Hockey isn’t a big thing on Silvertip Lane

When Dan Boggs moved into his house in Everett recently, he assumed that the name of his street was new. He lives on Silvertip Lane.

“I thought maybe the city had just named it after the hockey team,” Boggs said. He and his wife, Carmen, have lived on the block-long cul-de-sac since February.

His assumption was incorrect. Long before the hockey club was a gleam in anyone’s eye, Silvertip Lane was tucked away in the south Forest Park neighborhood.

With most of its 13 homes dating to the 1950s, the street near bustling Evergreen Way seems a peaceful throwback to an “Ozzie and Harriet” era. There you’ll find a tidy community where neighbors know each others’ names.

Knock on doors and you won’t find many zealous fans of the Everett Silvertips. The hockey team’s third home game of its third season starts at 7:05 p.m. today at the Everett Events Center.

Bill and Bobbe Dorway have been on Silvertip Lane since 1959.

“I know it sounds awful, but I haven’t been to a game,” said Bill Dorway, who is retired after 30 years working for Snohomish County PUD, where he was director of operations.

Dorway played high school hockey in Eveleth, Minn., now home of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. “His team was called the Golden Bears,” Bobbe Dorway said.

The Silvertips team name was unveiled in 2002, with its logo of a snarling grizzly bear holding a hockey stick. Asked whether he ever associated his street with grizzly bears, Bill Dorway said, “I gave it no thought at all.”

At different times, two Everett City Council members have called Silvertip Lane home, and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer William Bolcom once lived there.

“We bought there in 1962,” said Arlan Hatloe, vice president of the City Council. His parents, Dale and Mable Hatloe, had a house near the Dorways. “It was a fun place to live, great for kids,” said Hatloe, a Silvertips season ticketholder.

When he first heard the team name, Hatloe said he didn’t know a silvertip was another name for a grizzly bear. “The first thing I thought about was that’s where we lived,” Hatloe said.

Mark Olson, another City Council member, lived 15 years on Silvertip Lane. Two years ago, his family moved to north Everett, where he had grown up. Olson laughed when told that one of his former neighbors on Silvertip Lane wondered whether he had anything to do with the team name.

“I claim no credit for it,” Olson said.

“No one could have predicted the affection this community has for the team,” he added.

A 2002 name-the-team contest was indirectly responsible for the Silvertips’ moniker. Susan Hawk of Marysville was one of four entrants to suggest grizzlies as the name. Because grizzly was already in use by other hockey teams, the contest committee settled on the Everett Silvertips.

“I was excited when they named the team,” said Kathy Newman, a Silvertip Lane resident for 18 years. She had never thought about the meaning of her street name.

“Maybe something about the mountains,” said Newman, whose house has a view of the Cascades.

“They used to call this fertility hill, there were so many kids everywhere,” Newman said.

Dana Jensen grew up on Silvertip Lane and bought his house from his parents, Richard and Jean Cooley.

“There were so many kids here. We’d play kickball, hide-and-seek, tag, all those good things,” Jensen said.

He’s gone to a few Silvertips games and likes the arena. “But I never heard of a silvertip bear. If somebody finds one, I’d love to know about it,” Jensen said.

Charm Prentice, who has lived on the block since 1984, has never been to a game. “I’m not much into hockey,” she said. When she heard the team would be the Silvertips, “I thought it was a sissy name,” she said.

At the Everett Public Library, history specialist Margaret Riddle didn’t know the origin of Silvertip Lane, but said the name may have been tied to a development.

“It’s a great little neighborhood,” said Olson, who suggested the possibility of a Silvertip neighborhood night at a Silvertips game.

Why stop there?

Silvertip Lane … let’s see, there’s always street hockey. Or how about this? Install a freon system under the street, ice it up and let everybody skate.

Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlsteinjulie@heraldnet.com.