OK, I’ve got this term I’ve had kicking around in my head for a while: Sega team. It refers to the console hockey video games. In those games there’s usually a setting to turn off line changes, thus allowing you to play with your best players throughout. So when a team puts out its top line, top defensive pairing and is playing its No. 1 goalie, I make a mental note that it has its Sega team on the ice.
The reason I bring this up is that Everett may very well lose its Sega team from this year.
Everett’s top line consisted of Zach Hamill, Dan Gendur and Clayton Bauer; the top defensive pairing was Dane Crowley and Taylor Ellington; and the No. 1 goalie was Leland Irving.
Well, Gendur, Bauer and Crowley were overagers and won’t be back. Hamill and Irving will be 20-year-olds who have already signed pro contracts, so they probably won’t be back. And Ellington is a good candidate to play pro next season, too.
So the Tips are in danger of losing their entire Sega team, and that’s a big deal for Everett because it was such a top-heavy team, particularly from a production standpoint.
So this must mean a Portland-like collapse next season, right?
I don’t think so. There are a few reasons why I believe Everett’s future looks better than Portland’s present:
– Kyle Beach. Beach is a top offensive talent who you can build a team around. The Winter Hawks haven’t had anything like that.
– Experience. Everett may be younger, but with eight 89s and seven 90s (next season’s 19- and 18-year-olds) on the roster at the end of this season the Tips won’t lack experience, whereas the Winter Hawks were super young two seasons ago and still very young last season.
– New talent. The Tips have better talent in the system than most realize. There’s no telling whether there’s any future stars there, but there’s a lot of players who will eventually be contributors. So the back end of Everett’s roster should be adequate.
On paper Everett won’t be as strong next season, and with Tri-City, Spokane and Seattle all still looking good for 08-09, it’s unlikely the Tips will be climbing up the standings. But I don’t expect Everett to be propping up the rest of the league, either.
Next: 2008-09 lookahead: overagers
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