Best of the East vs. best of the West
Published 10:23 am Thursday, November 21, 2013
Friday we’re in for a treat.
The Everett Silvertips take on the Medicine Hat Tigers on Friday. It’s the rare occasion where the top team in the WHL’s Eastern Conference — Medicine Hat has both the most points (35) and best winning percentage (.729) in the East — squares off against the top team in the Western Conference — Everett has the most points (38) in the entire league, though the Tips’ winning percentage (.760) is behind Kelowna’s (.810).
Some notes heading into the game:
– First off, there will be no live blog for Friday’s game. I’ll be in Vancouver catching up with former Everett captain and current NHL rookie Ryan Murray as his Columbus Blue Jackets face the Vancouver Canucks.
– Everett is the last U.S. Division team to go into Medicine Hat this season. Seattle, Portland and Spokane all won against the Tigers, while Tri-City lost in a shootout. All of those games were essentially one-goal games.
– This will be Everett’s third road game in four nights, as well as the team’s 12th game in 22 days, so we’ll see how much the Tips have left in the tank.
– It remains to be seen whether Everett defenseman Mirco Mueller will play in the game. The first-round NHL draft pick missed the first two games of the road trip because of illness.
– Tips Winger Joshua Winquist has a chance at history in that game. He has a 14-game points streak. The Everett franchise record points streak is 15 games by Zach Hamill in 2006, so Winquist can match that if he gets a point against Medicine Hat.
