How optional was Thursday’s practice? Well, hockey operations assistant Patrick Pajak got to blow the whistle and diagram plays on the white board (see photo) so you can draw your own conclusions.
I’ve got a story in Friday’s paper on 15-year-old Silvertips defenseman Gino Fairbrother who made his WHL debut in Wednesday night’s 5-0 loss to the Seattle Thunderbirds in game three of the Western Conference semifinals.
I don’t know for certain, but my guess would be that Fairbrother plays in Friday’s game. I did not see Noah Juulsen at today’s optional practice, but if I’ve learned anything it’s to not read too much into, well, anything.
Fairbrother’s given name is Gianni, so I was surprised to see him listed as “Gino” on last night’s roster. I went with Gino in the story because we always refer back to the game roster. At Thursday’s practice Tips broadcaster/media relations guru Mike Benton told me that Fairbrother prefers to go by Gino, so that’s what we’ll do from now on.
Fairbrother’s biggest takeaway from his debut? Keep his head on a swivel.
“You have to check over your shoulder before you get the puck and just take less time to make plays with the puck,” Fairbrother said.
Added forward Matt Fonteyne: “That was kind of me when I was 15 and 16. When I got the puck I was trying not to make mistakes… People are bigger and faster and guys hit a lot more. You tend to panic and throw it away to avoid the hit, but he was calm with the puck and that’s really nice to see.”
And overage defenseman Cole MacDonald: “I think he did fairly well coming into the playoffs for his first game. It’s even more nerve-wracking than a regular season game. But I think he handled it well and played good for us.”
I also spoke with forward Patrick Bajkov about Everett getting more traffic in front of the net. So far Seattle has done a good job with that while the Tips have not been as effective.
“The more bodies we can get there the better,” Bajkov said. “And taking care of our own zone is important, obviously, in front of our net. Obviously they have some big forwards who tend to hang out there.”
Bajkov touched on another key issue in this series: Not only is Seattle physical, but also big – much bigger than the Tips. And if Juulsen and Tristen Pfeifer remain out on defense, and Carson Stadnyk and Dawson Leedahl stay absent on offense (Leedahl is TBD on the suspension list as of 8 p.m. Thursday) the disparity grows all the more stark.
I’m not sure about the status of T-Birds winger Keegan Kolesar – the player that Leedahl hit to earn a possible suspension – but Kolesar missed game one and the Tips were victorious.
There are at least two games to go in this series and the Tips hope it lasts longer than that.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
