Bradly Goethals learning the Silvertips system on the fly
Published 1:30 am Thursday, November 24, 2016
By Jesse Geleynse
Herald Writer
EVERETT — Bradly Goethals brought an impressive resume to the Everett Silvertips when he was acquired from the Brandon Wheat Kings in October after leading the Manitoba Midget League in scoring last season.
Still, he was somewhat surprised to make his WHL debut Wednesday night in Everett’s 3-0 victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds.
“We had a meeting and I had to learn the systems and everything that was going on,” said Goethals, who was acquired from Brandon for a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2018 bantam draft. “(It was a) little surprising for me, but it felt good to get out there with the boys and get a good win.”
Goethals went home to Manitoba for a several weeks after he was traded to deal with family issues before he returned to Everett last week. Since then he’s been given a crash course on Everett’s systems, which are notorious for their detail and structure.
“The guys have been helping me out a lot, the guys on the bench and the coaches have been really helping trying to push me a little bit,” he said. “But I’m OK with that to get in the lineup and help the team win. I had to think a little extra today, but other than that I felt pretty good after the nerves went away.”
Goethals skated on the fourth line alongside Orrin Centazzo and Bryce Kindopp though he didn’t play as many shifts.
“(He played) fine,” Everett head coach Kevin Constantine said. “We didn’t know when he’d get in and I didn’t even know if he’d get in before Christmas. But we wanted to get him in once we felt he had a little bit of the basics. He’s not all the way there in terms of what we’re trying to do and he didn’t play a ton tonight, but when he was out there he was fine.”
Goethals had one good scoring chance in the second period as he looked to pick up his first career point.
“I thought I got a pretty good shot off and it looked like it was going in,” he said. “But it just trickled over the net. It was a good feeling for me to get that opportunity, but I wish I could have capitalized on it.”
Other than the speed and pace of play, Goethals said the biggest difference from the midget level was the size of the arena and the 4,434 fans who comprised Wednesday’s crowd.
“The fans were awesome,” Goethals said. “I usually play in front of 200 fans and everywhere you looked tonight there were tons of people. It was definitely an awesome feeling.”
The U.S. Division-leading Silvertips (16-3-4-0, 36 points) play host to Edmonton (10-12-2-0, 22 points) at 7:35 tonight at Xfinity Arena in the Oil Kings’ lone visit to Everett this year.
That sets up Saturday’s showdown at 7:05 against the Western Conference-leading Prince George Cougars. The Silvertips handed the Cougars their first two losses of the season on the road in October. Saturday marks the first of two trips the Cougars will make to Xfinity Arena this year.
For the latest Silvertips news follow @JesseGeleynse on Twitter.
