Catching up: Matthews, Hart, street hockey

Published 9:22 am Tuesday, June 9, 2015

I’m back after being out of town the last several days, so it’s time to catch up on the Silvertips news that happened while I was away:

– Shockingly, the Auston Matthews situation didn’t resolve itself while I was gone — I have a long history of being out of town when big news drops during the offseason, so I fully expected him to make a decision last Thursday or Friday. We still don’t know where the projected first-overall pick in the 2016 NHL draft will play next season.

There was a story on NHL.com in which Matthews’ agent Pat Brisson was quoted saying Matthews was leaning toward playing in Switzerland next season. But as has been the case ever since the possibility of playing in Switzerland first broke a month ago, we have a lot of “leaning” and “probably,” but nothing definitive.

The one definitive thing that came from the NHL.com story was Brisson confirmed Matthews will not play in the NCAA next season. Everett general manager Garry Davidson said as much a couple weeks ago, but this confirms it. It also means we can now correctly refer to Brisson as Matthews’ agent rather than his “adviser.”

So it’s down to Switzerland or Everett for Matthews next season. Hopefully we find out where by the time training camp starts.

– Tips goaltender Carter Hart, coming off a spectacular season as a 16-year-old rookie, caught the attention of Hockey Canada as Hart was invited to HC’s Program of Excellence goaltending camp.

Hart, who took over as Everett’s No. 1 down the stretch and ended up leading the WHL in goals against average, was one of seven 1998-born goalies invited to the camp, with the only other WHLer receiving an invite being Lethbridge’s Stuart Skinner.

Hart, who was an unheralded eighth-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft, has never been summoned by Hockey Canada before, so this is a significant step in his career.

The camp is this weekend in Etobicoke, Ontario.

– The Tips announced they will be holding their summer street hockey tournament again this year. The tournament will be July 11 at Clark Park in downtown Everett. The divisions include U-13, U-16, recreational adult and competitive adult.

Registration details can be found on the Silvertips website.