Preseason schedule and the NHL draft
Published 11:13 am Thursday, June 23, 2011
The WHL announced the preseason schedule for the 2011-12 season. Here’s Everett’s:
Sept. 2 — Tri-City at Everett, 7 p.m. (Everett Preseason Tournament)
Sept. 3 — Spokane at Everett, 7 p.m. (Everett Preseason Tournament)
Sept. 4 — Seattle at Everett, 5 p.m. (Everett Preseason Tournament)
Sept. 9 — Everett vs. Kootenay at Kennewick, 11 a.m. (Tri-City Preseason Tournament)
Sept. 10 — Everett vs. Seattle at Kennewick, 11 a.m. (Tri-City Preseason Tournament)
Sept. 16 — Vancouver at Everett, 7:05 p.m.
Sept. 17 — Everett at Seattle, 7:05 p.m.
It’s a pretty standard Tips preseason schedule. The one notable difference is that there are just five teams (all the U.S. Division teams) at the Everett Preseason Tournament this year. That means just two games each day, and only Everett and Spokane play all three days. I haven’t heard why there’s just five teams this year. If I had to guess, I’d say the Tips may have tried to get another OHL or QMJHL team this year — the OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds were the sixth team last year — and were unsuccessful.
Also, the NHL draft takes place Friday and Saturday in St. Paul, Minn. This year’s draft will be a quiet one for the Tips as no Everett players are expected to be picked. If that plays out it will be the first time since 2005 that the Tips were shout out of the NHL draft. This is the calm before the storm as the 2012 NHL draft looks set to be a big one for Everett, with defenseman Ryan Murray already being talked about as a potential top-five pick.
Because the AquaSox have a home game tomorrow night, I won’t be opening up a live blog during Friday’s first round of the draft. But let me know if you’d be interested in a chat sometime during the offseason, where we could talk Tips, the WHL, baseball, whatever.
