WHL honors Constantine and Harvey

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, March 17, 2004

EVERETT – Chalk up another honor for Everett Silvertips goaltender Jeff Harvey.

Harvey, voted the team’s Most Valuable Player by his teammates last week, was named a second-team Western Conference All-Star on Wednesday.

“It’s a great honor when you get recognized by the league for any award,” Harvey said. “It’s nice to see that they took notice of the season I had. But once again most of the credit goes to my defense and the system we play.”

The 20-year-old Harvey finished the regular season 24-15-5 with a 1.97 goals against average, a .926 save percentage and five shutouts. He was second to Kelowna’s Kelly Guard (1.56), the first-team Western Conference All-Star, in goals against average and third behind Moose Jaw’s Mike Brodeur (.929) and Red Deer’s Cam Ward (.926) in save percentage.

“I just told myself I wanted to have a goals against of around 2.50 and a save percentage of .915 and I exceeded those, so from a goals standpoint it went pretty well for myself and the team,” Harvey said about his season.

“I think it’s great,” Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. “He deserves it. He was our Most Valuable Player, so if anybody on our team should be part of either of the first- or second-team All-Stars, it should be him.

“He always talks about how it’s a good team defense in front of him, but man, you can pick out a lot of times this year where we weren’t that good defensively and he kind of held us in there until we could get our act together.”

In addition to Harvey, Constantine was also honored Wednesday, being named a finalist for the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy as Coach of the Year. Moose Jaw’s Curtis Hunt is the other finalist.

“To be honest with you, I feel a little awkward about it because there was so much work done way before I ever got here,” Constantine said. “We’re just one big team trying to do things together. I’m honored by it, but it’s also awkward because there are so many other people that deserve mention if you talk about our success.”

The first-team Western Conference All-Stars consisted of Guard in goal, Portland’s Braydon Coburn and Kelowna’s Josh Gorges on defense, and Vancouver’s Adam Courchaine, Kootenay’s Nigel Dawes and Tri-City’s Ryan Kinasewich at forward. The Eastern Conference first team included Ward in goal, defensemen Mark Ardelan of Prince Albert and Dion Phaneuf of Red Deer, and forwards Kyle Brodziak of Moose Jaw, Ryan Getzlaf of Calgary and Jeremy Williams of Swift Current.

Fresh faces: The Silvertips have added a couple of kids to their playoff roster.

Fifteen-year-old forwards Zach Hamill and Brady Calla will be joining Everett for their playoff run. Hamill arrived Wednesday in time to practice with the team, Calla was expected to arrive either today or Friday before the game.

Whether Hamill and Calla actually see the ice during the playoffs is still up in the air.

“I think there’s the possibility of (Hamill and Calla playing),” Constantine said. “We have to see how things go. Both got to get some games in during the year for us, Zach a little more than Brady. They’re both very talented players and a part of our future and we just have to make a judgment as to whether they can jump in and adjust to the tempo and pace of this league and the intensity of playoffs.

“So we’ll mull it over for the next couple of days and make a decision Friday.”

Hamill, Everett’s first-round selection in the 2003 Bantam Draft, played four games for the Silvertips this season, registering a pair of assists. The 5-foot-11, 165-pound native of Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, had 20 goals and 31 assists in 39 games for the Port Coquitlam Buckeroos of the Pacific International Junior Hockey League.

Calla, Everett’s fourth-round selection in the 2003 Bantam Draft, has played three games for the Silvertips without registering a point. The 6-foot, 185-pounder from Kelowna, British Columbia, had 16 goals and 21 assists in 48 games for the Sicamous Eagles of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League.

Parading: The Silvertips will be holding a miniature parade through downtown Everett today. Constantine, several of the players and Lincoln, the team’s mascot, will be riding one of the zambonis along the streets of Everett.

The parade departs the Everett Events Center at 11:45 a.m., traveling north on Broadway Avenue. The parade will turn west on Everett Avenue and eventually wind its way to Everett High School before returning to the Everett Events Center. The parade is expected to last between a half-hour and 45 minutes.

Whitewash: The Silvertips are asking their fans to white out the Everett Events Center. In an effort to create a sea of white, the Silvertips are encouraging all fans to wear white to home playoff games and to bring white towels or rags to wave during the games.

Around the WHL: The Silvertips finished seventh in the final Western Major Junior Hockey Writers Association poll. Everett moved up two places after winning three of its final four games to claim the U.S. Division title. Kelowna, which has been atop the rankings for most of the season, was once again a unanimous No. 1, garnering all 16 first-place votes. Medicine Hat moved up one place to second, Moose Jaw dropped from second to third. … Prince George won Wednesday’s lottery for the first pick in the 2004 Bantam Draft. Saskatoon, the team with the worst record and the odds-on favorite to win the lottery, will pick second, Seattle third and Lethbridge fourth. Everett will pick 13th in the draft, which takes place April 29 in Calgary, Alberta. … Brandon’s Eric Fehr was named the WHL Player of the Week for March 8-14. Fehr had six goals and four assists in four games as Brandon went 4-0 to close out the season. … Swift Current’s Tyler Redenbach won the Bob Clarke Trophy as the WHL’s top scorer during the regular season. Redenbach finished with 105 points (31 goals, 74 assists). Teammate Jeremy Williams was second with 101 points (a league-leading 52 goals, 49 assists).