Silvertips’ Barnett has quite the hockey background

Published 10:13 pm Thursday, December 8, 2011

EVERETT — Every year when the WHL season comes to an end, JT Barnett drives home to Scottsdale, Ariz., and on the way he usually stops in Southern California to drop in on a family friend.

A family friend who just happens to go by the nickname of “The Great One.”

It not every junior hockey player who has license to casually visit Wayne Gretzky, but then not every junior hockey player grew up at the center of the hockey world quite the way Barnett did.

“He’s a great guy, a phenomenal guy, probably one of the best guys I’ve ever met,” the Everett Silvertips winger says about Gretzky.

That’s just normal life for Barnett, who grew up surrounded by hockey’s heavy hitters.

The 19-year-old Barnett was acquired by Everett from Kamloops last month in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft. Acquired to help replace some of the offense lost when franchise leading goal scorer Tyler Maxwell requested a trade and was sent home, Barnett has a goal and an assist in seven games since joining the Tips.

And Barnett arrived in Everett with a substantial hockey background in tow. Barnett’s father, Mike, holds a significant spot in the hockey hierarchy. He spent several years as a prominent player agent, with Gretzky being the crown jewel of his clients. He then served as general manager of the Phoenix Coyotes from 2001-07, among other things selecting former Silvertips star Peter Mueller eighth overall in the 2006 NHL draft. He currently serves as an adviser and scout for the New York Rangers.

Therefore, Barnett spent his formative years surrounded by hockey royalty, with Gretzky at the head of the table.

“It hasn’t really made me star struck or anything, because I’ve seen him so much,” Barnett said. “He was a family friend and I was around him almost as much as I was with my dad. He and his family became like my second family when I was younger.”

Barnett even received opportunities to play with Gretzky and some of his father’s other high-profile clients, who included Jaromir Jagr and Joe Thornton. Then when his father was the general manager of the Coyotes, Barnett would attend practices and join in the fun as the practices concluded.

“After practice, the kids of the staff would hop on the ice and play with the players,” Barnett recalled. “I got to skate with some good hockey players, but I wouldn’t say I ever really battled with Wayne or any of the other guys, it was just kind of messing around.”

But Barnett didn’t just bask in the glow of being around elite-level hockey players. The circumstances provided inspiration. Being around the game’s best fed Barnett’s desire to be a player himself. As a child, he endured the three-hour drives that began at 4 a.m., just so he could receive quality training and competition in the not-so-hockey hotbeds of southern California and Arizona.

Now the possibility of continuing his hockey career beyond the WHL is within sight. Last summer, Barnett attended development camp with the NHL’s New Jersey Devils.

“Being around those guys helped me want to be a hockey player,” Barnett said. “I definitely owe pretty much all of the reason I’m here now to being around that because it elevated my passion more that it would have growing up in Arizona and California without that kind of hockey background.”

Now, Barnett is looking to help the Tips crawl out of their slump. The Tips have lost seven consecutive games, meaning Barnett has yet to taste victory with Everett.

“I think we’re making strides in the right direction,” Barnett said. “It’d definitely be good to get a win under my belt, but I love all the guys. Everything inside the rink, I love it all. But I would like to get a win here.”

Slap shots

Everett leading scorer Josh Birkholz did not receive a suspension for his checking-to-the-head major penalty and game misconduct incurred Wednesday at Kamloops. Players usually receive a minimum of a one-game suspension for a major penalty. Kamloops scored twice during the resulting five-minute power play, which began just 2 minutes, 30 seconds into the game and led to a 6-1 victory. … Everett defenseman and captain Ryan Murray remains a game-time decision for tonight’s home contest against Spokane. Murray is on the verge of returning from a sprained ankle that’s kept him out since Oct. 19. Tonight’s game is Murray’s last with Everett before departing for Canada’s tryouts for the World Junior Hockey Championships.

Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at NickHPatterson.