Hartsburg, Patterson back in the game

Published 3:38 pm Wednesday, October 27, 2010

It’s been a light week here on the blog, not only because the Tips haven’t played, but also because I’ve been laid up with illness. Fortunately, I recovered enough to make it to practice today, and it was good to see Craig Hartsburg back on the ice. Everett’s head coach was his normal self out there, taking charge of the drills and taking players aside in between repetitions to make corrections.

Hartsburg’s heart surgery is scheduled for next Wednesday, which means he has a small window of opportunity to work hands-on with the players. He said his main priority during this time is to emphasize the need for consistency. He watched each of Everett’s past three road games on the internet and said he was generally happy with the way the team played in each first period. However, it was the inability to maintain that level of play throughout the 60 minutes that was Everett’s downfall.

Though Hartsburg isn’t undergoing surgery until next week, he’s decided not to go behind the bench for Friday’s home game against Tri-City. He will attend the game, but he was happy with the way associate head coach Jay Varady and assistant coach Chris Hartsburg handled the bench during those games. Therefore, the Tips will maintain continuity with Varady and Chris Hartsburg handling the bench instead of having Craig Hartsburg return for just the one game.