EVERETT — The last time Chris Langkow played in the WHL’s U.S. Division his thoughts regarding the Everett Silvertips weren’t exactly fond.
Langkow, Everett’s most-recent acquisition, spent the first year-and-a-half of his WHL career with the Spokane Chiefs, a team the Tips have some history with. So his most-vivid memories of Everett are of being motivated to beat the Tips. Badly.
“Coming here with the fans screaming and yelling at you, you obviously wanted to beat them pretty bad,” Langkow recalled.
But now the 20-year-old center from Vegreville, Alberta, has a new perspective on Everett, and he’s ready to give his all to the Tips’ cause.
“It’s been good here,” said Langkow, who arrived via trade on Sept. 22. “The management and organization is top notch, and I’ve had a blast myself. I’m getting used to all the systems and how things are run around here and everything’s going good so far.”
The Tips believe Langkow was the missing piece to their puzzle. A two-way centerman, he brings decent size to the position at 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds. He’s defensively responsible and has a motor that doesn’t quit. He also chips in offensively, having tallied 15 goals and 34 assists in 70 games last season.
Langkow also answers the question of who plays with Shane Harper. Harper, Everett’s co-Most Valuable Player last season, hadn’t had a legitimate offensive threat as a linemate since Kyle Beach was traded last January. Langkow’s been paired with Harper ever since arriving and they’ve looked dangerous together.
“I thought we needed another centerman and I think he’s going to come in and do a good job,” Everett coach Craig Hartsburg said. “He’s done a good job so far. In (Wednesday night’s 4-3 home loss against Portland) I thought he and Harper were probably our two best forwards.
“I think he’s going to provide some real solid on-ice play for us, but I think off the ice as well he can provide some leadership,” added Hartsburg, who already witnessed some of Langkow’s leadership skills during team-building exercises last weekend. “He does things right, his competitive game is getting higher and higher, and I think he’s going to help us for sure.”
Langkow’s arrival in Everett was the product of two teams with overager quandaries.
The Saskatoon Blades had too many. Saskatoon had a half-dozen candidates worthy of consideration for the team’s three overager slots this season, including Langkow. When center Milan Kytnar was returned to the team from the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers, it left the team with four quality overagers at the start of the season, and Langkow ended up the odd-man out in the numbers game.
Meanwhile, the Tips were desperately seeking someone to fill the slot alongside returning overagers Harper and Zack Dailey. Everett gave tryouts to three other candidates, but neither forwards Alex Poulter and Travis Dunstall, nor defenseman Colin Scherger, fit what the Tips were looking for.
So the deal was made. Everett paid a hefty price for Langkow, surrendering a third-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft and a sixth-rounder in 2010.
“I kind of expected something to happen,” Langkow said. “I wasn’t really sure where I was going to go or what was going to happen.
“I’m glad that it happened, now that I’m here,” Langkow added. “When you get traded you get out of your comfort zone, going to a whole new team, so it’s a big adjustment. But in the end it also motivates you to another level.”
Langkow also has some hockey bloodlines. Fourteen-year NHL veteran and current Calgary Flames forward Daymond Langkow is his first cousin. Daymond Langkow is another veteran of a U.S. Division team, having spent 1992-96 with the Tri-City Americans.
For Chris Langkow, having an NHLer in the family has been a useful resource.
“During the summers while growing up I was always with him,” Chris Langkow said. “Even last summer we went to the mountains and visited him. It’s really good to have someone who’s been through all this to call up any time if I have any questions.
“He’s definitely an inspiration,” Chris Langkow added. “Just to see him and his lifestyle makes me want to be in the same place.”
To that end Chris Langkow is motivated to have a big season as an overager. He’s hoping he performs well enough to perhaps catch the eye of some professional scouts so he can continue his career.
And at least now he has the Everett fans behind him instead of against him.
“I remember the fans here were pretty ruthless,” Chris Langkow recalled about his time with the Chiefs. “When you’re playing against them it’s a lot tougher than playing for them.”
Iwanski update
Left wing Dan Iwanski, who hobbled off with a knee injury during Wednesday’s game and did not return, did not suffer a serious injury. Hartsburg said Iwanski would probably be held out for just another day or two.
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
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