Carter Hart back at practice as Silvertips prep for road trip

Carter Hart was back at practice Tuesday after missing the Everett Silvertips’ season-opening two-game homestand last weekend due to the flu.

He was a full participant in practice and even exchanged his goalie gear for a skater’s stick and helmet after practice to take some shots with his teammates.

Carter Hart has recovered and is back at practice pic.twitter.com/5j8F6BGUJ5
— Jesse Geleynse (@JesseGeleynse) September 26, 2017

Hart was supposed to start in goal Sept. 20 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., as the Islanders and Flyers played a pair of split-squad games.

That was when the flu struck.

Hart was understandably disappointed, but said he felt far more comfortable attending his second camp this fall after last season’s experience. He also got a chance to play before 13,000 at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center in the Flyers’ rookie game against the Islanders on Sept. 13.

“I know some of the guys a little bit better personally, so it was a lot more comfortable going there and seeing those guys again whereas my first year I was the young guy coming in and I was a little bit scared to go out on the ice with those big guys,” he said. “This year it was a lot of fun because I knew a lot more faces this year.”

In other news:

– The Tips Tuesday took part in three different small-area drills to focus on clearing pucks and getting to the net front.

“I’m a big believer in them because it encompasses a lot,” head coach Dennis Williams said. “It helps on the defensive side because you gotta clear the pucks out and clear bodies out. On the offensive side you gotta get net front and that’s what you saw today. Three small area games where the emphasis was looking to score on second and third chances at net front.”

– Goaltender Dustin Wolf was on the ice prior to practice and working with assistant coach Mitch Love. Wolf remains out until the end of October as he recovers from offseason hip surgery. Kyle Walker (collarbone 3-5 weeks) and Ethan Browne (upper body 1-2 weeks) remain sidelined for the time being.

– The Tips got down to three goaltenders as they reassigned Danton Belluk to the Eastman (Manitoba) Selects. Hart, Wolf and Dorrin Luding remain on the roster.

Tips reduce roster, now includes three goaltenders. pic.twitter.com/MPDA5ft6jd
— Everett Silvertips (@WHLsilvertips) September 26, 2017

– The WHL Tuesday announced that Kelowna’s Kole Lind had been named Player of the Week and Victoria’s Griffen Outhouse was named Goaltender of the Week.

– I mentioned this in my notebook that appears in Wednesday’s Herald, but Kailer Yamamoto of the Spokane Chiefs is making a big push to crack the Edmonton Oilers roster after being drafted in the first round in May. He scored another goal Monday night: