EVERETT — The Everett Silvertips have a routine for this time of year.
On the day before the beginning of the season, the Tips are usually loading up the bus and getting ready to depart for some far-flung location in British Columbia for their season opener.
But this year the Tips were finally able to tear up that script and toss it out the window. They get to put off the travel plans for a change.
Everett opens the season at home for the first time in franchise history this year, hosting the Tri-City Americans on Friday night and ending four straight seasons of beginning as road warriors.
“It’ll be nice,” defenseman Jonathan Harty said. “It’s always exciting to open up in your home barn, especially the season opener. We’re not used to that, and we’re looking forward to it. We know our fans will be there to support us and we’re going to give it all we’ve got.”
Every previous year Everett began the season on the road.
In Everett’s inaugural season in 2003, the final touches were still being put on the Everett Events Center (now Comcast Arena) when the season arrived, making it impossible to open at home.
But that was a moot point anyway. Non-United States citizens require a permit in order to ply their trade within the borders. That includes Everett’s vast numbers of Canadians and two Europeans.
In the past, those permits didn’t become valid until Oct. 1, so any games in September for every U.S. Division team had to be played in Canada. But the regulations changed this year, finally allowing the Tips to take the ice for the first time in front of friendly fans.
“That’s the reason why we started on the road,” Tips GM Doug Soetaert explained. “We would go across and play in Canada, then come back and get our permits because they weren’t good until a certain period of time. But now they were approved a month-and-a-half ago, so all our players have the legal documentation to work down here.”
Having the permits worked out ahead of time means a lot fewer paperwork headaches during the first week of the season.
“It’s nice not having to worry about it,” Everett coach John Becanic said. “We used to have to come back from that road trip and spend about two hours at immigration that night after playing two or three games, then get home at four or five in the morning. So it’s kind of nice not having to deal with that.”
But just as there are advantages to starting the season at home, there are drawbacks, too.
“There’s good and bad,” Becanic said. “It’s always nice to play at home in front of our crowd. We certainly feel there’s an advantage to playing in our building as opposed to playing on the road. On the flip side we’ve always felt you kind of have to throw the first game away because guys are nervous, things aren’t perfect, refereeing is still trying to work out the kinks. So it’s never really a pretty game. It’s always nice to get a couple of those under your belt on the road and not in front of your fans.”
And the Tips have gotten so used to starting the season on the road that many of the veterans actually prefer it to opening at home.
“I like starting on the road,” Harty said. “I like kicking it off on the road and coming back here when we’re already in the swing of things. You get the whole bus trip to think about it, we usually stay in a hotel first, and the team bonding allows us to get closer before the start of the season.”
But at least now Everett’s fans will be able to get the first glimpse of their team.
No further returns: There was no news Wednesday of players returning to Everett from their NHL training camps.
The Tips are still hoping that center Zach Hamill (Boston), defenseman Taylor Ellington (Vancouver) and goaltender Leland Irving (Calgary) may be sent back in time for Friday’s opener. Irving’s return would be particularly helpful given his designated stand-in, David Reekie, is out with mononucleosis.
Center Peter Mueller (Phoenix), left wing Ondrej Fiala (Minnesota) and defenseman Dane Crowley (Tampa Bay) are not expected to be returned for this weekend’s games. All three could end up playing professionally this season.
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