Everett 3, Victoria 0, plus year-end awards
Published 10:54 pm Saturday, March 10, 2012
TALKING POINTS
The Tips may well have put themselves into the playoffs tonight.
Everett produced a strong all-around performance in their home finale, moving back ahead of Victoria for seventh in the Western Conference. The Tips have a game in hand on the Royals and a more favorable schedule in the season’s final eight days, so they may be there to stay.
But equally as important, Seattle lost 11-3 to Portland, meaning the Tips are now five points clear in the four-way race for the conference’s final two playoff berths. That means Seattle can’t catch Everett just by winning the two head-to-head match-ups in Kent, the first of those being Sunday. Prince George also won Saturday to move into a tie with the T-birds, but the Cougars’ remaining four games are against Tri-City and Kamloops, three of those being on the road.
Everett’s performance Saturday was far better than its performance against the Royals in Wednesday’s 3-2 victory. On Wednesday the Tips relied on goaltender Kent Simpson as Victoria outplayed Everett by some margin. But the Tips were well worth their victory tonight. Everett was particularly strong in its own zone. Victoria is known for its offense, and the Royals had only been shut out twice this season. But the Tips did a good job of limiting Victoria’s scoring chances, particularly during the third period.
TURNING POINT
Everett had the edge in scoring chances through two periods, but the Tips led just 1-0 going into the third, and Victoria had a lengthy power play to begin the period. However, during the power play, Everett’s Josh Winquist was able to break away two-on-one, and although he had three shots blocked by Victoria defenders, he stuck with it and scored on the fourth attempt for the all-important second goal.
HIT OF THE DAY
There were some decent hits tonight, but honestly I did a poor job cataloging them. My bad.
THREE STARS
Tonight, in a WHL tradition for the final home game of the season, the stars were announced as the three home overagers, and rightly so. However, I was given a copy of the stars had it been from the vote, and here’s who they were.
First star: Cody Fowlie, Everett. Two goals to end an 11-game goalless drought.
Second star: Simpson. 26 saves for his second shutout of the season, was strong on a few goalmouth scrambles.
Third star: Brennan Yadlowski, Everett. Three assists, played like he was determined this wouldn’t be his last game at Comcast Arena.
The Herald’s honorable mention: Ryan Murray, Everett. One assist, the guy is pretty special. This could have gone to Josh Caron or Dominik Bittner, too, as Everett’s top four d-men really came to play.
BOX SCORE
AWARDS
Everett held its year-end awards ceremony following the game. Here are the winners:
MVP: Ryan Murray
Rookie of the Year: Kohl Bauml
Unsung Hero: Kent Simpson
Most Improved: Ryan Chynoweth
Coaches Award: Ryan Murray
Iron Man Awards: Cody Fowlie, Reid Petryk
Scholastic Player of the Year: Kohl Bauml
Community Relations Award: Brennan Yadlowski
F.I.E.R.C.E. Predator Award: Ryan Harrison
