The 2009-10 season began a new era in Everett Silvertips hockey. The Tips were coming off their first losing season in franchise history, and for the first time since the team began play in 2003 an outsider took charge behind the bench.
Now three months into the Craig Hartsburg era, Everett has shown both signs of improvement and growing pains. The Tips entered the Christmas break at 19-13-2-1, which placed them fourth in the U.S. Division and fifth in the Western Conference. The inconsistency that characterized Everett the past two seasons hasn’t dissipated yet.
Here’s how the team grades out through the season’s first 35 games:
Offense
Everett scored 103 goals in its first 35 games, an average of 2.9 per game. The 103 goals rank in the bottom quarter of the league, though the Tips have played fewer games than most. The offense was rolling along through the season’s first two months before hitting the wall come December. The Tips failed to score more than three goals in any of their 10 December games, and Everett was twice shut out.
The biggest offensive positive was the blossoming of overage winger Shane Harper into a legitimate No. 1 scoring option. He tallied 21 goals and 19 assists during the first half. Harper also developed strong chemistry with early-season acquisition and fellow overager Chris Langkow to form Everett’s most-dangerous duo.
The line of Tyler Maxwell, Kellan Tochkin and Byron Froese has continued to produce following its breakout 2008-09 campaign. However, the trio of 18-year-olds has merely maintained its pace and caliber of play from last season rather than taking another step forward.
Scoring depth up front is a concern. Beyond those five no other forward has accumulated more than 10 points, and the team is still searching for a winger to complement Harper and Langkow.
For the first time in several seasons Everett is receiving offensive help from its defensemen as both Radko Gudas and Ryan Murray have helped create offense from the blue line.
Grade: C
Defense
Defense was Everett’s primary area of concern coming into the season, given the loss of three of its top four d-men from the previous season. However, the summer reinforcements have proven to be just as good, and perhaps superior, to the players they replaced. Everett allowed just 98 goals during the first half (2.8 per game). The Tips are one of just four teams in the league yet to surrender triple digits.
Three newcomers have led the way. Gudas, the 19-year-old from the Czech Republic, has been a revelation with his big hits and shot from the point. Sixteen-year-old Ryan Murray has been just as good in his own way, thanks to a surprising ability to step in right away and his visionary passing. Rasmus Rissanen, the 18-year-old from Finland, has settled in after a rocky beginning.
Everett has also received useful contributions from its third pairing, most significantly from 17-year-old Alex Theriau, who improved substantially from last season.
Grade: B
Goaltending
Everett’s goaltending duties have evolved into an almost perfect 50-50 timeshare between 19-year-old Thomas Heemskerk and 17-year-old Kent Simpson, and both can argue they deserve an expanded role.
Simpson has the better numbers. He went into the break ranked third in the league in goals against average (2.43) and save percentage (.921), though he’s still trying to master his rebound control.
Heemskerk’s numbers aren’t far behind as he ranks ninth in the league in goals against average (2.80) and seventh in save percentage (.911). Heemskerk has also generally faced tougher opposition.
While Simpson and Heemskerk have been solid, neither has been a goalie who wins games all by himself — with the brief exception of a few games during Everett’s road trip through the Central Division. However, they’ve done what they can to keep Everett in games.
Grade: B
:Special teams
Everett’s one glaring weakness has been its special-teams play.
Everett’s power play, which began the season in adequate fashion, has plummeted into the region of unacceptability. The Tips rank 20th out of 22 teams on the power play, converting just 15.1 percent of their opportunities. That number has slipped precipitously as Everett finished out the first half by failing to score on their final 32 chances. Too often the Tips pass ineffectually around the perimeter with no movement away from the puck.
The only difference on the penalty kill is that Everett has been mediocre from the start. Everett ranks 14th on the kill at 77.5 percent, and that ranking is only buoyed by a preponderance of indifferent kills around the league — that percentage would have ranked 18th last season and 21st in 2007-08. A passive approach tends to allow opponents to execute at will.
With short-handed goals added to the mix, Everett has been outscored 46-27 on special teams.
Grade: D
Coaching
Hartsburg was charged with a challenging task when he was brought to Everett. His primary task was to change the culture of the franchise, creating an atmosphere where playing hard is the top priority. So far he’s created the framework for changing the culture, putting an increased emphasis on areas such as conditioning. However, it’s still a work in progress as changing a culture is something that doesn’t happen overnight.
Structurally the Tips appear more sound. Everett still surrenders the occasional odd-man rush against, but those tend to come via individual error rather than players being out of position.
However, the struggles on special teams have been a thorn in Hartsburg’s side, and the coaching staff has yet to come up with adjustments designed to correct the flaws.
Grade: B-
Overall
The Tips were a hard team to get a read on going into the season. Everett had a large number of returning players, including all its top scorers, and a former NHL coach was taking over behind the bench. Yet it was still the same team that won just 27 games the previous season and prevailed in a mere seven of its final 34 (when playoffs are included).
So far the Tips appear to be turning in the right direction, despite the December swoon that saw Everett lose seven of 10. However, there’s still a lot of work to do if the Tips are to be relevant come playoff time.
Grade: B-
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