2007-08 review: rookies

Published 8:56 am Saturday, April 5, 2008

There are two ways of looking at the performance of Everett’s rookies this season.

One view is that they didn’t really do much. Among Everett’s 10 first-year players (I’m not counting Jesse Burt or Mike Alexander, who technically qualified as rookies but spent all last season with the Tips), not including call-ups, Vitaly Karamnov produced the most points with just 25. That’s particularly unimpressive considering just about all the rookies were 17- and 18-year olds who’d already played at some level of junior, rather than 16-year-olds straight out of midget.

But another view is that the rookies weren’t given much of a chance to do anything. No rookie other than Karamnov spent much time on one of the top two lines. No rookie was part of Everett’s top two defensive pairings except when the injury bug hit. The only rookies other than Karamnov to see any time on the power play were Jordan Mistelbacher and Chris de la Lande, both of whom’s time was fleeting.

And even though the numbers weren’t impressive, I thought some of the rookies did some good things. Chief among those:

– Matt Ius. He did an excellent job as a checking-line/penalty-killing forward, and he showed signs he’s just inches away from being a dangerous power forward in the offensive zone.

– Chris de la Lande. Yes, there are concerns about his sleight frame as a defenseman. But he showed he knows how to play the game.

– Shayne Barrie. When training camp was wrapping up, I was wondering how long it would be before the Tips made a deal for a backup goaltender. Based on what I’d seen to that point I wasn’t convinced Barrie was the answer. But to me Barrie made more progress this season than any other Everett player, and the Tips couldn’t have asked for a better performance out of their backup.

Next: 2007-08 review: coaching