TALKING POINTS
It all comes down to one game for the Tips. Tri-City lost 5-4 to Spokane, meaning Everett and Tri-City are once again tied atop the U.S. Division and Western Conference standings. The Americans’ season is over, while the Tips travel to Spokane tomorrow. Everett needs at least a point from tomorrow’s game to claim the prizes as Tri-City holds the tiebreaker.
It’s stunning that the Tips find themselves in this position. At the end of December Everett was in sixth place in the conference and having to worry about just making the playoffs. But in 2010 the Tips are 27-4-1-1 and possibly on the verge of an incredible comeback.
Spokane, by virtue of its win, is now locked into the No. 4 seed to the playoffs and has nothing to play for tomorrow, so it’ll be interesting what kind of lineup and effort the Chiefs put forth.
As for tonight’s game, the Tips controlled it throughout. They controlled it through the first two periods because of Chilliwack’s lack of discipline as Everett received eight of the nine power plays through two, taking a 2-0 lead. The Tips then gave some of those power-plays back in the third, taking four penalties in the first seven minutes. But Everett killed off two five-on-threes and the Tips scored themselves between the penalties.
This was the final regular season home game for Everett’s overagers, and they treated the sellout crowd to an inspired performance as Shane Harper, Chris Langkow and Zack Dailey combined for four goals and five assists. Harper scored twice, making him the first player in Everett history to eclipse 100 career goals.
TURNING POINT
Despite the power-play discrepancy, the game wasn’t safe until Langkow scored nine seconds into the third period to make it safe at 3-0.
HIT OF THE DAY
Some good ones, but the best one may have been when Chilliwack’s Jamie Crooks and Kevin Sundher combined to flatten Byron Froese into the boards late in the first period.
THREE STARS
First star: Langkow. One goal and three assists, he played like a man possessed.
Second star: Dailey. One goal and one assist, made good plays and could have scored more.
Third star: Thomas Heemskerk, Everett. 25 saves for his fourth shutout, none more sterling than the reaching save he made on Sundher late in the game.
The Herald’s honorable mention: Harper. Two goals and an assist for Everett’s MVP (see below).
BOX SCORE
AWARDS
Here are Everett’s year-end awards winners:
Most Valuable Player: Shane Harper
Rookie of the Year: Ryan Murray
Unsung Hero: Clayton Cumiskey
Most Improved Player: Alex Theriau
Coaches Award: Zack Dailey
Iron Man Awards: Shane Harper, Tyler Maxwell, Kellan Tochkin, Radko Gudas
Scholastic Player of the Year: Kent Simpson
Community Relations Award: Zack Dailey
F.I.E.R.C.E. Predator Award: Radko Gudas
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