EVERETT — The Everett Silvertips are reeling from the news that head coach Craig Hartsburg requires heart surgery. However, they want Hartsburg to know he has their full support.
“Any time you hear about something like that the first thing you think about is the person’s health,” Everett general manager Doug Soetaert said. “That’s the priority in this situation. Hockey for him is secondary.
“The priority is to get Craig the best medical help he can, get the procedure done and we all move forward.”
Hartsburg was diagnosed with an ascending aortic aneurysm. He’s scheduled for two procedures, a minor preliminary procedure on Wednesday followed by open-heart surgery in early November. He will take a week off beginning Wednesday for the initial procedure. Then after surgery he’s expected to be out until after Christmas.
Soetaert and the rest of the coaching staff has been aware of Hartsburg’s situation for about a month and were aware heart surgery was a possibility.
“We’d talked about it a little,” said Everett associate head coach Jay Varady, who will take over the head-coaching duties while Hartsburg is unavailable. “He knew he had some appointments coming up and just said to be aware of the situation that was taking place.
“My first reaction was concern for Craig, just to make sure everything’s OK and everything’s taken care of,” Varady added. “Health comes first.”
The players were informed of Hartsburg’s situation during a team meeting following Monday’s practice, and the news came as a shock.
“None of us were expecting it,” Tips captain Landon Ferraro said. “We didn’t know anything about it. It’s not anything you want to hear about anyone on your team or part of the staff. It’s important for him to get healthy and make sure everything’s good with him before he comes back to us. There’s nothing we can do to help other than to keep playing and keep trying to move on, make him happy that way. I just wish him the best.”
Varady and assistant coach Chris Hartsburg, Craig Hartsburg’s son, will take on greater duties while Craig Hartsburg is gone.
Varady in particular has plenty of credentials to fill in for Craig Hartsburg. Varady has been an Everett coach since the team began play in 2003. He’s now in his fourth season as the team’s associate head coach.
“Jay and Chris will be able to handle things,” Soetaert said. “I have all kinds of confidence in both those coaches.”
And the players want to make sure they play well for Craig Hartsburg while he’s gone.
“We need to make sure we stay focused and not let this affect us in a bad way,” Ferraro said. “There’s no excuse for it. Just because he’s gone doesn’t mean we can slack off or anything. That’s not going to happen. Jay and Chris will make sure of that, and that’s what our leadership group is there for as well. We’re going to make sure everyone’s playing as well as we can and we don’t back off at all.”
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
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