The first year spent with a billet family away from home can be a difficult adjustment for WHL rookies no matter the age of the player.
Because of that, some of the players don’t mind the 10-plus hour bus trips like the one the Everett Silvertips embarked on Sunday as they head to eastern British Columbia and Alberta for their first look at the Central Division.
For the Silvertips’ five Alberta natives, this week is a chance to reconnect with their friends and family in their home province. For the eight from Manitoba and Saskatchewan, it’s the closest they’ll come to their hometowns this season since the Eastern Division travels to the U.S. Division this year.
“One of the biggest challenges of coming through this whole process is (that) for many it’s their first time not being around family,” Everett head coach Kevin Constantine said. “That’s just not easy. Every chance you get to mix in a little bit of that is, I think, healthy.”
Everett opens tonight at 6 against the Kootenay Ice in Cranbrook, B.C. The trip continues at Lethbridge Wednesday, followed by Medicine Hat Friday and Calgary Saturday before heading for home.
“I’m excited to go home for sure,” said 16-year-old rookie forward Riley Sutter, a Calgary native. “It’s going to be nice to see all my family and friends. It’s going to be nice to play on the ice I skated on growing up for the first time (while) actually playing.”
Brandon Ralph is from Fort McMurray, Alberta, while Carter Hart is from Sherwood Park. Cole MacDonald and Matt Fonteyne are both from Wetaskiwin.
Homesickness lessens for older players who have spent several years away from home, but they too look forward to the opportunity to be in familiar surroundings.
“I have a lot of family coming and it’s going to be the first time I’ve seen my brother and sister since August,” said Fonteyne, a third-year Tip who turns 18 on Nov. 30. “They’re making the trip and it’s always fun to play in front of friends and family.”
It’s the longest road trip for Everett since its season-opening two-game stint at Prince George in September.
“It’s very different in that it’s four games in five nights,” Constantine said. “With PG we went up, we had a day off in-between, (we had) the freshness of the start of the season. So this will be a bigger challenge.”
The Silvertips (10-5-0-1, 21 points) are in third place in the U.S. Division and enter the stretch with a two-game winning streak. The Tips erupted for nine goals in the two home victories last weekend following a 3-0 shutout loss at Spokane on Wednesday.
Kootenay (4-15-2-0, 10 points) is up first. The Ice has lost three straight and has been decimated by injuries.
Luke Philp (11 goals, 16 assists) and Zak Zborosky (11 goals, nine assists) are the top offensive performers for the Ice. However, neither are expected to play against the Tips. Zborosky hasn’t played since Nov. 6 with a lower body injury and is listed as week-to-week. Philp is listed as day-to-day with an upper body injury.
In addition Kootenay will be without defensemen Tyler King (lower body injury), Troy Murray (suspension) and Jaedon Deschenau (upper body, out indefinitely).
Goaltender Wyatt Hoflin (3-11-1-0, 3.88 goals against average, .889 save percentage) has played the most minutes in net.
The success of Lethbridge (12-8-0-0, 24 points) was one of the WHL’s early season surprises, but the Hurricanes have cooled a bit with three straight losses. Medicine Hat (6-8-2-1, 15 points) is just ahead of Kootenay in the standings and is 4-4-1-1 in its last 10 contests. Calgary (11-10-0-1, 23 points) has won two in a row.
Everett does not take on division- and conference-leading Red Deer (15-7-0-0, 30 points) or Edmonton (7-11-3-0, 17 points) until its second pass through the Central in late January.
How much does the Tips coaching staff know about the Central?
“I don’t know a thing,” Constantine said, in the immediate aftermath of Saturday’s win over Swift Current. “I don’t get much more than one game ahead of myself.”
That has doubtlessly changed in the meantime. The Tips have gotten a balanced scoring attack from the likes of Remi Laurencelle (five goals, six assists), Patrick Bajkov (four goals, seven assists), Carson Stadnyk (three goals, seven assists), Fonteyne (four goals, five assists) and Devon Skoleski (four goals, four assists). Dawson Leedahl has also scored four times.
The Tips rely heavily on their defense and goaltending. Hart leads the league in GAA (1.85) and is tied for the league lead in shutouts (three) and save percentage (.934).
Everett’s next home game is Wednesday, Nov. 25 against Tri-City at Xfinity Arena.
Notes
Hart earned his first CHL Goaltender of the Week nomination of the season, the WHL announced Monday. The WHL winner will be announced Tuesday.
He was named the CHL Goaltender of the Week on March 8 of last season.
Follow Silvertips writer Jesse Geleynse on Twitter @jessegeleynse.
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