EVERETT – Little went right for the Everett Silvertips when they traveled to Regina on Nov. 4.
They were put under pressure throughout the game and badly outchanced five-on-five. To many observers Everett should have been blown off the ice.
However, one thing the Silvertips can call upon is the power of Peter Mueller.
Mueller set up Everett’s first goal. He controlled play in the third period to help the Silvertips stay in the game. Then he won it when he was the only player to score in the shootout.
No doubt about it, Mueller is a special player.
But just how special is Mueller? Could he be – dare one say it – the best player in the WHL?
“I honestly feel he’s the best player in the league, at least at his position,” said Moises Gutierrez, who’s witnessed much in his five seasons in the WHL. “There’s a couple of D-men who are pretty special like (Cody) Franson in Vancouver. But offensively, I don’t think there’s any player averaging as many points as he is. On that eastern swing he single-handedly won us a few games.”
It’s difficult to declare Mueller the No. 1 player in the league, considering he’s just 18 years old in a league full of 19- and 20-year-olds. However, through Everett’s first 22 games the talented playmaking center is making a case:
* With 31 points in 18 games, he’s leading the league in points per game at 1.72.
* He wins the vast majority of his faceoffs.
* He plays both ends of the ice, being defensively responsible and a top penalty killer, despite having the type of offensive gifts that would cause some to neglect those parts of their game.
* He’s shown versatility, capably handling the center point on the power play, a position usually reserved for a defenseman.
* As the eighth-overall selection in this year’s NHL draft, he’s tied for the highest-taken skater in the league (Prince George right wing Devin Setoguchi was taken eighth overall in 2005, and Tri-City goaltender Carey Price was taken fifth overall in 2005).
It’s an impressive resume. However, members of the Tips’ brass aren’t ready to annoint Mueller the league’s top player just yet. When asked whether he though Mueller was the best player in the league, Everett general manager Doug Soetaert took a long pause before answering.
“I think he can be on a consistent basis,” he said. “You just have to look at what he’s done in a short period of time and the number of points. And it’s not just about the points, his overall game has developed as well.
“But to answer the question, I’d have to say he’s right up there. Those accolades will come at the right time.”
Everett coach Kevin Constantine also hedged his bets. “We haven’t seen much of the Central Division yet, so we don’t have any way of knowing those teams,” Constantine said. “We haven’t seen Vancouver yet. So there’s still lots of players out there that we haven’t watched. But it’d be hard to imagine there’s a whole slew of players better than him right now. He’s got to be one of the top 10, or even higher, forwards in the league.”
But all the hedging in the world can’t prevent one from recognizing just how much Mueller can influence a game. Wednesday against Calgary he didn’t register a point, just the second time that’s happened this season. However, he still was a huge figure in the game, from his ferocious forechecking in the first period to his ability to cause the Hitmen consternation whenever he carried the puck up ice. Mueller showed flashes of that ability last season as a rookie. However, those came only on occasion. This season the difference is that dominance is there almost every game.
“I think the best thing that happened to Peter, besides coming here, is having the opportunity to go to an NHL camp (with the Phoenix Coyotes),” Soetaert said. “He saw what goes on and took what he learned at that camp and applied it here. He’s now working at a higher level, competing at a higher level, taking a real leadership role on and off the ice.”
It’s not a slam dunk that Mueller is the league’s best. There are a handful of players – Franson, Setoguchi, Medicine Hat defenseman Kris Russell and Red Deer left wing Martin Hanzal, to name a few – who can also lay claim to the title. But given the way he’s playing, Mueller’s name has to be in the mix.
“He’s a special player,” Gutierrez said. “There’s not many players in this league who can do what he does. He’s getting points in every situation. Four-on-four, five-on-five, power play, he’s finding ways to score.
“I played with Erik Christensen (the league’s leading scorer in 2002-03) for 15-20 games in Kamloops and he was probably the only other player I can think of who controlled games when he wanted to,” Gutierrez added. “Mueller’s definitely a player who doesn’t come around too often.”
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