I’m back … and trying to catch up
Published 9:35 am Monday, June 13, 2011
Well, look what happens when one’s on cross-country cat delivery duty. I don’t know how the Silvertips do it, but they always seem to announce their big offseason news while I’m out of town, and this instance was no exception.
In what’s now old news, Everett head coach Craig Hartsburg resigned to become the associate head coach of the NHL’s Calgary Flames.
The rumors of this began just as I was leaving town, so it was no surprise when I returned to find the move was official. Hartsburg spent two seasons with the Tips, who went 73-57-10-4 during his tenure. His two seasons took decidedly different paths. Everett surprised during Hartsburg’s first season, going 46-21-3-2 and tying for the best record in the Western Conference. Then last season the Tips disappointed, going 28-33-7-4 and just scraping into the playoffs. Hartsburg had two years left on his contract, having signed an extension last summer.
Personally, I’m not surprised Hartsburg decided to move on. Getting back into the NHL is obviously a step forward. But I also know how difficult last season was on him. There was the heart surgery that kept him out most of the first half of the season, then there was the second half when the Tips just couldn’t make any progress. It was an extremely frustrating season for Hartsburg, and he was now facing a rebuilding project in Everett. Being a former NHL head coach, I’m not surprised he chose this time to take another crack at the NHL.
Hartsburg’s resignation means Everett is without its top two coaches from last season, as associate head coach Jay Varady stepped down previously to become the head coach of the French professional team Ducs d’Angers. I wonder how differently Everett’s coaching search would have played out had Varady still been in the fold, as I’m sure he would have been a candidate.
Everett general manager Doug Soetaert talked about the coaching search with Tips broadcaster Jon Rosen. There’s some interesting insights there. Soetaert mentioned only one coach by name, that being former Kootenay bench boss Cory Clouston, and even then Clouston sort of used as an example of the type of coach who wouldn’t be an immediate candidate. But it’s interesting that Clouston’s name was brought up unsolicited. Expect an announcement on a new coach sometime toward the end of June or the beginning of July.
Soetaert also talks about a couple other things at the end of the interview. The most notable to me is the discussion of elite prospect defenseman Seth Jones. It sounds like 2012-13 is still the target for Jones coming to Everett.
In other news, Everett goaltender Kent Simpson was summoned by Hockey Canada to take part in the organization’s Program of Excellence Goaltending Camp, which was held in Calgary over the weekend. Simpson was one of 10 goalies invited, and it’s from this group that Canada will likely select its two netminders for the World Junior Hockey Championships. I don’t think Simpson is a favorite to make that team, but I think he has a chance. He’s been involved with Hockey Canada before, playing at the U-18 World Championships in 2010, and he’s the third-highest NHL draft pick among the 19-year-olds. But ultimately it depends on the opinion of Don Hay, who will be coaching Canada’s team, and Vancouver’s put up some crooked numbers against Everett at times the past three years. I’m not sure how often Simpson was in goal for the Tips in those ugly games.
Finally, while I was away WHL blogger extraordinaire Alan Caldwell began his annual posting of each team’s prospect list, and Everett’s prospects were posted last Thursday.
Most of these names are familiar to fans who are paying attention. However, Caldwell has access to the WHL’s 50-player protected lists that most find elusive, so there’s always a few surprises each year as players cycle on and off the list during the season. I’ll deal with all the changes from Caldwell’s post from last year:
First, here’s the names who weren’t on Everett’s list when last year’s training camp began, but were known to have been added to the list since then (listed with birth year and position):
Lyrik Friesen, 94, RW
Nick Landry, 95, RW
Trent Lofthouse, 94, LW
Jesse Mychan, 92, LW
Carson Samoridny, 94, RW
I’ve mentioned all these guys in the past. Friesen, a two-way player, and Landry, a pugilist, both earned spots on the list during last year’s training camp. Lofthouse and Samoridny, big bodies who play more of a finesse game, caught Everett’s eye as 16-year-olds in their first season of midget major. Mychan is an older player who could help address Everett’s shortage of toughness. Samoridny and Lofthouse, in particular, have been talked about as strong candidates to make the team next season.
Now here’s the names added to the list who were new to me:
Clint Lewis, 95, D
Cole MacDonald, 95, D
Michael Urbaniak, 95, LW
Lewis, who I kind of knew about, is a big defenseman from Minnesota who was invited to try out for the U.S. National Team Development Program, so he’s probably a speculative add who is a longshot to ever show up in Everett. MacDonald is interesting as although he played minor midget instead of major midget, he scored a ton of goals for a defenseman. Urbaniak has no stats available, but he’s got good size and he was invited to the U-17 B.C. Cup.
These are the players who were on Everett’s list during last year’s training camp who have apparently been dropped:
Brett Boehm, 94, C
Chandler Bruyckere, 95, D
Mitchell Loose, 93, LW
Ryan McDonald, 94, RW
D.Jay McGrath, 92, C
Gabe Minville, 92, D
Dale Nerland, 94, D
Alec Rounds, 94, G
Just some final notes about Caldwell’s list. He’s got Austin Adam’s name backwards. Also, he has no stats for Michael Bell, but I do. In 43 games he had 16 goals, 33 assists and 38 penalty minutes. He’s got a chance of making the team next season as a 16-year-old.
Next up is the NHL draft, which takes place June 24-25. Everett does not have any players who are certain to be selected this year. The import draft takes place the following week, with the Tips selecting 21st overall.
