EVERETT – There’s a different feel surrounding the Everett Silvertips’ training camp this year. There are more smiles, more playful ribbing, more camraderie, more swagger.
Those are things born out of not just having played together, but also having succeeded far beyond anyone’s expectations.
The Silvertips began preparations for their second Western Hockey League season Thursday, opening training camp at the Everett Events Center. And they did so with the confidence built through a record-breaking expansion season.
Last season’s training camp brought together a collection of players who had essentially been discarded by their previous teams and were unfamiliar with one another. But this season the Silvertips arrived at camp with two banners hanging from the rafters – for winning the U.S. Division title and the Western Conference championship – and virtually every record for a WHL expansion franchise in their pockets.
“Everyone’s definitely coming back a little bit more confident,” 20-year-old left wing Tyler Dietrich said. “The guys who didn’t get a chance the year before, they got a chance last year and realized they were capable. They know that this year.”
A total of 79 players, broken down into five teams, participated in Thursday’s workouts, which were the start of preparations for the season opener on Sept. 25 at Memorial Cup champion Kelowna. Three of the teams played one scrimmage in the morning and one in the afternoon, two of the teams played one scrimmage and had one practice session.
“So far the body is holding up,” 19-year-old defenseman Shaun Heshka said. “It’s going to be a long camp, though. The legs are definitely feeling it a little bit. It’ll come along though.
“We’re actually looking pretty good, I think,” Heshka added. “Most of the guys look like they’ve been training pretty hard during the summer and are pretty prepared for the camp.”
Unsurprisingly, the Tips enter training camp ahead of where they were last year at this time. With 16 returning regulars, Everett has a solid base of players who are now familiar with the coaching and the system.
“Last year nobody knew which players would make our team, so we didn’t really know what to expect from the players and the players didn’t know what to expect from us,” Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. “This year there’s just a lot more ground already covered, so in terms of implementation of ideas and concepts and evaluations of players, we’re ahead of last year at this point.”
As a result, the players feel more at home this year than last year.
“I think a lot of the guys who were here last year are comfortable, but in a good way,” Dietrich said. “Last year it was nervous. Everyone was looking around, wondering where they were going to be, where they were going to play, who they were going to play with. This year is different. Guys are comfortable, they’re not quite as nervous, but at the same time guys aren’t so comfortable that they know they have their spots back. So everyone’s still working hard, but everyone’s a little bit more comfortable in their surroundings.”
And the Tips are quick to point out that they don’t intend to let last season’s success go to their heads.
“I don’t think we can go out there with a chip on our shoulder, saying it will be easy because we’ve done it once,” said 19-year-old goalie Michael Wall, the heir apparent to team MVP Jeff Harvey. “If we go out there and work hard, and then you add in the confidence factor, I think we’ll play really well.”
Slap shots: There were two prominent no-shows at camp. Nineteen-year-old defenseman Ivan Baranka, who spent the previous weeks in camp with the NHL’s New York Rangers, returned home to Slovakia to graduate from high school. He’s expected to arrive in Everett in about a week. Also, 16-year-old center Peter Mueller, the Silvertips’ second-round selection in the 2003 Bantam Draft, has committed to training full-time with the United States U-17 team. … Although no Silvertips were selected in the NHL Draft, three Everett players have been invited to NHL rookie camps: forward Riley Armstrong will train with San Jose, defenseman Mitch Love will train with Florida and Wall will train with Calgary. NHL rookie camps run from Sept. 8-15. … After going the entire training camp without a fight last year, there was a fight in the very first scrimmage this year when 20-year-old right wing Barry Horman squared off against 18-year-old defenseman Derek Lewis. In a later scrimmage 16-year-old defensemen Zach Sim and Jonathan Harty also dropped the gloves. … There are four players from Seattle Junior Hockey participating in camp: 16-year-old forwards Brian McCabe, Joey Patomera and Lane Bitz and 15-year-old forward Gerry Holland. … Training camp continues through Sunday when it concludes with the annual Green vs. White game.
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