Odds and ends (updated)
Published 6:44 pm Thursday, March 26, 2009
A few things to chew on heading into Game 4:
– Everett left wing Tyler Maxwell scored five goals in the first three games, exactly half of Everett’s total. However, in talking to Everett coach John Becanic today, the Tips are looking for more out of Maxwell in other areas of the game. I guess there’s more to hockey than just scoring goals.
– With right wing Kellan Tochkin out injured, Everett loaded up one line with its remaining offensive players — Maxwell, Shane Harper and Byron Froese. That line is doing all right as all three are a plus-2, despite regular attention from Tri-City’s top defenders, but Harper and Froese have yet to find the net.
– Speaking of Tochkin, Becanic said he would return sometime this weekend. However, he doesn’t know whether it will be in Friday’s Game 4 or Saturday’s Game 5.
– In contrast to Maxwell’s domination of Everett’s scoring, Tri-City has spread its offense thin as paper. Eight different players have combined for the Americans’ 12 goals, with no player scoring more than twice.
—- UPDATE, 6:45 p.m.
Oh, one thing I forgot. Of course, the kid line is undergoing its second transformation because of Tochkin’s injury. When Maxwell missed a month late in the regular season, the Tips had a devil of a time trying to find someone to replace him. No matter who they tried it didn’t quite work because Maxwell is the only true left-shooting goal scorer on the roster. But Tochkin, though he led the team in scoring, has been a little easier to replace because he and Harper play a similar game. Both shoot right-handed and both are more playmakers than goal scorers. That’s one reason why the line has continued to succeed despite Tochkin’s absence.
