EVERETT — Daniel Bartek, dressed in street clothes and bearing a forlorn look on his face, sat slumped on the Everett Silvertips bench during practice Thursday afternoon. Eventually he couldn’t take any more, leaving Comcast Arena before practice was completed.
One can understand Bartek’s frustration. On Thursday he was given the news both he and the Tips were dreading.
Bartek was diagnosed with a broken hand, an injury that puts the rest of his regular season, and possibly the remainder of his junior hockey career, in doubt.
“It’s been unfortunate for him,” Everett coach John Becanic said. “If there’s anybody who’s going to work hard to come back it’s him. But there’s only so much you can do with a broken hand.”
Bartek suffered the injury during the third period of Everett’s 7-3 home victory over Portland on Wednesday. The Tips were ahead 7-1 when Bartek, going out to challenge a shooter at the point, took a puck to his hand. He immediately doubled over in pain, skated to the bench and did not return.
Everett coach John Becanic could not put a timetable on Bartek’s potential return. His optimistic guess was that Bartek might be able to return should the Tips reach the second round of the playoffs. Since he is an overager and Everett will be an underdog in the first round, Bartek might have played his last WHL game.
“It’s really tough to see,” said Everett right wing Kellan Tochkin, who played on a line with Bartek the past few games. “Especially since he’s a (20-year-old) and it’s his last year.”
The injury continues Bartek’s string of bad luck. It came exactly a week after he returned from being benched a month by a foot fracture. That injury also came as a result of blocking a shot.
It also deepens Everett’s injury crisis on the left. The Tips now have three players who have been playing left wing — Bartek, Tyler Maxwell and Paul Van de Velde — who are out injured.
Bartek’s loss is a particularly significant blow to the Tips. The Czech Republic native is arguably Everett’s best all-around forward. In 43 games, he has 16 goals and 18 assists, but his true value comes from his ability to win battles along the boards and kill penalties. He’s also one of the few Everett forwards with any size.
Everett went 4-7-2-2 while Bartek was sidelined with his foot injury, and is 2-2 since.
“We’re not a veteran-laden team, so it’s tough to lose a player like him,” Becanic said. “But things happen, and it means opportunities. Some guys who were in and out the lineup are on the second and third lines. Guys are going to have to elevate their games, and we’re going to go back to playing the way we play and do what we do well. Let’s just be good at what we do and be a team that wants the puck more.”
Bartek also was the latest and most successful attempt to fill the slot vacated when Maxwell was hurt. Maxwell was the left wing on Everett’s 17-year-old rookie line alongside center Byron Froese and right wing Kellan Tochkin, a trio that found a surprising amount of offensive success this season. Maxwell was shut down because of a cracked kneecap, and the Tips cycled through several players in his spot before settling on Bartek.
Now, that revolving door is spinning again for the Tips. Next in line is Dale Hunt, a natural right wing who has four goals and five assists in 44 games with the Tips this season.
“He’s a right winger, but we’ll try Dale to give that line a little jam,” Becanic said. “I think that line misses Maxwell in an offensive sense, but I thought they thrived in some areas with Bartek being a strong power-forward type who won battles in the corner and got pucks to the net. Dale has the capability of doing that. By no means are we expecting him to be Maxwell or Bartek. He just has to do his game to the best of his ability.”
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
