 2; Phoenix 0 of 3.
Goalies—Tampa Bay, Smith 1-0-0 (31 shots-30 saves). Phoenix, Bryzgalov 1-1-0 (17-15).
A— 7,281 (8,513). T—2:30.
Referees—Dennis LaRue, Tim Peel. Linesmen—Vaughan Rody, Jay Sharrers.
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
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