Tips stand pat

Published 4:56 pm Thursday, January 10, 2008

The trade deadline came and went with the Tips deciding to stand pat. There were questions whether the Tips would be buyers or sellers at this year’s deadline. It turns out they were neither.

Not without trying, however. Everett GM Doug Soetaert was definitely a wannabe buyer. He said the Tips were one of the teams in play for this year’s big fish, defenseman Ty Wishart, who ended up in Moose Jaw. He also made inquiries looking for another scoring forward, but with so few sellers out there the prices got higher than Soetaert was willing to pay.

That may have been the same story for everyone as it turned out to be quite the tame trade deadline this year leaguewide (everything isn’t official just yet, but I’ve heard there isn’t anything else major coming). No real blockbusters and just a handful of minor deals. However, that’s not really a surprise as most of the premier players who were available (Wishart, Justin McCrae, the Kamloops trio) were dealt earlier in the week.

I don’t think it’s a bad thing Everett stood pat. The team has shown it can compete with anyone when it wants to, and it seems to be coming around a bit in the consistency department. Sure, the Tips could have used another scorer. But with no one else in the Western Conference other than Spokane adding anyone significant, Everett’s not in bad shape.

Now, in non-deadline news, Everett left wing Clayton Bauer has escaped suspension. Bauer was assessed a major penalty for boarding and a game misconduct for his hit on Tri-City’s Jarrett Toll last night. Usually a major comes with a suspension. But the league reviewed the hit and decided it was not worthy of suspension.

Also, it looks as though center Zack Dailey (groin) and defenseman Graham Potuer (sternum) are ready to return from their injuries, so the Tips should be at full strength tomorrow against Seattle.