Published: Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Silvertips help with good deed
The team lobbies the WHL to change its rules so a college scholarship earned by a former player, who died tragically, can be used by his older brother.
Each year hundreds of former WHL players attend college using the scholarships they earned while playing in the league. Last week the league released the list of players using their WHL scholarships this school year, with 253 alumni attending various Canadian and American colleges and universities with the WHL’s aid.
This year 18 players are using scholarships earned while playing with the Everett Silvertips. Another 12 former Tips are using scholarships earned while playing for other WHL teams.
But one name among those 30 players with Everett ties was unexpected:
Tyler Mistelbacher.
Mistelbacher never played for the Silvertips. Indeed, he never played in the WHL. However, a change in the league rules governing scholarships has allowed Mistelbacher to use the scholarship earned by his deceased brother, former Everett left wing Jordan Mistelbacher.
“It’s a very terrible thing that happened, something that touched our lives drastically last year and the lives of the Mistelbacher family and all their friends,” Everett general manager Doug Soetaert said. “It’s just a little bit that the league can do to pay back what Jordan had earned here.”
Jordan Mistelbacher, who spent parts of three seasons with the Tips, died tragically last January. Just days after being reassigned by Everett at the trade deadline, he was found dead following a night out celebrating his birthday with friends in his hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba. He was 19.
WHL players earn one year’s worth of college scholarship for each season played in the league. Therefore, Jordan Mistelbacher had accrued scholarship money that wouldn’t have been used.
The Mistelbacher family approached the Silvertips about the possibility of transfering the scholarship to Tyler Mistelbacher, Jordan Mistelbacher’s older brother who was attending college.
“There’s a growth of funds that have built up from (Jordan Mistelbacher’s) time here that would basically have gone unused,” Soetaert said. “We talked to the parents and they were wondering if it could be transferred. We took it to the league and presented it to the board of governors.”
The transfer of a WHL scholarship was something that had never happened in WHL history. But the Tips brought the idea to the board during the summer and it was discussed over the course of several meetings. The board then voted in September to approve the ability to confer the scholarship of a deceased player to a sibling currently attending college. The vote was unanimous.
As a result, Tyler Mistelbacher is attending Utah State with the aid of the Tips.
The WHL hopes this situation never arises again. But at least now there’s a mechanism in place where instead of being wasted, those scholarships can be used, as well as honor the deceased player’s memory.
Three Tips ranked for NHL draft
The NHL Central Scouting Bureau released its preliminary rankings for the 2010 NHL draft Tuesday, with three Everett players among those making the WHL list.
Everett had two skaters among the 25 ranked by the Central Scouting Bureau. Defenseman Radko Gudas came in at No. 21 among WHL skaters, despite the fact the 19-year-old rookie from the Czech Republic has already been passed over in two NHL drafts. Fellow defenseman Alex Theriau came in at No. 23.
Kent Simpson was ranked second among the six WHL goaltenders ranked.
Prince George forward Brett Connolly and Seattle goaltender Calvin Pickard were the top-rated players from the WHL.
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
This year 18 players are using scholarships earned while playing with the Everett Silvertips. Another 12 former Tips are using scholarships earned while playing for other WHL teams.
But one name among those 30 players with Everett ties was unexpected:
Tyler Mistelbacher.
Mistelbacher never played for the Silvertips. Indeed, he never played in the WHL. However, a change in the league rules governing scholarships has allowed Mistelbacher to use the scholarship earned by his deceased brother, former Everett left wing Jordan Mistelbacher.
“It’s a very terrible thing that happened, something that touched our lives drastically last year and the lives of the Mistelbacher family and all their friends,” Everett general manager Doug Soetaert said. “It’s just a little bit that the league can do to pay back what Jordan had earned here.”
Jordan Mistelbacher, who spent parts of three seasons with the Tips, died tragically last January. Just days after being reassigned by Everett at the trade deadline, he was found dead following a night out celebrating his birthday with friends in his hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba. He was 19.
WHL players earn one year’s worth of college scholarship for each season played in the league. Therefore, Jordan Mistelbacher had accrued scholarship money that wouldn’t have been used.
The Mistelbacher family approached the Silvertips about the possibility of transfering the scholarship to Tyler Mistelbacher, Jordan Mistelbacher’s older brother who was attending college.
“There’s a growth of funds that have built up from (Jordan Mistelbacher’s) time here that would basically have gone unused,” Soetaert said. “We talked to the parents and they were wondering if it could be transferred. We took it to the league and presented it to the board of governors.”
The transfer of a WHL scholarship was something that had never happened in WHL history. But the Tips brought the idea to the board during the summer and it was discussed over the course of several meetings. The board then voted in September to approve the ability to confer the scholarship of a deceased player to a sibling currently attending college. The vote was unanimous.
As a result, Tyler Mistelbacher is attending Utah State with the aid of the Tips.
The WHL hopes this situation never arises again. But at least now there’s a mechanism in place where instead of being wasted, those scholarships can be used, as well as honor the deceased player’s memory.
Three Tips ranked for NHL draft
The NHL Central Scouting Bureau released its preliminary rankings for the 2010 NHL draft Tuesday, with three Everett players among those making the WHL list.
Everett had two skaters among the 25 ranked by the Central Scouting Bureau. Defenseman Radko Gudas came in at No. 21 among WHL skaters, despite the fact the 19-year-old rookie from the Czech Republic has already been passed over in two NHL drafts. Fellow defenseman Alex Theriau came in at No. 23.
Kent Simpson was ranked second among the six WHL goaltenders ranked.
Prince George forward Brett Connolly and Seattle goaltender Calvin Pickard were the top-rated players from the WHL.
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
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