EVERETT — For the first time this season, the Everett Silvertips are facing adversity.
Everett has lost three of its past four games, and now the Tips will have to close out the first half of the WHL season without two of its best players.
Everett has four games remaining in the first half, and the Tips will have to navigate those without two impact players as defenseman Mirco Mueller is departing for the World Junior Hockey Championships and center Manraj Hayer is out with a concussion.
With the Tips also in the midst of their driest stretch of the season, Everett is getting its first real taste of adversity.
“It’s going to be a big test for us,” Everett captain Matt Pufahl said. “But I think we’re pretty deep in our lineup and I think that’s something that will help us get through these four games.”
The Tips already knew they were going to be without Mueller during this stretch. The 18-year-old, who’s a lynchpin of Everett’s defense, leaves this morning for Switzerland to join up with the Swiss junior national team. Mueller technically hasn’t clinched a roster spot. However, given he played for Switzerland last year at World Juniors and was one of the team’s top players, he’s a virtual lock to play in the tournament, which takes place Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Malmo, Sweden.
Therefore, Everett will be without Mueller not only for the final four games of the first half, but also at least the first five games of the second half.
“Obviously that’s going to be a big missing component on our back end,” Pufahl said. “He’s a really good puck mover and a solid shutdown defenseman, so that’s something we’re going to miss. But we have confidence in our other d-men, that (Micheal Zipp) will be able to step into the lineup and be able to do the same thing.”
Hayer, on the other hand, in an unexpected loss. The 20-year-old center is having a strong season and is tied for third on the team in scoring with 28 points (11 goals, 17 assists) in 32 games.
But Hayer went down during the second period of Everett’s 5-3 loss at Spokane on Wednesday while jostling for position with one of the Chiefs as they chased a puck in the corner. Hayer caught an edge, fell to the ice and fell hard into the boards back-first. He remained on the ice for several moments before skating off under his own power, but he did not return to the game.
“He for sure won’t be playing until after Christmas,” Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. “I’d be a bit surprised if he’s even ready to play after Christmas, just because he has a bit of a concussion history and it was a pretty good whack into the boards.”
The player absences come at a time when Everett isn’t getting results. The Tips lost three of their past four games, though all three of those losses came at the hands of difficult opposition. Everett lost 6-3 at home against U.S. Division leader Portland, lost 3-1 on the road against B.C. Division leader Kelowna, then lost in Spokane at an arena where the Tips have dropped 16 straight.
“There’s only one of those games where the team didn’t play the type of game we want to play, which was Portland at home, when we just didn’t play hard,” said Constantine, who added that he thought the Tips played well in Spokane, but was the victim of bounces. “We went to Kelowna and played hard, they beat us. We played hard again in Kamloops and won, and we played hard again (Wednesday) night.
“My issue isn’t the scoreboard. Of course we want to win, so the scoreboard is something we look at. But my issue is how you play the game, and you might say we lost three of those four, but I’d say in three of those four we played the game the right way.”
Everett also will be without winger Patrick Bajkov, who has an upper-body injury and is wearing a wrap on his arm. He is listed as week-to-week. Defenseman Cole MacDonald has been out because of illness, but may be able to return for tonight’s game at Vancouver. Everett needs MacDonald in order to field a full 20-player lineup.
The Tips play a three-in-three this weekend, beginning with a home-and-home set against Vancouver, followed by a home game against Spokane on Sunday. Everett concludes the first half Tuesday at Portland.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at NickHPatterson.
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