It’s official, Mark Ferner is Everett’s new coach

Published 5:51 pm Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Mark Ferner was officially introduced as the Everett Silvertips’ new head coach at this afternoon’s press conference at the Everett Events Center.

The cat was essentially let out of the bag Tuesday about Everett hiring Ferner, but here’s his resume again. Ferner spent the previous four seasons as the head coach and general manager of the Vernon Vipers of the British Columbia Hockey League. He had a ridiculous amount of success with the Vipers, going 165-51-7-17, winning three BCHL titles, and reaching three Canadian junior A national championship games, winning the title twice. Prior to that he spent parts of two seasons as the head coach of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers, going 35-41-6-2.

Here’s a quick rundown of information gleaned from the press conference:

– Ferner signed a three-year contract with the Tips. Financial details were not disclosed.

– Soetaert once tried to trade for Ferner when Soetaert was a general manager and Ferner was a player in the IHL.

– Ferner was right at the top of Everett’s list of candidates. Indeed, it was Everett general manager Doug Soetaert who approached Ferner about the possibility of coaching the Tips, contacting Ferner when the possibility of Craig Hartsburg leaving first came up.

– Ferner said he intends to have the Tips playing like his teams did in Vernon. That means being a two-way team that comes at teams in waves, with a heavy emphasis on work ethic and compete level.

– Another thing that was emphasized, by both Ferner and Soetaert, was holding the players accountable. Soetaert was very pointed when he said the players would be held to the standards of the coaches and general manager, not the standards of the players themselves. Ferner said the players who will play will be the ones who earn his trust.

– Ferner said he’s a different coach now than he was the last time he was in the WHL with Kamloops. He admitted he may not have been ready when he was given the head job with the Blazers, and that he’s learned a lot about coaching since.

– Ferner’s son, Mackenzie, was an eighth-round pick in the 2010 bantam draft by Kamloops. Mackenzie, who missed all of last season because of a shoulder injury, is entering his 16-year-old season.

One last piece of unrelated personnel information. Veteran winger Markus McCrea has been released. The 19-year-old McCrea spent the past three seasons with the Tips, tallying 13 goals and 11 assists in 175 games. The native of Canyon Lake, Calif., was a victim of Everett’s youth movement. He’ll be looking to catch on elsewhere in the league.