EVERETT – A familiar face has been spied at the Everett Events Center the last two days.
Former Everett Silvertips general manager Doug Soetaert is back in town to watch the team he’s largely responsible for assembling.
Soetaert, Everett’s original general manager, stepped down last offseason to become general manager of the American Hockey League’s Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights and assistant general manager of the NHL’s Calgary Flames.
“This is my first trip back,” Soetaert said. “I’d been planning on coming back sooner, but obviously there were a lot of things to do with Calgary. But I’m glad I made it back at this point in time to catch the Silvertips.”
Soetaert had a similar task in Omaha that he had in Everett, helping start a team from scratch. In its inaugural season Omaha, Calgary’s minor-league affiliate, went 35-31-3-11 and finished six points out of the playoffs.
“We had our ups and downs, but as the season went on the attendance started to go up and the team really started to come together,” Soetaert said. “We were very competitive the last part of the season. Unfortunately, we didn’t make the playoffs, but we were one of the hardest-working teams in the league and nobody wanted to play us.”
Soetaert still feels a strong affinity for the Silvertips. Twenty of the players on Everett’s playoff roster were acquired during Soetaert’s tenure.
“It’s like being a proud parent,” Soetaert said. “All these kids have come in and committed to the program, and each and every one of them has gotten better. You see the kids listed high in the (NHL) draft this year, it’s quite an accomplishment from where we started.”
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