Silvertips week in review: Preseason comes to an end
Published 8:13 am Monday, September 17, 2018
Here’s a rundown of the week that was for the Everett Silvertips:
GAMES
Everett played its final two preseason games last week, both against the Seattle Thunderbirds. The Tips were without arguably their four best players — forwards Connor Dewar and Riley Sutter, defensemen Wyatte Wylie and Jake Christiansen — who were away at NHL training camps. With forwards Bronson Sharp and Peter Melcher also unavailable because of injury, it meant Everett continued to ice fewer than 18 skaters. The results were:
Everett concluded the preseason 3-1-1-2. On the one hand, the Tips lost just one of their seven games in regulation. On the other, Everett finished the preseason with a losing record.
STANDOUTS
RW Bryce Kindopp — The 19-year-old veteran scored two goals and added an assist between the two games. Kindopp scored a sneaky 24 goals last season, and he has a chance to be a major offensive factor this season, particularly if he ends up back on a line with Dewar and Sutter, where he was last year before the arrival of Garrett Pilon.
D Kyle Walker — The 18-year-old had two assists and was a plus-3 between the two games. It’ll be interesting to see where Walker stands in the pecking order on defense, as he was No. 7 on the depth chart last year and now has to contend with newcomers Sahvan Khaira and the rookies. But he brings size to the lineup and was a point scorer in the Alberta Midget Minor Hockey League when he was 15.
G Blake Lyda — The 16-year-old seems set to be Dustin Wolf’s back-up this season. Lyda had his hiccups during the preseason, but he saved 40 of the 43 shots he faced in the shootout loss to Seattle in what was his best outing of the preseason.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The regular season gets under way this weekend. Everett opens in the busiest possible manner with a three-in-three, traveling to face the Vancouver Giants on Friday before returning home for a rematch with the Giants on Saturday followed by a visit from the Portland Winterhawks on Sunday. I believe this is the first time in franchise history the Tips begin the season with three-in-three.
The big question will be whether the Tips are able to field anything close to a full-strength lineup for any of those games. All four of Everett’s NHL quartet remains with their NHL teams, and although none of the four are in any danger of sticking in the NHL this season, there’s no telling when they’ll be released back to the Tips. No doubt Everett is hoping it ends up being this week, as the Tips need the bodies for their busy start to the season.
