EVERETT — For the Everett Silvertips and Portland Winterhawks, six months of toil and till all boil down to the final weekend.
With three days remaining in the WHL’s regular season the Tips and Winterhawks are locked in a dead heat at the top of the U.S. Division standings, setting up what should be a drama-filled finish.
Portland won 7-4 at Spokane on Wednesday in its game in hand, meaning the Tips and Winterhawks both have 90 points. Both have three games remaining. Therefore, it’s all up for grabs the final weekend.
“You really can’t get any tighter,” Everett overage winger Brayden Low said Thursday. “Talk about drama, we’ve got it in spades this weekend. It could go either way.”
Everett is trying to end a banner drought that’s spanned eight years. The Tips are also trying to validate their season after sitting atop the standings from essentially the beginning of the season, with their point lead at times reaching double digits.
Meanwhile, Portland is trying to continue its reign atop both the division and the Western Conference. The Winterhawks have won three of the past four division titles, claiming the conference championship in all four seasons.
Therefore, both teams have the utmost motivation in their final games
“I think it’s going to take three very good games and nine periods of our best hockey of the year,” Low said. “It’ll be the same thing it’s been all year: How consistent can we be? There’s no bigger test than this weekend.”
In the final sprint to the finish Portland holds inside position on the track. Though the teams are tied with 90 points, the Winterhawks hold the tiebreaker by virtue of having one more win. Therefore, under the current circumstances, if the teams finish tied Portland will claim the crown. That means that if the Winterhawks win out, it doesn’t matter what Everett does in its final three games.
Everett also has a higher degree of difficulty in its final three contests. The Tips have a home-and-home against a quality Victoria team on Friday and Saturday, a trip complicated by long ferry rides and a mandatory overnight stay. Everett then has to quickly pack up following Saturday’s game at Xfinity Arena and head to Spokane for Sunday’s season finale against a Chiefs team that’s caused the Tips trouble this season.
“It’s not the ideal three-in-three,” Everett captain Kohl Bauml said. “In truth it’s probably one of the worst three-in-threes you can have. It’s going to be tough, but every team has to do something like this. We have to pull our energy out of somewhere.”
Portland, in contrast, faces both easier opponents and less travel. The Winterhawks have two games against struggling Tri-City — on the road Friday and at home Sunday — which is winless in eight attempts against Portland this season. In between the Winterhawks have a quick trip to Kent to face Seattle.
This year’s final-weekend scenario is similar to last season’s for Everett. The difference is the stakes. Last year the Tips had plenty to play for in the final weekend as they tried to secure home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Everett again started the weekend with a home-and-home against Victoria, then finished up on the road, that time against Portland. The Tips swept their games against for Royals, but lost to Portland in a shootout. Everett wound up tied with Seattle for fourth in the conference, and the T-birds earned home ice on the wins tiebreaker.
“It’s the same as last year in that it’s going down to the wire,” Bauml said. “I think that’s the best way, it will keep us sharp for the playoffs. Playing meaningful hockey all year is better than having a week going through the motions.”
But even though the odds appear stacked in Portland’s favor, the Tips are determined to make the Winterhawks work for it.
“We have to win out to give ourselves the best chance, and then we need Portland to lose one point, so we need some help,” Bauml said. “But we can only control what we can control. We have to take care of our own games first to even have a chance.
“(Winning the division title) would be special for our group,” Bauml added. “This is one of the closer groups we’ve had in my four years. We’ve put a lot of work into it, we’ve been at the top of the division from day one. If we go start-to-finish it would be quite the feat. We’re going to do whatever it takes these last three games to do it, it’s been one of our goals since the beginning of the season. It’s three days away and we’re going to keep fighting the battle.”
Slap shots
The team that finishes first in the division faces Spokane in the first round of the playoffs. The team that finishes second faces Seattle. … Regardless of opponent Everett will have home-ice advantage in the first round, the first time the Tips start a playoff series at home since 2010. … Everett will also have the same home dates in the first round regardless of opponent. The Tips’ first two home games are next Friday and Saturday. Games 5 and 7, if necessary, will be played April 4 and April 8, respectively, at Xfinity Arena.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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