In need of sharpening
Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, March 9, 2004
Everett No. 1 goalie Jeff Harvey made his return to the ice Sunday in Kamloops, but it may take a little longer for the 20-year-old to return to form.
“I thought he played like a goalie that hadn’t played for 12 games,” Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. “I thought he was a little rusty, not completely on the puck. It’s hard. We tend not to pass judgment on players their first game back because it’s really hard mentally to know everything you have to prepare yourself for. The best preparation for a game is a previous game, so we’ll call that the first back and expect him to be better (today against Tri-City).”
Harvey, among the Western Hockey League leaders in both goals against average (second at 2.04) and save percentage (sixth at .923), suffered a strained hip muscle on Feb. 10 in a 2-0 victory over Moose Jaw. He missed 11 of Everett’s next 12 games as a result.
In his return Sunday, Harvey stopped 21 of the 24 shots he faced, but gave up two goals in the first five minutes, 31 seconds as Kamloops jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. The Blazers eventually won 3-2.
“My timing was off in the first period, I guess that’s to be expected,” Harvey said. “But this time of year it’s unacceptable. I have to come back and play the way I did before the injury.”
The good news is Harvey felt no ill effects on the hip muscle, unlike the last time he tried to come back on Feb. 18, a 3-2 win at Spokane in which Harvey suffered a setback.
“Physically I felt great during the game,” Harvey said. “My conditioning was there, but my technical side wasn’t there, which was disappointing. But it felt good as the game went along, so that’s a positive.”
Trooper: Riley Armstrong was his usual self at practice Tuesday, zipping around the ice and getting into playful tussles with teammates. That was a relief for the Silvertips, given the hit Armstrong took Sunday at Kamloops.
Midway through the first period, Armstrong was heading into the corner to gather the puck when he lost an edge and began to slip. Kamloops’ Paul Brown continued with his check and rammed Armstrong’s head into the boards, knocking Armstrong, the Silvertips’ second-leading scorer with 41 points, out of the game.
“When you find a guy vulnerable your obligation is to not hurt a guy involved in that situation,” Constantine said. “He didn’t let up at all and shoved (Armstrong’s) head into the boards as he finished the check. It was a very cheap, dirty play by Brown.”
Fortunately for the Silvertips, the hit didn’t have any lasting consequences. Armstrong, who showed symptoms of a mild concussion, was back to full strength Tuesday and will be in the lineup today.
“I’m perfectly fine right now,” Armstrong said. “It hurt at the time, but now it’s getting better. I feel way better than (Monday).”
Around the WHL: After going 0-2 last week, Everett dropped two spots in the penultimate Western Major Junior Hockey Writers Association Poll, falling to ninth. Kelowna garnered 14 first-place votes to remain No. 1. Moose Jaw, which received the other three first-place votes, held steady at No. 2 and Medicine Hat remained No. 3. … Spokane forward Chad Klassen was named the WHL Player of the Week for March 1-7. Klassen had four goals and two assists in leading the Chiefs to a pair of road wins. … Kelowna has clinched the B.C. Division title and Moose Jaw has clinched the East Division title.
Nick Patterson
