EVERETT — The Everett Silvertips are on the supply side of a very serious demand.
When the Everett Events Center ticket window opened at 10 a.m. Friday, fans already had been lined up for a couple of hours. The line reached down the stairs and almost up the entire block on Oakes Street.
On the Web, fans trying to buy tickets to games on Tuesday and Wednesday were directed to an online waiting room for anywhere from minutes to hours.
By 11 a.m., Jon Witte was near the front of the line, but already had been waiting an hour and a half.
But a school bus driver in line next to him couldn’t wait any longer — she had to pick up some kindergartners.
Witte, replete with Silvertips team spirit, offered to get the bus driver’s tickets for her and drop them by the bus barn. The woman gratefully accepted.
"She doesn’t even know me, but she gave me $60," the Everett resident said.
Witte said that before coming to see the Silvertips, it had been 25 years since he’d been to a hockey game.
At one time, he wasn’t too crazy about the idea of an arena in Everett, he said.
"I was actually surprised to become a hockey fan," he said. "I’ve just kind of fallen in love with hockey. I think it’s great for Everett."
At the end of the line, Everett resident Bruce Best was in his green Silvertips shirt ringing a cow bell. In front of him was a friend, Josh Estes.
Estes is known for his enthusiasm. For games, he dresses up like "Mama Silvertip," with a curly gray "All in the Family" wig and a painted green face. He’s still working on the muumuu.
But Friday morning, he was contemplative. His father had a heart attack last week, and after staying with him for two days, Estes returned home Tuesday night exhausted and dispirited. To make matters worse, the windstorm that swept the county had left his house cold and dark.
He and his grandmother found a little radio, and together in the dark they listened to the Silvertips’ overtime Game 7 victory over the Kelowna Rockets.
"We were outside with our cowbells. It’s the only time in two days we were able to be happy," Estes said. "They got me through a tough time. They’ve done more than play hockey."
Like many in line, Best deserted his job for the morning to wait in line for tickets. "I don’t care if I get fired, I want to be here," he said. "This is the best thing that has ever happened to Everett. The best thing."
While some die-hard fans whiled the morning away outside the Everett Events Center, another was still trying to make his way to Medicine Hat, Alberta.
At 8 a.m. Friday, Scott Pattison of Everett started calling the Medicine Hat box office with three phones. At 8:03 a.m., he got through, but the ticket agent told him that the 44 tickets available for Game 1 had all been sold.
At 11 a.m., he was still sending e-mails and making calls trying to get standing-room-only tickets for Friday’s or tonight’s games. "I still am. I’m not done," he said. "I don’t think I’m going, but I haven’t given up hope."
He and his buddies, including some Everett police officers, figured if they left by 11 a.m., they could get to Sea-Tac International Airport to catch a 12:30 p.m. flight to Calgary. "I really want to go," he said. "Everybody said they couldn’t do it, and they said, ‘We’ll show you.’ Now they’re on this quest."
Pattison and his friends drove to see the underdog Silvertips beat Kelowna, then drove back through the night. They returned at 4:30 a.m. and made it to work on time.
The Silvertips’ quest has become their fans’ quest as well, he said. For thousands, it won’t be over until Everett’s boys say "when."
Meanwhile, they should check the rearview mirror in the Silvertips bus for Pattison and his crew. "It’s where do we need to go, and how will we get there," he said.
Reporter Jennifer Warnick: 425-339-3429 or jwarnick@heraldnet.com.
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