Silvertips head into tonight’s game as WHL’s least-penalized team

EVERETT — Teams that play Everett Silvertips shouldn’t expect their power plays to carry them to victory.

Chances are their power-play units won’t see the ice that much.

Everett’s 2014-15 season is one-sixth of the way completed, and once again the Tips are showing themselves to be one of the Western Hockey League’s most disciplined teams when it comes to penalties.

“We talked about it from day one — even coming from last year when we were one of the more disciplined teams in the league,” said Tips center Kohl Bauml, who’s taken just one minor penalty this season. “We don’t want to take penalties because you’re either going to be sitting in the box or sitting on the bench.

“We pride ourselves on being one of the most disciplined, if not the most disciplined, team in the league.”

Everett heads into tonight’s game at Kamloops as the WHL’s least-penalized team. The Tips were whistled for just 99 minutes of penalties in their first 12 games, by far the lowest amount in the league. By comparison, the next least-penalized team is Prince Albert, which had 137 penalty minutes in 13 games. Prince George, the most-penalized team in the league, spent a whopping 375 minutes in the box in its first 16 games.

As a result, opponents don’t get many power-play chances against Everett. The Tips were short-handed just 34 times in their first 12 games, less than three times per game. Prince Albert again was the nearest team, being short-handed 39 times. After that, the next best were Medicine Hat and Kootenay, each short-handed 51 times. Prince George was on the kill 92 times, almost three times as often as the Tips.

This is no fluke. Last season, Everett was also the least-penalized team in the league with 816 penalty minutes in 72 contests. The Tips were short-handed the second-fewest times in the league at 221, just seven more times than league-leading Kootenay.

The Tips’ discipline with regards to penalties goes up and down the entire roster. Just two individuals have cracked double digits in penalty minutes — defenseman Tristen Pfeifer has 13, winger Brayden Low has 12. Center Ivan Nikolishin and defenseman Kevin Davis have played in all 12 contests without having been whistled for a penalty.

So what’s the key to Everett’s discipline?

“I think it’s just our work ethic,” Bauml said. “We don’t really try to use our sticks, we use more body position than anything. We know there are skilled players in this league and if we take penalties they’re going to hurt us. I think that’s always in the back of our minds and it’s been drilled into our heads that we have to be disciplined and let them be the ones to take penalties.”

Meanwhile, Everett has received a standard number of power plays. Through 12 games the Tips had 61 power plays. That total ranks 11th among the WHL’s 22 teams. However, because Everett has played the fewest games, those 61 total power plays are good enough to rank the Tips fifth in power plays per game. The overall result is the Tips have been on the power play nearly double the number of times as their opponents.

The payoff in terms of goals has been modest. Everett has scored 13 power-play goals and given up eight. The Tips also allowed one short-handed goal while not scoring any themselves. Therefore, the power-play differential has resulted in just four additional goals.

Part of the reason the difference in goals isn’t as great as the difference in power plays is Everett’s lack of efficiency on the penalty kill. The Tips may not be short-handed often, but when they are the opposition has had success converting. Everett’s 76.5-percent success rate on the penalty kill ranks just 17th in the WHL. Its possible the Tips are on the penalty kill so infrequently they just don’t’ get enough practice in game situations.

“I think maybe we just need to be more detailed and more prepared for when we do have to go on the penalty kill,” said defenseman Ben Betker, whose cut his penalty rate from 1.50 minutes per game last season to 0.73 per game this season. “I trust our team on the penalty kill. I guess when you’re not getting the same amount of reps it affects you, but we’re not looking to make excuses.”

However, there are benefits to having more power plays that go beyond just goals.

“When you’re having to chase the puck it’s a lot more tiring than when you’ve got the puck,” Bauml said. “It’s definitely helped us. There’s some games where we had a lot of energy left, especially in games where the other team has been on the penalty kill. They start to wear out a little bit and that’s strictly because they have to chase the puck when we’ve got it. Those power plays and penalty kills, they definitely play into fatigue in the game.”

And they’ve definitely played a part in Everett’s 8-1-2-1 start to the season.

Slap shots

The Memorial Cup will be at Xfinity Arena on Saturday. The Tips announced Tuesday that their opponents Saturday, the defending Memorial Cup-champion Edmonton Oil Kings, will have the cup with them. It will be on display for fans during the game. … Seattle Thunderbirds coach Steve Konowalchuk was fined $750 by the league for his comments about the officiating following last Saturday’s game in Everett. Konowalchuk criticized the officiating after the Tips won 2-1 in overtime. Everett scored the winner just after a power play that came as a result of a high-sticking penalty Konowalchuk claimed was embellished by Tips defenseman Cole MacDonald.

Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.