Everett Silvertips head coach Kevin Constantine was named the WHL’s Coach of Year in 2004 after leading the Tips to their only Western Conference title in their first season. That remains the only time a Tips mentor has earned the honor in the 13-year history of the franchise.
This year’s Western Conference award went to Dave Lowry of the Scotty Munro Trophy-winning Victoria Royals and deservedly so. However, you have to think the job done by Constantine, as well as assistants Brennan Sonne and Mitch Love, was a big reason why the Tips exceeded expectations by finishing second in the division and reaching the second round of the playoffs.
Like the 2014-15 division-winning squad, this year’s version of the Tips didn’t scare opponents. Yet the Tips were almost never out of a contest regardless of the opponent. Everett took defending Eastern Conference champion Brandon to a shootout, went 3-1 against defending WHL champion Kelowna, and even held a 6-2-1-1 mark against the Seattle Thunderbirds. That’s a credit to the job the staff did in getting the team prepared and focused.
Everett had just two drafted players – Noah Juulsen and Brycen Martin – on this year’s team, and only goaltender Carter Hart is a sure bet to be taken in this year’s draft. Contrast that with Portland, the team Everett swept in the first round of the playoffs (seven NHL draftees) and Seattle, the team that knocked Everett out (four).
Sonne and Love are often on the ice before and after practice working with the players in their respective units. Love runs the defense while Sonne runs the power play and helps Constantine coach the offense.
“They were involved in every single facet of what we did,” Constantine said. “Mitch meets individually with the defensemen individually and as a group, and he’s very involved in the behind-the-scenes management of the team (such as securing ice time and planning itineraries).
“I try to take a macro look at the game,” Constantine added. “I’m trying to watch everything during the game so I don’t have time to always stop and talk to individual on the bench so Brennan does that. Plus Brennan does an awful lot of the individual video work with those players on a game-to-game basis. He’s more involved on a personal level because he’s meeting with them one-on-one more than I am.”
Another means to judge the effectiveness of the coaching staff was the buy-in from the players. That idea came up time and time again – that the 20 skaters believed in their coaches and believed in what they were being told to do, and that in turn led to a collective effort greater than the sum of its parts.
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