Excellent week for the Tips. Getting three points out of these two games against Spokane really is impressive. This was not the Spokane team that struggled through a recent four-game losing streak. This was the Spokane team back in full flow, the team that worked its way to the No. 1 spot in the Canadian Hockey League. And to do it while down three defensemen? Let’s just say that one point probably would have been an acceptable week.
Once again it was Leland Irving who was the main factor. Irving has been fantastic against Spokane all season, helping the Tips to a 5-3 season series triumph, despite being outshot in all eight games. If the playoffs began today Everett and Spokane would meet in the first round. One has to wonder how the Chiefs, after such a successful season, would feel about that first-round matchup with the Tips.
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Speaking of the playoffs, Everett finds itself right in the thick of the race for the final home-ice slot for the first round. Right now Seattle’s in fourth with 75 points, Kelowna in fifth with 74 and Everett in sixth with 73. The Tips have played two more games than the T-birds and Rockets, so they still have some work to do to catch up.
I honestly believe Everett’s battle is with Kelowna, not Seattle. Yes, the Tips can make up ground on the T-birds because they still play three times. However, the rest of Seattle’s schedule is just so easy (three against Portland, two against Prince George) that not only would the Tips need to win the head-to-head games, they’s also need to just about run the table with the rest of their games. No easy task with two games remaining against Tri-City and one against Vancouver. So I expect Seattle to finish fourth and the Tips to battle with Kelowna (which has a tough schedule on the run in) for fifth.
Should Seattle and Everett finish four-five they would meet in the first round. Remarkably, that would be the first time the I-5 rivals ever faced one another in the playoffs. That would be exciting, and on a personal level I’d much prefer the commute to Seattle than, say, the hassle of getting to Prince George last season.
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Want to know how bad the mess has gotten in Portland? Check out these two stories that came out Friday in the Oregonian and the Portland Tribune. One has to feel for the plight of the players and fans in Portland. Yes, junior hockey is cyclical and every team will have its down period. But that usually doesn’t equate to two awful seasons like the Winter Hawks are having. For an example of how a good organization deals with the down cycle, take a look at Kelowna. The league’s dominant force for four years, the Rockets took their lumps last season, but now have one of the best young teams in the league. When it’s time for Everett’s down cycle, which will likely be coming soon, the Tips would do well to follow Kelowna’s example.
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I’m going to credit the dramatic change in weather to my parents. Recent retirees, they spent the past six weeks backpacking through New Zealand. Of course, while they’re gone is when we get the snow and rain. And when they returned? Voila, sunshine. I suppose I should thank them for bringing the sun back with them, but would it have killed them to send it a little earlier?
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