EVERETT — There’s a contagious ailment that seems to be afflicting the top teams in the WHL’s Western Conference.

And we’re not talking about the H1N1 virus.

Just about every contender in the Western Conference has been up and down like a yo-yo the past three weeks, with blowout wins interspersed with blowout losses, and the Everett Silvertips have not been immune to the infection.

“There’s no excuses, we should be playing better hockey right now,” Everett captain Zack Dailey said. “I think everyone just needs to be on the same page.”

Everett has been on a major roller coaster ride the past few weeks. Since Nov. 14, the Tips are 4-4, regularly alternating between big wins and big losses. Those results include a 6-1 road victory at U.S. Division-leading Tri-City. They also include a 6-0 loss at Tri-City, as well as four-goal home defeats against Seattle and Kelowna. In the four victories, Everett has outscored its opponents 18-8, in the four losses the Tips have been outscored 20-4.

Following Wednesday’s disappointing 6-2 home loss against the depleted Kelowna Rockets, Everett coach Craig Hartsburg laid into his team, saying the players had an “arrogance” that contributed to an inconsistency in effort.

“Obviously, we have to get more consistent in our game,” center Chris Langkow said. “We have to come to the rink every day ready to play. We have to get ourselves ready, whatever it takes, to make sure we’re ready to play the game the way we usually play it.”

But Everett is hardly alone in experiencing wild swings in results. Indeed, during the same time frame most of the Western Conference’s leading teams have undergone similar, and even more extreme, fluctuations:

n Tri-City is 3-4 in its past seven games. In the victories, the Americans have outscored their opponents 17-5; in the losses they’ve been outscored 24-4.

n Portland, currently second in the U.S. Division, is 3-5 during the same period. The Winterhawks have outscored their opponents 15-9 in the wins while being outscored 30-16 in the defeats.

n Vancouver, which sits atop the B.C. Division, is 3-3 since Nov. 14. The Giants won their three games by a combined score of 18-9 and lost their three games by a combined score of 17-3.

The only team in the Western Conference with a winning record that hasn’t succumbed to the problem the past three weeks is Spokane, which is 6-2 during that period. Both losses came by a single goal.

It’s not like the contenders are beating up on one another. Many of the lopsided losses have been at the hands of teams like Seattle, Chilliwack and Regina, all of which have lost more games than they’ve won.

“It’s a little bit goofy,” Dailey said. “It’s good for us in that we’re not losing as many points as we could be. But we need to capitalize when other teams are losing.”

Just why are the top teams getting blown out by seemingly lesser competition? One thing it suggests is that there’s more parity in the conference than originally believed. Therefore, if a team goes into a game thinking it’s going to be easy, it often is greeted by a surprise.

“I have no clue why it’s happening,” Langkow said. “Maybe people are thinking they’re real good teams and all that, and it’s catching up to them. They’re not playing like they really can, they think it’s just going to come because they’re a good team.

“I think (parity) could be a part of it,” he added. “A team’s going to want to take control of the division, and it seems now nobody knows if they want it or not. That’s one thing we have to get clear in our minds, that we want to win the division.”

As for the Tips, they know what it’s going to take to cure the problem.

“I think we should come to the games focused,” Dailey said. “All the other stuff, like going home (for the Christmas break), should be in the back of our minds. We just need to focus on winning games and putting in a solid effort.”

Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog