EVERETT — The NHL Central Scouting Bureau released its midterm rankings for the 2010 NHL draft earlier this week, and three Everett Silvertips made the list.
Two of those players are 17-year-olds who became draft eligible this year. Goaltender Kent Simpson is ranked seventh among North American goalies and second among WHL goalies. Defenseman Alex Theriau is ranked 74th among North American skaters and 17th among WHL skaters.
The third player ranked is 19-year-old defenseman Radko Gudas, who was passed over in each of the past two NHL drafts. He’s ranked 131st among North American Skaters and 27th among WHL skaters.
“They’ve been watched closely all year, all of them,” Everett coach Craig Hartsburg said. “I think where they’re rated is probably fair. I think Gudas is going to go a little higher than where he’s rated, but I think it’s fair where they’re at.”
Theriau and Simpson in particular are beginning to gather some momentum as, based on Central Scouting’s rankings, they’re expected to go somewhere in the middle rounds.
Theriau’s ranking has risen a bit over the first part of the season as he was the 23rd-ranked WHL skater in the preliminary rankings.
“It’s exciting news,” Theriau said about his ranking. “Any time someone else recognizes your efforts it’s good.”
Simpson’s ranking has held steady — he’s remained the second-ranked WHL goalie — but he’s making noise statistically. He’s currently second in the WHL in goals against average and tied for first in save percentage.
“You can’t read into that stuff too much,” Simpson said. “It’s one person’s opinion or a group of people’s opinion. You can take it for what it is. Being ranked seventh is for sure going to push me to work harder every day and improve my ranking.”
New year’s resolution
The new year has been very good to Everett. The Tips are a perfect 6-0 since the calendar flipped over to 2010. That’s a dramatic change from the way things had been going for Everett as the Tips were 3-8-1-1 in December and lost their final three contests of 2009.
Consider it a new year’s resolution by the Tips.
“I guess maybe some guys went home (at the Christmas break) and decided to come back to the rink with a better work ethic,” Theriau said.
“I think a new year is a new start,” Theriau added. “I think we just decided to turn it around, all 23 guys. We just got tired of losing, so we needed a change.”
Giebel returned
Tips prospect Tyler Giebel has returned to the Regina Pat Canadians of the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League.
Giebel, a 16-year-old center who was Everett’s second-round pick in the 2008 bantam draft, was called up last week to help cover for injuries up front. Giebel appeared in one game and the Tips considered keeping him on the roster the remainder of the season. However, the WHL requires 16-year-olds to play in 40 games and the Tips weren’t certain they could get Giebel into that many pro-rated games the rest of the way.
“He’s got to play in a percentage of games and this time of year it’s maybe a little difficult to break in a 16-year-old,” Hartsburg explained.
McDermott leaves Hurricanes
Former Everett defenseman Drew McDermott, whose rights were dealt to Lethbridge last week, has left the Hurricanes after two games.
The 18-year-old McDermott, who spent all of last season with the Tips, was reassigned by Everett to Yorkton of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League in November. He was traded last Thursday to Lethbridge for a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2011 bantam draft. It is expected that pick will be returned to Lethbridge.
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.
