EVERETT — The first thing that stands out to Ethan O’Rourke are the crowds.
“These are the best buildings to play in — here, Seattle, places like that, Spokane — I love it,” said O’Rouke, Everett’s newest center who was acquired in a deal with the Prince George Cougars on Monday.
“That’s my favorite part of coming down to the states is being able to play in front of that awesome crowd, whether they’re cheering for you or against you — it’s fun either way,” O’Rourke added. “And then the next thing would be just how hard these teams are to play against, and how deep they are, and I’m happy to be here to help that depth on the team.”
It’s a common refrain among players traded to U.S. Division teams from the WHL’s other divisions. U.S. division rinks are notorious for their noise, passion and atmosphere.
“It helps when you have good hockey teams, that’s for sure,” O’Rourke said. “People want to come watch that. It will be awesome being in there for my first game. But when people enjoy watching good hockey people are going to show up after a while.”
Listed at 6-foot-5 and standing taller in skates, O’Rourke practiced with Everett Tuesday and Wednesday. He’ll presumably make his Silvertips debut at 7:05 p.m. Friday when the Tips take on the Victoria Royals at Save-On-Foods Arena on Vancouver Island.
“It’s an opportunity to play on a team that’s in first place right now,” O’Rourke said. “That’s the way I see it. I’m getting to play with some good hockey players and that’s going to be a chance to develop my game.”
The Silvertips are counting on O’Rourke to add depth to the center position. Everett has been playing with just three true centers — Matt Fonteyne, Riley Sutter and Reece Vitelli — for about two months. That’s when Ethan Browne went home to Alberta, and he and fellow rookie Mark Liwiski were each placed on the suspended list.
Obtaining O’Rourke wasn’t cheap. The Tips sent Browne, a former first-round pick, to the Cougars in the deal. But it was a price the team was willing to pay to gear up for the second half.
“All the games get magnified — guys play tighter, guys play stronger and guys play bigger,” head coach Dennis Williams said. “I think it was important to get Ethan in here right away and bring size. He does a great job on the penalty kill. Big, strong body, good hands net-front, so we expect him to contribute right off the bat.”
The Tips and Cougars played each other four times this season, so O’Rourke was something of a known commodity. A third-round pick of Prince George in the 2014 bantam draft, O’Rourke had five goals and nine assists in 37 games for the Cougars this season, and six goals and 10 assists in 57 career WHL games.
“We knew exactly what we wanted, what we were looking for,” Williams said. “We’re ecstatic to have him. We needed another player in here for sure and someone of his caliber and strength and size is definitely going to help.”
Williams didn’t know Tuesday which line O’Rourke would skate on. Fonteyne and Sutter center the top two lines while the 16-year-old Vitelli has centered the third line all season.
O’Rouke comes from an impressive hockey pedigree. His father, Steve, is a Prince George assistant coach who played two seasons for Silvertips general manager Garry Davidson with the Penticton Panthers of the BCHL in the 1990s.
Steve O’Rourke also played 115 WHL games with the Tri-City Americans and Moose Jaw Warriors before a collegiate career at the University of Lethbrige. He then played seven professional seasons.
“I had known for a long time that Garry had coached my dad back in junior and that’s why I was not afraid at all to come in and be a part of the team, because I knew he would help me out,” Ethan O’Rourke said. “He knows a lot of people on the staff here, so it helps out in that sense.”
O’Rourke figures to make his home debut Saturday when the Tips (23-14-1-1, 48 points) play host to the Portland Winterhawks at 7:05 p.m. at Angel of the Winds Arena.
“I couldn’t be happier with the place I ended up,” O’Rourke said. “I loved it in PG, I didn’t want to really leave, but at the same time I couldn’t be happier with where I ended up. I couldn’t ask for a better place.”
For the latest Silvertips news follow Jesse Geleynse on Twitter.
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