Silvertips on top of the U.S. Division

Published 1:30 am Monday, October 3, 2016

Jesse Geleynse

Herald Writer

The Everett Silvertips spent a significant portion of last season leading the Western Hockey League’s U.S. Division and they’re off to a strong start so far in 2016-17.

Of course, the season is just two weekends old. Everett (3-0-1-0, seven points) is the only team to beat Portland (3-1-0-0, six points) during regulation and preseason games combined. By virtue of Sunday’s 3-2 overtime loss at Tri-City the Tips remain in first place over Portland.

Nine different Everett players have scored in Everett’s four games. Graham Millar is the top goal-scorer with four, and Matt Fonteyne and Patrick Bajkov are tied with six points apiece.

Thunderbirds off to slow start

The defending U.S. and Western Conference champion Seattle Thunderbirds (1-2) are off to a slow start in their quest to defend their title.

Part of that stems from missing players like Mathew Barzal, Ethan Bear and Keegan Kolesar to NHL camps. Further compounding the issue is that it was announced last week that Kolesar, a Columbus Blue Jackets prospect, will miss six weeks after undergoing surgery for a supraumbilical hernia. Bear has since been returned from Edmonton’s camp and played last weekend.

Both of Seattle’s defeats have come at the hand of Portland. The Winterhawks have outscored the T-Birds 13-4 in two match-ups, including a 6-1 win Saturday at ShoWare Center in which Portland scored four power-play goals.

“Our special teams were terrible, bottom line,” Seattle captain Scott Eansor told Andy Eide of mynorthwest.com. “We’ve got to get the job done. I hold myself responsible and accountable for a lot of that and I think so do a lot of the guys.”

Eansor was one of the key pieces in Seattle’s league-best penalty killing unit last season, but the T-Birds are just 4-for-10 on the penalty kill so far this season. Seattle is also 0-for-11 on the power play.

A look around the rest of the U.S. Division

The Spokane Chiefs, who feature one of the younger rosters in the league, appeared to take a significant leap from their first game to their second. The Chiefs (1-1) opened with an 8-3 loss to the Tri-City Americans in Kennewick, but avenged that defeat with a 5-2 win Saturday at Spokane Arena. It was the ninth-straight victorious home opener for Spokane.

Meanwhile, Tri-City’s Michael Rasmussen is off to a torrid start with six goals and two assists in four games. The 6-foot-5 center from Surrey, British Columbia scored the overtime winner against Everett on Sunday and is projected as a potential first-round pick in the 2017 NHL draft. Rasmussen’s six goals lead the WHL while his eight points are tied for fourth.

The rest of the U.S. Division

One of the biggest surprises so far in the young season is the 6-0 mark of the B.C. Division-leading Prince George Cougars. The Cougars have defeated last year’s regular-season champion Victoria and Western Conference finalist Kelowna three times already.

The Cougars feature the top three point producers in the league in Jared Bethune (five goals, five assists), Colby McAuley (four goals, five assists) and Brad Morrison (two goals, seven assists). Prince George’s sixth-leading scorer? That would be Russian forward and former Silvertip Yan Khomenko, who has two goals and three assists in six games. Khomenko was released by the Tips after tallying five goals and three assists in 46 games with Everett last season.

The Vancouver Giants (1-4) finally earned their first win of the season with a 3-1 victory over the Kamloops Blazers Sunday. The Giants, who are in their first season playing at the Langley Events Centre, got two goals from Langley native James Malm. Vancouver will get a boost as Tyler Benson, a second-round pick of Edmonton in this year’s NHL draft has been sent back from Oilers training camp.

Steel, Schneider honored

Regina Pats forward Sam Steel was named the WHL Player of the Week while Medicine Hat goalie Nick Schneider was named the WHL Goaltender of the Week, for the week ending Oct. 2, the league announced Monday.

Steel finished with four goals and three assists as the Pats finished 2-0-0-0 last week. He had a five-point game Sunday in a 7-2 win over Red Deer.

Schneider finished with 50 saves on 52 shots faced and a pair of wins as the Tigers went 2-0-0-0 last weekend.

For the latest Silvertips news follow Jesse Geleynse on Twitter @jessegeleynse.