Parker Stanfield and spelling bees? A busy couple off days for the Tips

Published 4:08 pm Thursday, October 7, 2010

First the hockey news.

Everett filled its third and final overager roster slot when the Tips acquired center Parker Stanfield from Prince George today. The Tips sent a sixth-round pick in the 2012 bantam draft to the Cougars in return.

Stanfield, who becomes Everett’s third Californian, spent three-plus seasons with the Cougars. Last season he had 13 goals and 23 assists in 69 games, and this season he had a goal and three assists in four games. He was squeezed out of Prince George’s overager picture by the recent acquisitions of Sena Acolatse from Saskatoon and Taylor Stefishen from the NCAA.

The Tips had considered forging ahead with just two overagers this season in center Clayton Cumiskey and defenseman Chad Suer. But Everett general manager Doug Soetaert pounced when Stanfield became available — indeed, Soetaert tried unsuccessfully to acquire Stanfield at last season’s trade deadline. He gives Everett a lot of experienced depth down the middle along with Cumiskey and 19-year-old Landon Ferraro.

Stanfield’s a pretty solid pick-up. He has decent size (6-foot-2, 180 pounds) and he skates well. He hasn’t put up impressive numbers in the WHL, but he wasn’t playing for the best teams in Prince George. He also seemed to play well whenever the Cougars were facing the Tips. And you can’t beat the price as a sixth rounder two years from now is of minimal value.

With the addition of Stanfield and 19-year-old defenseman Brennan Yadlowski earlier this week, the Tips have definitely signaled their intent to be major players this season. The team’s average age jumped significantly with those two moves, and Soetaert is sacrificing his draft picks from 2011 and 2012. By my count the Tips have dealt away their second, third, fifth and seventh rounders in 2011 and their third, fifth and sixth rounders in 2012, with only a conditional fifth rounder in 2012 coming back in return.

Stanfield becomes Everett’s 16th forward, so the Tips are going to have to make a move or two. Soetaert said he’d make some decisions over the next week.

Now for the fun stuff.

The Everett Public Library is holding its first annual Spelldown, a spelling bee for adults which takes place at 7 p.m. Friday at the Everett Performing Arts Center. Three-person teams are competing in what’s being used as a fundraiser for teen and youth programs at the library.

Well, the Tips are entering two teams. Tyler Maxwell, Josh Birkholz and Markus McCrea will be representing the U.S.A., while Kellan Tochkin, Kent Simpson and Evan Morden will be spelling it out for Canada. The Herald is also entering a team, and made the smart move of not asking me to be a team member.

Because the Tips decided to enter teams by country, there’s national pride at stake. I don’t think the Tips teams are so much interested in winning the event as they are in defeating their American/Canadian teammates.

Check tomorrow’s paper to find out what the players think about participating.