The Everett Silvertips were back at practice Thursday after taking Wednesday off for a team bonding trip to the Naval Air Station on Whidbey Island. We have more on that in Friday’s paper, but it sounds like it was a fun and enlightening experience for the team.
Prince George comes to town Friday and Vancouver will be at Xfinity on Saturday. As is its custom Everett worked on its special teams – power play and penalty kill – for a while at the end of practice.
Head coach Kevin Constantine has been pleased with the chances the power play has been created. The Tips rotated several players through the power play and penalty kill groups.
“There are guys that have certain skill sets plus you need variety out there because we got 15 forwards right now so you don’t know who is going to dress,” Constantine said. “Anyone who is going to dress has to be schooled on what our power play is. We have a lot of different people that need to get repetitions to be ready for that.”
We’ll see how that plays out tomorrow. All 24 players were on the ice today including Lucas Skrumeda, who has practiced all week despite being listed as out one-to-two weeks on the WHL injury report.
Everett split at Prince George to open the season, but that doesn’t hold much weight for the coaching staff.
“There is more familiarity than there would be with Brandon rolling in for one game a year, but it’s very different than playing Portland like we did for the fifth time,” Constantine said. “It’s not that kind familiarity.”
In other news:
– There was a sad announcement from the league Thursday as WHL co-founder Delbert “Del” Wilson died Thursday morning in Campbell River, B.C.
The Saskatchewan-born Wilson helped create the league in 1966 and also helped bring the WHL, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey league to form what is now the Canadian Hockey League.
A former goaltender for the Regina Abbotts and Regina Pats, Wilson went on to become a long-time amateur hockey coach and a scout for the Montreal Canadiens. He later became part owner of the Pats and led their transition from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League back to the WHL, and was the Pats’ general manager for six seasons.
The WHL Goaltender of the year earns the award that bears his name. You can read the full release from the league here.
– The Tips are happy to get a break from the Portland Winterhawks and particularly goaltender Adin Hill. Scott Sepich has this feature on the WHL Goaltender of the Month.
– The Spokane Chiefs solved their overage situation Thursday when they traded overage forward Luke Harrison to Brandon for a 2016 draft pick. Harrison played just seven games for Spokane after he was claimed in the October cut-down draft. Spokane also claimed goaltender Lasse Petersen off waivers from Calgary.
– Vancouver announced Thursday it had acquired overage goaltender Daniel Wapple from Regina for a fourth round pick in the 2017 bantam draft. The Giants waived 20-year-old forward Taylor Crunk.
– Jamal Watson returned Wednesday for Seattle, but the Thunderbirds are still waiting for the return of Scott Eansor. Seattle has lost three straight and are in the midst of their Central Division swing.
– Sportsnet announced its CHL coverage Thursday. It begins with the Canada-Russia Series on Monday night. The schedule also includes Friday Night Hockey the 2016 BMO CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game and the 2016 MasterCard Memorial Cup.
Follow Silvertips writer Jesse Geleynse on Twitter @jessegeleynse.
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