EVERETT — No, the WHL playoffs haven’t arrived yet. But the Everett Silvertips and Tri-City Americans can be forgiven for feeling that in some ways March has arrived a bit early.
Due to a quirk in scheduling, Everett and Tri-City play back-to-back games at Comcast Arena with a day off in between. It’s a scheduling configuration almost unheard of during the regular season, but one that’s commonplace during the playoffs.
“It’s kind of funny,” Everett associate head coach Jay Varady said following Thursday’s practice. “It is kind of a playoff-type preparation.”
Everett and Tri-City faced off Wednesday at Comcast Arena, with the Tips prevailing 3-2 in overtime. The teams meet again tonight in Everett.
Playing the same opponent in back-to-back games is a regular occurrence during the regular season. Teams even play each other on back-to-back nights. However, in almost every situation those games are split between the two home sites. Not this time.
“It’s strange, probably the first time I’ve seen this,” said Tri-City general manager Bob Tory, who’s been involved in the league in some capacity for more than two decades. “I can’t even remember how it came up during the scheduling meeting.”
What that means is that the teams have a full day to evaluate what happened in one game and find ways to implement strategy changes for the rematch — just like in the playoffs.
“I think both teams will probably go back, look at the game tape and potentially make some changes from the night before,” Varady said.
“Any time you’ve got more time to deal with your players regarding any issues, you’re going to be better off,” Varady added. “Most of the time we’re sitting on a bus looking at a couple video clips, or we’re spending a little time before the game looking at stuff. But in a case like this we have a day in between where we can spend some time and see if we can get ready and go and compete (tonight).”
But while Everett is able to treat these two games in a somewhat similar fashion to the playoffs, Tri-City’s circumstances have the Americans thinking along different lines regarding their rare off day in the city of a U.S. Division rival.
While these two games are Everett’s only two contests of the week, Tri-City had a game in Seattle on Tuesday and has another in Kamloops on Saturday. Therefore, the day off comes as a welcome respite and an opportunity to rest. The Americans didn’t even practice Thursday, deciding the recovery time was a greater priority than fine-tuning strategies specifically for Everett.
“We play a lot of games here so we’re just going to rest up and start thinking about (tonight’s) game,” Tri-City star left wing Colton Yellow Horn said. “I think some guys are going to do some Christmas shopping.
“Usually, you don’t worry about (the specific opponent) until the game day,” Yellow Horn added. “But at the same time, (Wednesday) night was an emotional game. It’s good to let the emotions drop down a little bit, then get ready for the game.”
The Americans are also without head coach Don Nachbaur. Nachbaur is home in Prince George, B.C., tending to his sick father. He missed Wednesday’s game and won’t be at today’s game, either. Tory and assistant coach Terry Virtue have taken over behind the bench in Nachbaur’s absence.
“I talked to Don about a week ago and told him it was important that he got back home to be with his dad,” Tory said. “We’re giving him as much time as he needs. We’re not anticipating him back this weekend, possibly next weekend, but he might not be back until after Christmas. There are things more important than hockey, and he should be where he is right now.”
So while these two games do have something of a playoff flavor, both teams have other priorities, too.
“Most importantly for us is we’ve got to take care of our own game at this point,” Varady said.
Slap shots: Everett center Zach Hamill should be ready to play tonight. Hamill suffered a broken nose when caught by a high stick on Wednesday, leaving a long trail of blood on the ice as he skated off. However, Hamill returned to Wednesday’s game and is expected to play tonight, though with a somewhat swollen nose. … Tonight is also the last game for Hamill and goaltender Leland Irving before they leave for Team Canada’s selection camp for the World Junior Hockey Championships. The tryouts take place Monday through Friday in Calgary, Alberta.
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
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