Game 3: Spokane 4, Everett 1

Published 10:59 pm Wednesday, March 26, 2008

TALKING POINTS

Well, the fat lady hasn’t sung just yet, but she’s clearing her throat.

Everett played better tonight than in Games 1 and 2, but the Tips still can’t find the net and as a result find themselves down 3-0 in the best-of-seven series.

Just how bad is Everett’s situation? In the 41-year history of the WHL only once has a team rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win a series, when Spokane overcame Portland in the first round in 1996.

And this series isn’t giving off the scent of a possible miracle. Spokane has outscored Everett 13-4, and even when the Tips get the advantage of the power plays (5-2) and outshoot the Chiefs for the first time in 11 meetings this season (29-23) it still doesn’t make a difference in the final outcome.

It may all end Friday in Game 4. If it does, it will be both a first and the continuation of an annual tradition. The first would be the first time in franchise history Everett went out of the playoffs in the first round. The annual tradition is the Tips bowing out of the playoffs with four straight losses, as they have done in every season in franchise history.

As for tonight’s game, I didn’t think either team played particularly well early, but the Chiefs took advantage of two big Everett mistakes — a bad turnover by Dan Gendur on the power play and a juicy rebound given up by Leland Irving — to go ahead 2-0. After Gendur scored midway through the second period to make it 2-1 the Tips came to life and played with spirit, but Drayson Bowman’s rebound goal late in the third ended any chance of a comeback.

Everett shuffled the deck tonight in an effort to generate more offense. Shane Harper was moved onto the line with Zach Hamill and Dan Gendur, Vitaly Karamnov skated with Matt Ius and Lukas Vartovnik, and the trio of Zack Dailey, Kyle Beach and Clayton Bauer was cobbled together to form a brand new combination. It seemed to cause Spokane a little more trouble, but it didn’t result in any more goals.

On a side note, I had the chance to chat with former Tip Brennan Sonne outside the Everett locker room after the game, always an enjoyable experience. He was there to lend support to his former teammates, and we talked about how he enjoyed his time playing for Edmonton. He mentioned how he saw a lot of pugilistic action out east, but how it was challenging because all the fighters out east are heavyweights rather than middleweights like him. He also expressed disappointment that his last bout with nemesis Garet Hunt of Vancouver was cancelled when Hunt got suspended for the Vancouver-Edmonton game.