Opponent: Seattle Thunderbirds

When: 7:05 p.m.

Where: Everett Events Center

Radio: KRKO (1380 AM)

New tough guy

In three seasons with Everett, Silvertips captain Torrie Wheat had been in a grand total of one fight.

So it came as a bit of a surprise when, just 27 seconds into Wednesday’s 5-1 victory over Portland, Wheat dropped the gloves with Portland’s Brandon Dubinsky.

“It wasn’t planned,” Wheat explained. “I kind of hacked him a little bit and he didn’t like it and it kind of went from there. He asked me to go and he’s their best player, so it seemed like a smart move. Our whole pregame was about trying to shut down Dubinsky, so if we can get him off the ice for an extra five minutes … “

The fight was actually Wheat’s second in three games as he also fought Tri-City’s Nicolaus Knudsen on Sunday.

But despite his recent activity, don’t expect Wheat to begin throwing down on a regular basis. Even a chuckling Wheat admitted defeat in his bout with Dubinsky.

Love in the house: Former Everett captain Mitch Love has been in town and is traveling with the team.

Love, who became an icon because of his play, leadership and toughness during Everett’s first two seasons, had his season with the American Hockey League’s Lowell Lock Monsters derailed by a hip injury. He had surgery on his hip in mid-February and is done for the season. Love had four assists and 68 penalty minutes in 27 games for Lowell.

Love is awaiting clearance from the Colorado Avalanche, the NHL team he’s signed with, to undergo his offseason rehabilitation in Everett.

Scouting report: These next two days, in which Everett and Seattle play first in Everett and then in Seattle, will determine whether the final two weeks of the regular season have any real significance as far as the U.S. Division title is concerned. Everett (36-22-2-3) leads Seattle (30-27-1-4) by 12 points. The Tips have nine games remaining and the T-birds have 10. For Seattle to have a realistic chance at catching Everett, the T-birds need to win both games.

Seattle is the one team in the division with a winning record against the Tips, winning five of the eight meetings so far this season (one of those wins came in a shootout). The T-birds also won the last meeting, prevailing 2-1 in Seattle last Friday.

Nineteen-year-old left wing Roman Tomanek leads Seattle in scoring with 42 points, and 19-year-old center Aaron Gagnon leads the T-birds in goals with 21. Twenty-year-old goaltender Bryan Bridges is 19-11-1-2, with a 2.58 goals against average and .918 save percentage. Eighteen-year-old center Chris Durand, whose offensive numbers are down this season, has compensated with defense, particularly frustrating Everett center Peter Mueller.

Nick Patterson, Herald Writer