Challenge ahead

Published 4:35 pm Wednesday, August 15, 2007

The opening of rookie training camp is just a week away and I suspect the anticipation is building for everyone — it certainly is for me. This is the time of year when the fans of every team are able to feel hope, and I always enjoy watching the prospects and trying to project what kind of role, if any, they’ll have in Everett down the line. Depending on who ends up playing pro and who returns, the Tips should have another good season.

But while Everett seems poised for another competitive season, the Tips’ job appears to have gotten harder as their nearest rivals, the Seattle Thunderbirds, have has some kind of offseason.

It began when defenseman Thomas Hickey was the surprise of the NHL draft, being taken fourth overall by the Los Angeles Kings. It continued when Kent officially approved the Kent Events Center, where the T-birds will be moving during the 2008-09 season.

But the Seattle events that relate to Everett’s attempt at another U.S. Division banner concern the new acquisitions. First, the T-birds pulled a rabbit out of their hat in the import draft by nabbing Finnish goaltender Riku Helenius, a first-round pick in the 2006 NHL draft. Seattle’s sources in the Tampa Bay Lightning organization certainly helped clue the T-birds into the fact Helenius planned on coming to North America this season. Then they received a gift when center Jim O’Brien, Ottawa’s first-round pick in this year’s draft, signed an entry level contract, thus forfeiting his NCAA eligibility. Kamloops originally drafted O’Brien, but subsequently pared him from its protected list, with Seattle picking him up. Thus the T-birds are the beneficiaries, not the Blazers.

Seattle already figured to have a decent team this season, with the main questions being how the team would replace leading scorer Aaron Gagnon and goaltender Derek Yeomans. With those two pickups the T-birds appear to have answered those questions, and now they may be the favorites in the division.