EVERETT – In each of their first two seasons in the Western Hockey League, the Everett Silvertips were predicted to languish in the cellar.

In each of those seasons, the Silvertips turned those expectations upside down, finishing with winning records and winning playoff series.

But for Everett to continue that trend, it’s likely the Tips will have to exceed expectations yet again.

Looking ahead, the 2005-06 season – as unlikely as it might sound – might be the most challenging in franchise history.

Given Everett’s early track record for success, why would next season present a significant challenge? After all, haven’t the Tips overcome gargantuan obstacles each of the past two seasons? And the Tips themselves are expecting to be even better.

The issue is this: Youth. Everett had a wealth of older, experienced players to help overcome its shortcomings the past two seasons. Unless drastic changes are made, which is unlikely, that won’t be the case next season.

“Next season I think we’ll do really well,” defenseman Shaun Heshka said. “We have a lot of young guys who are going to be one more year experienced and are going to be playing key roles. We lose a lot of key guys and other guys are going to have to step in, but I think they can do it.”

Everett is losing hugely influential players in its departing overagers. Defenseman Mitch Love was not only the team’s captain, but its heart and soul. Right wing Alex Leavitt was the best offensive player in franchise history. Left wing Tyler Dietrich was also one of Everett’s top offensive players.

The Tips also are going to take a big hit on their 1985-born players. Everett had seven 19-year-olds this season and can only keep three of those next season.

The nucleus of most WHL teams is comprised of its 19- and 18-year-olds, which next season will be the 1986- and 1987-born players, respectively. Those two classes are by far the thinnest in Everett’s organization. The Tips had just three ’86s and one ‘87 among their regulars this season, and there’s little relief in sight.

“On paper that would appear to be the case, that it should be our most-challenging year,” Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. “But all that does to people in this organization is get them geared up.”

One of the biggest decisions is choosing which players to keep as overagers, which will be a daunting task.

Defenseman Ivan Baranka won’t be back. Baranka, who signed a professional contract with the New York Rangers before the season, is joining the Rangers’ American Hockey League affiliate in Hartford for the remainder of this season and will play in Hartford next season.

Center Torrie Wheat and Heshka, the team’s assistant captains this season, would seem to be locks for next season. However, given the dramatic improvement in their games over the last year, there’s a chance that each may receive looks from NHL teams and sign to play professionally.

Goaltender Michael Wall might seem like a lock to stick. However, given Everett’s expected inexperience among its skaters, one has to wonder whether the Tips can afford to use an overager slot on a goaltender, especially with the talented Leland Irving waiting in the wings. Wall is also a potential professional target.

The other candidates, forwards Mark Kress and Kyle Annesley and defenseman Ryan Blatchford, are solid but unspectacular players.

The good news for the Tips is that they’ll have perhaps the most-experienced group of 17-year-olds in WHL history – forwards Zach Hamill, Brady Calla, Zach Sim, Brennan Zasitko and Lenny Young; defensemen Taylor Ellington, Jonathan Harty and Graham Potuer; and goalie Irving. Between them, they have played a total 436 WHL games during the regular season and playoffs.

“I think the experience they got this year will help a lot,” Wall said. “You look at a guy like Taylor Ellington, who played a little bit at the beginning an was pretty much a regular for us in the playoffs. I think the more these kids get an opportunity to play, the more they’re going to shine.”

And the Tips can make that class of ‘88 even stronger if they land center Peter Mueller. Mueller, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound dynamo from Minneapolis, Minn., finished as the second-leading scorer on the U.S. Under-18 national team, despite being the only 16-year-old on the roster. He slipped to the second round of the 2003 Bantam Draft because he committed to play at the University of Minnesota as a high school freshman, but Everett general manager Doug Soetaert believes he can convince Mueller to choose Everett instead.

“We feel Peter Mueller has a very good chance of being with us next year,” Soetaert said. “We’ve had great conversations with his parents, he was down here last year, he knows he wants to be a pro as soon as he can, and if he wants to be a pro, this is where he should be. So I feel very confident that Peter Mueller is going to give our organization every consideration.”

Other newcomers who could crack Everett’s roster next season are ‘87-born forward Jordan Johnston, ‘89-born defenseman Eric Doyle and ‘89-born forwards Matt Meropoulis, Keegan Bourelle and Jonathan Milhouse.

In all likelihood, Everett will once again be predicted to finish toward the bottom of the league again next year. But if ever there was an organization that specialized in exceeding expectations, this is the one.