Silvertips’ Hart is The Herald’s 2016 Man of the Year in Sports

For a junior hockey player, it would be hard to have a much more accomplished year than the one Everett Silvertips goaltender Carter Hart had in 2016. In the calendar year, Hart:

— Finished the 2015-16 season 35-23-1-3 with a 2.14 goals-against average and .918 save percentage, leading the WHL in wins and finishing second in goals-against average.

— Won both the WHL and Canadian Hockey League Goaltender of the Year awards.

— Was selected in the second round (48th overall) of the NHL draft by the Philadelphia Flyers, later signing his first professional contract with the team.

— Was named to Team Canada for the World Junior Hockey Championships.

That’s quite the list of accomplishments for someone who didn’t turn 18 years old until August. And it’s the reason why Hart is the Herald’s Man of the Year in Sports for 2016.

“It went by pretty fast,” Hart said about the events of 2016 and beyond. “It’s crazy to think the 2016-17 season is already over, it feels like just yesterday that I was in my 16-year-old year. It’s crazy that the draft happened almost a year ago, it’s gone by just like that. I guess time flies when you’re having fun.”

Hart spent 2016 doing rare things for a Silvertips organization that’s now completed 14 seasons. He became just the 10th player in franchise history to be selected in the first two rounds of the NHL draft, including just the third goaltender, joining Leland Irving (first round 2006) and Kent Simpson (second round 2010). He and teammate Noah Juulsen were just the third and fourth Everett players ever to make Canada’s team for World Juniors.

And the Goalie of the Year Awards? Not only was he the first Everett goalie to win the WHL award, he was the first Silvertip to ever win a CHL award (which includes the WHL, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League) of any kind.

“I think it was outstanding,” Silvertips general manager Garry Davidson said about Hart’s 2016. “He was deserving of everything that came his way, from the Goalie of the Year awards to the draft to making the Canada World Juniors team. He’s a young man who from day one here was very driven, very focused and mature beyond his years. He doesn’t lack for self confidence, but he doesn’t express it in a negative way. When he came in at 16 he said he’d be the No. 1 goalie sooner rather than later, but he didn’t say it in a derogatory way toward anyone.

“One of the things that’s interesting about him is that as a goalie he tries to garner information from various sources,” Davidson continued. “He doesn’t have just one goalie coach, he uses several. A lot of young goalies use just one goalie coach, but he uses (Everett’s Shane Clifford) and three-to-four other guys. He’s trying to glean information from each and every person out there.”

In 2016 Hart made the transition from his 17-year-old to his 18-year-old season. That is often an important stage of a hockey player’s development. Players are at an age when they’re still growing and developing physically, something Hart did — he’s now listed at 6-foot-2 and 180 pounds, up two inches and 15 pounds from when he arrived in Everett. And going from 17 to 18, a player is expected to take the step from having potential to being a core contributor.

But the season after being drafted can also be a tricky one. Sometimes players take a small step back, letting up after achieving the goal of getting drafted.

That wasn’t the case of Hart. He followed up 2015-16 with an even better season in 2016-17, going 32-11-6-2 and leading the league in both goals-against average (1.99) and save percentage (.927) as he led Everett to a U.S. Division title. He’s once again been nominated for the WHL Goaltender of the Year award, and if he wins as expected he’ll be the league’s first repeat winner since Tri-City’s Chet Pickard in 2009. Should he win the WHL award he’ll have a chance to repeat as the CHL winner, a feat that has never been accomplished.

“I think the proof is in the pudding, just look at his statistics,” Davidson said. “We had 100 points as a team and that has a ton to do with his goaltending. He had lots of shutouts and one-goal games, so there were a lot of nights where he was the difference in the game. He didn’t regress in any way, he continued to move in a positive manner.”

Where does his game move from here? Hart is expected back in Everett next season for his 19-year-old campaign. However, Hart has loftier ambitions.

“Not a lot of 19-year-old goaltenders make it to the NHL, but that’s one of my goals for next year,” Hart said. “As much as I like playing in Everett, one of my goals is to not be playing in Everett next year. People say that it’s really unlikely, but it’s a goal to work towards and it provides motivation — and it’s something I really want,”

And as Hart showed in 2016, when he wants something he often gets it.