Silvertips overagers bonded by their common experience

EVERETT — The strings at the front of the jersey pose a bit of a conundrum.

Fresh from a post-practice shower, with wet, black bangs flopping on his forehead, Patrick Bajkov is flummoxed by the strings and asks Matt Fonteyne for help. The strings are part of Everett’s 15th anniversary throwback jerseys, which are modeled after the old Detroit Red Wings jerseys that predate the time Fonteyne’s grandfather, Val, laced up his skates in the Motor City.

Bajkov and Fonteyne give up and join fellow overage Silvertip Kevin Davis for a photo shoot, while a cadre of younger teammates watches from a hallway in the bowels of Xfinity Arena.

Those young eyes will be on Davis, Bajkov and Fonteyne all season.

“With the young team that we’ve got this year, it’s going to be important to educate them about what they have (coming) in the years to follow,” Bajkov said. “Obviously every game is going to be important with this being our last year.”

The trio of Bajkov, Fonteyne and Davis have a chance to rank among the best overage groupings the Tips have ever assembled. All three are within a full season of breaking Shane Harper’s club record for games played at 335. Bajkov already ranks fifth in franchise history in assists (109) and points (188), and is tied for fifth in goals (79). Davis ranks seventh in assists (93).

They have been a part of two U.S. Division title-winning teams. That includes last season when the Tips finished with the best record in the Western Conference, only to bow out in the second round of the playoffs for the third straight year.

This marks a season of transition for the Silvertips organization as Dennis Williams takes over for Kevin Constantine as head coach. Much of Everett’s success this season hinges on the performance — and leadership — of of its three overagers.

“It goes by really quick, so I think (my goal is) enjoying my time with these guys as much as I can and trying to educate the young guys and help them out as much as I can,” Fonteyne said. “Obviously the end goal is the (Memorial) Cup, but we’re going to take it in many steps.”

In many ways this season belongs to them.

Built through the draft

Tips general manager Garry Davidson arrived in Everett from the Portland Winterhawks organization in 2012 looking to build a similar juggernaut in Snohomish County.

In that year’s bantam draft, the Tips selected a defenseman with vision named Kevin Davis with the 11th overall pick. They selected Fonteyne 66th overall in the third round, and added Noah Juulsen four picks later in the fourth. Bajkov, who played his midget season with the North (Vancouver) Island Silvertips, was still available in the sixth round when the Tips nabbed him 128th overall.

Juulsen developed into a first-round draft pick of the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens. He served as Everett’s captain last season and also played on Canada’s World Junior Championship team. He’ll play professionally this season.

“It’s not often that three guys — four including Noah — will stay together this long,” Bajkov said, “but with Noah gone, it’s us this year.”

Davis, Fonteyne and Juulsen all debuted as affiliate players in 2012-13. It was a trying campaign in which the Tips finished 25-40-3-4. Head coach Mark Ferner was fired midseason and Everett fell in six games to the Winterhawks in the first round of the playoffs.

The turnaround began the next season.

Making an impact

All 16-year-olds who stay on a WHL roster for the entire season are required to play 40 games, and many rookies barely reach that threshold. Yet no one from the Silvertips rookie quartet played fewer than 56 games in the 2013-14 season.

It made for instant camaraderie.

“We didn’t know anybody coming in, so we just got together quickly,” Fonteyne said. “We had to do rookie duties together. Nobody had a car, so every day we had our billets to drive us to school and we hung out every day. Since then we’ve been really close.”

That season the Tips engineered a 14-game turnaround as they fashioned a record of 39-23-7-3. All four rookies played supporting roles. But it was the following year the organization took the next step in a bid to reclaim the glory of its early history.

In 2014-15, the Tips finished 43-20-3-6 to win their first U.S. Division title and playoff series in eight years. By the time they entered their third season in 2015-16, Fonteyne and Bajkov were stalwarts on Everett’s second line — they combined for 34 goals and 60 assists — and Juulsen and Davis maintained their strong play on the back end.

That set up the quartet for a surprise division-winning campaign last season in what was supposed to be a rebuilding campaign. Instead the Tips turned in the second-best record in program history en route to another division title.

“I think it just goes to show what kind of character we had in the room,” Fonteyne said. “Whenever we got down, we’d snap out of it pretty quickly. That’s the main thing when you’re trying to win a championship. You have to manage the peaks and the valleys. I thought we did a really good job of that and the character we had in the team was really good.”

‘A different dynamic’

Williams couldn’t be more pleased with the group of overagers he inherited.

“They all bring a different dynamic, which is great,” he said. “That’s what you want out of your overagers.”

Davis found his calling last season as the quarterback of Everett’s top power-play unit. He finished with nine goals and 50 assists. He attended summer and fall camps with the NHL’s Minnesota Wild.

“He’s an A-plus young man, he brings it every day, his skill set is very high,” Williams said. “I’d be very surprised after the year if he doesn’t have an opportunity to play pro hockey because not only does he have the offensive instincts, he thinks the game very well. But even more what a lot of people don’t see day in and day out is the effort he puts in during practice and every drill he does.”

Bajkov is a pure goal scorer with “one of the best releases I’ve seen,” according to his new head coach. He blossomed last season with 29 goals and 49 assists. He spent summer and fall camp with the expansion Vegas Golden Knights.

“He’s rounding out his game. …,” Williams said. “You can see him wanting to continue to round out the defensive side of it. Because the offensive side he’s got it all down pat.”

Then there’s Fonteyne, perhaps the most engaging and well-spoken player currently in the organization. A go-to quote for hockey writers around the league, Fonteyne scored 20 goals last season and finished with 47 points.

“He brings the energy level, he brings the compete he brings the heart,” Williams said. “Not that the other guys don’t, but he does it too at every level… He’s first on pucks, he contributes great with high-end guys, and he can help at all levels.”

All three relish their roles as mentors. They’re born-and-bred Silvertips, from bantam draft to overagers. That’s a rarity in the ever-changing world of junior hockey.

“I’m looking forward to being here,” Davis said. “It’s the last year for all three of us and I’m just really excited to teach the young guys what we’ve learned over the last five years and excited to get this thing going.”