Do those count toward the attendance figures?

Published 12:28 pm Saturday, March 7, 2009

Interesting practice this morning, not so much because of what the Tips did, but because of who was there.

Everett has the rare Saturday off from a game today, and with the rodeo forcing the Tips off the arena ice, they had to squeeze practice into the community rink schedule. There was a youth hockey game there right before the Tips took the ice, so for a while there were probably about 100 spectators at practice. That’s quite the step up from the usual practice attendance of one (me).

It was good to see Tyler Maxwell (knee) participating in practice again, and it was good to see Paul Van de Velde (shoulder) out of the yellow jersey that says, “don’t hit this guy!” I’m guessing that means Van de Velde will be in the lineup tomorrow at Portland. Even Shayne Brown was able to get in a little individual skating after practice, though Dale Hunt and Trevor Bauer remain in street clothes because of their concussions.

I also talked to general manager Doug Soetaert about the possibility of 16-year-old forward Campbell Elynuik returning. Elynuik’s midget team was upset in the playoffs this week, meaning his season is over. However, Soetaert said he wasn’t sure whether Elynuik, who showed well during two call-ups this season, would be rejoining the team.