EVERETT – The Everett Silvertips have a secret weapon.
No, it’s not an unseen move for use in a shootout, or a special play designed for the power play.
It’s simply three guys called Joe.
Damir Alic, Jesse Smyke and Brennan Sonne form the line that’s become known as the Joes, but these ordinary Joes perform no ordinary task.
“I love being a Joe,” Alic said. “That’s what everyone knows us as now.”
So what exactly is a Joe?
“It’s a secret society,” Everett coach Kevin Constantine said, a grin spreading across his face. “They haven’t told me the parameters of how you become a Joe.
“If they ever let me in the club I’d be pretty honored.”
Well, it’s not really as mysterious as that. The “Joes” line is Everett’s checking line, a trio of forwards whose job isn’t about putting the puck in the opponent’s net, but keeping it out of their own.
“We’re grinders,” Smyke said. “We go out there when the coach needs us and keep it simple. It’s all about playing defense.”
Added Sonne: “A Joe is a guy who’s defensive minded. He’s loud and obnoxious both on and off the ice, and he enjoys coming to work every day and hitting. You have to be physical to be a Joe.”
So the name Joes is fitting. Each player is the everyman who packs his lunch pail in the morning and performs the blue-collar work without complaint. But as appropriate as the name may be, that’s not where it found its origin.
The moniker was born innocently enough. At a practice early last season Alic’s former Washington Totems teammate Paulos Shiferaw, who was practicing with the Tips at the time, greeted Alic by saying, “Yo, I got in a fight.”
Graham Potuer, who was nearby, misheard “Yo” as “Joe” and thought Alic’s nickname was Joe, so he started calling him Joe.
Zach Hamill grabbed that ball and ran with it, repeatedly referring to Alic as Joe. Soon the whole team was in on it.
When Sonne joined the team shortly after, he became roommates and good friends with Alic. Given the amount of time the two spent together, the Tips began calling Sonne Joe as well.
Then this season Alic and Sonne were united on a line with Smyke.
Naturally Smyke’s name became Joe, too.
But what began as a joke has evolved into an identity for a trio of 19-year-olds who arrived in Everett amidst zero fanfare. Smyke was a sixth-round bantam pick who never made the grade in Saskatoon. Alic, a Kent resident, never drew any attention from north of the border and only got a chance because of proximity. And Sonne seemed consigned to a career as a Junior A player in the British Columbia Hockey League.
However, all three found a home, and a role, in Everett.
Each of the Joes has his own unique strength. Smyke is the speed burner who’s adept at blocking shots and a ferocious penalty killer. Sonne is the scrapper who lays the big hits and isn’t afraid to drop the gloves with anyone, despite his 5-foot-9, 175-pound frame. And Alic is the glue in the middle who brings it all together.
As a unit, they’re usually given the assignment of slowing down the opposition’s top offensive line. They’re also counted on to provide dependability during the game’s transition points, such as the end of power plays and penalty kills and after goals are scored.
“Someone’s got to do it, eh?” Sonne said. “Coming in here, none of us were going to put up (John) Lammers-, Hamill- or (Peter) Mueller-type numbers. So you need to find something that will keep you around.”
Indeed, one won’t often find the Joes on the scoresheet – between the three of them they’ve scored just 11 goals this season. However, all three of them are a plus-six or better, a remarkable number considering how frequently they’re matched up against the league’s offensive stars.
“It’s a line you can trust,” Constantine said. “Generally most nights you get the same thing out of them: hard work, physical play, responsible defense. In many ways we consider their line one everyone else should learn from.
“They’ve really become an integral part of our team,” Constantine added. “Not in a glamorous way, there’s very little notoriety and reward for what they do. But you need guys who do that and that’s why they’re Joes.”
And while the Joes have carved out their own little niche, Sonne concluded with a message to the everyman everywhere.
“Anyone can be a Joe,” Sonne emphasized. “Anyone.”
Injury update: Everett will once again have to cobble together full lineups for this weekend’s three games. The Tips could have left wing Ondrej Fiala back from the flu and defenseman Jonathan Harty back from his groin injury. Goaltender David Reekie is also back practicing again after a short layoff with a sprained ankle. However, defenseman Mike Alexander suffered a concussion in Wednesday’s 5-3 victory over Portland and is out this weekend, and right wing Dan Gendur is questionable after taking a shot off his foot. Left wing Lukas Vartovnik is expected to miss some more time with his hip injury, and defenseman Graham Potuer is a long-term casualty with a wrist injury.
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