Could the Everett Silvertips be without their captain for another month?
Defenseman Ryan Murray will not play Wednesday in Kamloops as he continues to recover from his sprained ankle. He leaves for Canada’s tryouts for World Juniors on Saturday. That means Friday’s home game against Spokane could be the last chance Murray has of playing for the Tips until mid January, should Murray make Canada’s team.
Murray was supposed to make his return last weekend, but he experienced a small setback during practice last week. The decision on whether Murray plays Friday is being left up to Murray. He said he’d like to get some game action in before heading to tryouts, but he also wants to make sure he’s as healthy as possible, too. So it’s still up in the air.
One player who should be back Wednesday is overage defenseman Josh Caron. Caron didn’t play Saturday at Tri-City because of illness, but he practiced today.
One player who didn’t practice today was goaltender Kent Simpson, who was given a maintenance day. That meant the Tips needed another goalie for practice. And just who was this mystery goalie, who’s pictured above? It’s none other than Tips goaltending coach Taylor Dakers, coming out of retirement to don the pads once more. The players really seemed to get a kick out of having the opportunity to shoot on one of their coaches.
Staying on the goaltending front, it’s been pointed out to me that former Tips netminder Leland Irving received the call to the NHL. After spending more than three seasons being patient in the minors, Irving finally is having his first days in the NHL as the Calgary Flames called Irving up. Irving will serve as Miikka Kiprusoff’s backup while Henrik Karlsson is out injured.
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