Silvertips notebook: Tragic bus crash impacts hockey community

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Last Friday, the Everett Silvertips and Portland Winterhawks opened their best-of-seven WHL playoff semifinal series while a horrific bus accident involving the Humboldt (Sask.) Broncos hockey team was making international news.

The bus, which was carrying the team to a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoff game, collided with a semi, leaving 10 players and five staff members dead.

The SJHL is a Junior A league — one level below the major-junior level of the WHL. But the players are the same age as WHL players, and the impact of the accident devastated the greater hockey community, and tributes and donations have poured in since.

“You saw how quickly a tragic accident like that hits home to all the teams,” Everett head coach Dennis Williams said. “And it’s not just hockey. A lot of people travel on busses for long times, whether it’s high school sports or other pro sports as well. Right away you think back to how many hours we’ve spent on busses as coaches and as players.”

The Silvertips and Winterhawks stood side-by-side during Saturday’s national anthems, and in-arena donations reached more than $11,000 at Angel of the Winds Arena that night.

“(It) really shed light on (how hockey) is just a game,” Williams said. “As much as we go out there and battle, we’re still in it for the same purpose, and the unity that surrounded the tragic accident, I thought, was just remarkable. It’s going to continue, and there’s going to be a lot of grieving, and pain and suffering over the next days and months, and we’ll continue to remember those (lost).”

The Silvertips are in Portland for Game 4 Thursday and return home to Angel of the Winds Arena Friday for Game 5.

Everett leads the series 2-1.

Pro signings a harbinger of things to come in the Williams era?

Matt Fonteyne became the second of Everett’s three overagers to sign a pro deal Monday when he inked a deal with the San Jose Barracuda, the AHL affiliate of the San Jose Sharks.

Fonteyne’s linemate Patrick Bajkov signed a three-year, entry-level deal with the Florida Panthers in March. Both players were passed over in the 2016 NHL draft. Yet both appear to have benefited not only from Williams’ offensive approach, but also from the first-year head coach’s commitment to individual skill development.

“When I got hired this year, our philosophy was, ‘Let’s make the athlete better, and the athlete will, in return, help us win more hockey games,” Williams said. “Our focus has been on the skill side of trying to develop our players and get them confidence and let them play outside of their limitations. We always talk to them about getting out of their comfort zones.”

Everett wins WHL Western Conference Marketing/Business Award

The Tips earned an organizational honor Wednesday when the WHL announced Everett was the Western Conference winner of the Marketing/Business Award.

Edmonton won the Eastern Conference award. The WHL will announce the league winner May 2 in Red Deer, Alberta.

Per a team press release, Everett drew nearly 185,000 fans, its highest total since the 2011-12 season. The Tips also visited more than 30 local elementary schools and Providence Regional Medical Center, raised $15,000 on “Local Heroes Night,” and partnered with Safeway and Providence to help raise nearly $90,000 to fund mammograms during “Pink the Rink” night.

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