EVERETT – The Everett Silvertips recently returned from the most eventful road trip in franchise history.
During Everett’s five-game swing through the Western Hockey League’s East Division, the Silvertips welcomed three new players, said goodbye to two others, picked up some significant bumps and bruises and took a little egg on their faces.
Oh, and the Silvertips also won a few games, too.
Everett returned from it’s longest road trip of the season having gone 4-1, but that was only part of the story of a road trip that contained so much more than just wins and losses.
“We beat one of the best teams in the league, we lost to one of the worst teams in the league and we have a lot of new faces, so there’s a lot of changes,” said Everett center Torrie Wheat, who led the team with five goals during the trip. “It’s been interesting.”
Everett made a pair of roster moves during the 11 days the Silvertips were on the road. Everett first added 17-year-old defenseman Randy King to the roster. Then the Silvertips upgraded their offense in a blockbuster trade, acquiring 20-year-old center Alex Leavitt and 19-year-old left wing Kyle Annesley in a deal that sent forwards Barry Horman and Marc Desloges to Swift Current.
“I was really surprised, actually,” Everett left wing Tyler Dietrich said of the trade. “It’s hard for any guy to deal with. It must have been really tough for Horms and Desi to have to leave. But we get two new hockey players into this club, both very talented. We’re really excited about having them and I think it’s going to work out for us.”
The Silvertips also lost captain Mitch Love for two more games because of a persisting injury to his shoulder/chest area. He’s currently listed as day-to-day. Yet the Silvertips won both games without Love, including a 2-1 victory at Brandon in which the Silvertips fielded all three of their 16-year-old defensemen – Jonathan Harty, Taylor Ellington and Graham Potuer – and still dominated play, outshooting the Wheat Kings 44-25.
But most importantly Everett strung together a series of strong efforts, which included a 5-2 pasting of East Division leader Saskatoon, and the Silvertips returned home playing their best hockey of the season so far.
“Statistic-wise based on the stats our coaches show us – scoring chances, energy, shots – it’s definitley the best stretch of games our team’s put together yet,” Dietrich said. “I think that just sets the standard for the way we have to play the rest of the year.”
As a result, the Silvertips remained within reach of U.S. Division-leading Seattle. Everett trails Seattle by just two points, though the Silvertips have played two games more.
“We’re all seeing Seattle, which isn’t losing a game,” Wheat said. “We know they’re a great team and if we want to win this U.S. Division, which we really do, we have to keep on winning also to keep pace with them. I think everyone’s starting to realize that.
“If we’d said we’d come back 4-1, I think everyone would have been pretty pleased with it,” Wheat added. “Of course, we’d have liked to have won all five, but we’ll sweep that Moose Jaw game under the rug.”
Ah yes, Moose Jaw. Somehow in between dominating the division’s best two teams in Saskatoon and Brandon, the Silvertips managed to hand Moose Jaw it’s first win in 20 attempts this season, despite outshooting the Warriors 34-20.
“The credit goes to them, they found a way to win that game,” Dietrich said. “It wasn’t because we rolled over, it wasn’t because we didn’t work hard. It’s because that’s just the way some games go. I think our guys definitely put the effort in that we needed to win that game. Some nights that’s just going to happen.”
And there’s nothing like winning the rest of the games on the trip to make the pain of the Moose Jaw loss go away.
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