EVERETT — For the first time since the Everett Silvertips began play in 2003, they were in search of a head scout.
On Thursday the Tips decided to fill the position internally.
Everett filled its final vacant hockey operations position by promoting Bil La Forge to head scout, the team announced Tuesday.
La Forge effectively takes the place of departed director of player development Scott Scoville. Scoville, who acted as Everett’s head scout from the team’s inception, stepped down earlier this month to take a scouting job with the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets.
La Forge, who hails from Edmonton, Alberta, spent the past three seasons as one of Everett’s Alberta scouts. He’s been a WHL scout since 2000, also serving stints with the Tri-City Americans and Lethbridge Hurricanes.
La Forge now becomes Everett’s primary voice in player acquisition, particularly during the bantam draft.
“I’m really looking forward to working more with Bil as he takes over as our head scout,” Everett general manager Doug Soetaert said in a press release. “He has been an integral part of our scouting staff for the last three years, contributing to our draft with a number of good, young players from the Alberta area. We’re confident in his player evaluation skills and believe that he’ll do a great job bringing quality players into our organization for years to come.”
La Forge’s promotion concludes a busy offseason for Soetaert, who also hired head coach Mark Ferner, assistant coach/strength and conditioning coach Mitch Love, goaltending coach Taylor Dakers, athletic trainer Marc Paquet and broadcaster Travis Huntington over the past two months.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at NickHPatterson.
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