EVERETT — Taylor Ellington made an emphatic vow Tuesday afternoon.
“I will be ready by playoffs,” the Everett Silvertips defenseman declared.
The veteran blueliner, who’s missed the past six weeks because of a broken bone in his foot, has been cleared to resume skating, setting the stage for his eventual return.
And that’s just the beginning of the good news for Everett, which is getting itself healthy just in time for the playoffs.
Two of Everett’s walking wounded, leading scorer Dan Gendur and defenseman Tyler Kieffer, are expected back for tonight’s home game against Tri-City.
And if everything goes according to plan, Everett may just find itself back at 100 percent when the playoffs begin in nine days. That would be quite the bonus, considering the Tips haven’t fielded a first-choice lineup since way back on Dec. 14.
“I’m encouraged,” Everett coach John Becanic said. “We’re still playing pretty decent hockey through some injuries to key players.”
Everett has been plagued by injuries, especially on defense, ever since Ellington went down after blocking a shot in a game at Prince George. Since the beginning of February the Tips have been missing either two or three of their d-men every game.
The Tips survived anyway, winning 10 of their past 12, and now the first wave is ready to return. Gendur is back after missing the weekend’s games because of the flu, and Kieffer is back after missing three games because of an upper-body injury. Defenseman Chris de la Lande remains day-to-day with his leg injury, but he’s resumed skating in practice.
The one piece of bad news for Everett on the injury front is winger Kyle Beach, the team’s third-leading scorer. Beach, who will miss tonight’s game, is still experiencing swelling in his cheek after he took a shot off his face during Saturday’s 1-0 loss in Vancouver. However, the Tips are hopeful Beach will be ready to go once the weekend rolls around.
Then there’s Ellington. The 19-year-old from Victoria, B.C., isn’t a numbers guy, with just three goals and 11 assists in 48 games. However, as Everett’s top shut-down defenseman, Ellington’s main job is keeping the opponents’ top players off the scoresheet, something that becomes all the more important once the tight checking of the playoffs arrives.
Ellington won’t play tonight, but there’s the possibility he could play sometime this weekend. That presents Everett with a dilemma.
On one hand, the Tips need every point they can muster if they’re to earn home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Also, it would be helpful if Ellington had a little game time under his belt once the playoffs started rather than being thrown straight into the playoff fire.
On the other hand, it might be smarter to allow Ellington the maximum possible recovery time so he’s at full strength when the games really count during the playoffs.
Becanic sounded like he was inclined to err toward the side of caution.
“You know what, he’s a four-year veteran so it’s not like it’s new to him,” Becanic said. “He’s worked real hard, he’s been a part of our meetings, I’ve done some sprint rides (on the stationary bike) with him myself so I know how good a shape he’s in. It’s just going to be adjusting to the pace of the game. If we can get him into a game this weekend we’ll get him in a game if he feels ready to go. But it’s not that big a priority.”
But Ellington spoke with the conviction of someone determined to come back as soon as possible.
“I’m going to push it and I’m going to try for this weekend,” Ellington said. “If I’m ready to play I’m going to play. If I’m ready for Saturday, I’m going to be in Saturday.
“But if not, I’m going to be in for playoffs.”
With the rest of the team rounding into health, too, that means the Tips just may be a handful once the playoffs arrive.
Slap shots: Everett sits on 39 wins, meaning one victory in the final four games will give the Tips 40 wins for the third straight season. Forty wins would also match the second-highest total in franchise history. “For our organization to have three straight 40-win seasons would be nice,” Becanic said. “Not a lot of teams do that.” … Everett has three 1992-born prospects practicing with the team this week. Goaltender Kent Simpson, the team’s first-round pick in the 2007 bantam draft, will be with the team through the weekend. Californian forwards Markus McCrea and Tyler Parker are in town until Friday.
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
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