EVERETT — Wyatte Wylie had no intention of playing hockey.
Speedskating was the sport of choice for Wylie and his older brother, Wade, until they went looking for an ice rink on which to practice. It was there, at Xfinity Arena, that the Wylie boys stumbled into hockey.
“(Our parents) got us into (speedskating) because we have a roller rink right next to our house,” Wylie said. Discovering hockey “was an accident, honestly.”
It turned out to be a fortuitous accident. In 2014 Wyatte Wylie became the first Everett Youth Hockey player drafted by the Everett Silvertips. He was picked in the seventh round of the bantam draft. Wylie attended Silvertips camp last year, though he wasn’t eligible to play a full season in the Western Hockey League as a 15-year-old.
This year, the Arlington High School sophomore is eligible for the roster and looking to be the first Snohomish County hockey player to suit up in a game for the Silvertips.
“Last year I figured I wanted to get noticed,” Wylie said. “I came here just to show them what I was made of. This year, I’m bringing it back with even more and seeing what can happen.”
Wylie saw plenty of ice time Friday as the 80-some players at this weekend’s Silvertips camp began the first of two days of scrimmages leading up to Sunday’s Grey and Green Game. Wylie is a defenseman for the Blue Squad, which won both its games Friday by scores of 5-4 and 5-2.
“He’s had a good day (Friday) so it’s going to be interesting to see as we go along,” Silvertips general manager Garry Davidson said. “It’s still early, but he’s had a very good day. We drafted him for a reason. We liked him as a youth player.”
Wylie was the third Snohomish County player ever selected by the Silvertips. Everett picked Mill Creek defenseman Daniel Woolfenden in the seventh round in 2012, then took Stanwood defenseman Connor Nobach in Round 5 in 2013.
The Silvertips also took Wylie’s Everett Junior Silvertips teammate Brendan Studioso in the 2014 bantam draft, but Studioso is not at camp this year.
This is the second year that Everett Youth Hockey has been under the auspices of the Silvertips organization. Davidson said seeing a local player such as Wylie excel can help inspire other players in the Everett Youth Hockey organization, though the program’s intent isn’t necessarily to be a feeder program.
“We saw it as growing the game,” Davidson said. “When you’re growing the game, you hope you’re producing hockey players. You hope you’re producing coaches, referees, fans and maybe corporate support for us, too.”
Being drafted by Everett was a dream that came true for Wylie, who has been going to Silvertips games for much of his life. He hasn’t speedskated since he found hockey.
“Oh, I wanted to (quit speedskating),” he said with a smile. “I fell in love with hockey after my first skate.”
Since he wasn’t eligible last season, he spent the year with the Junior Silvertips’ 16-under midget team.
“I wish I could have skated more with these guys,” he said, referring to the Silvertips. “I got in a few practices — like four or five — I wish I could have skated more and shown them what I’ve got. But it was a pretty successful (midget) season.”
Notes
Team Grey defeated Team Green 2-1 in overtime during the first scrimmage Friday. Team Blue defeated Team Red 5-4 to wrap up the morning session. Team Blue defeated Team Grey 5-2 and Team Green defeated Team Red 3-2 in the afternoon session. … Returning Everett defenseman and Montreal Canadiens draftee Noah Juulsen did not participate Thursday. He sustained a concussion away from the arena on Wednesday, Davidson said.
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