Opponent: Tri-City Americans
When: 7:05 p.m.
Where: Everett Events Center
Radio: KRKO (1380 AM)
Dwindling depth
A bad break for Mark Kress turns out to be an equally bad break for the Everett Silvertips.
X-rays revealed that Kress has a fractured arm, meaning the Everett center will be out for at least a month.
Kress originally suffered the injury against Swift Current on Dec. 4. He tried playing against Spokane last Wednesday, but managed just one period. Subsequent X-rays revealed the fracture.
“The timing’s a little tough because we’re losing so many other guys to all-star teams,” said Everett coach Kevin Constantine, referring to the seven players the Silvertips lose to the World Junior Hockey Championships and the U-17 World Hockey Challenge. “So someone’s going to have to fill in.”
Kress, who has four goals and six assists this season, is one of Everett’s top defensive forwards and a lynchpin of the Silvertips’ penalty kill. Without Kress, Everett will have to find someone else to pick up key checking duties.
But perhaps more crucially, Kress is a center. Everett’s had issues with center depth since the beginning of the season when Riley Armstrong signed a professional contract and joined Cleveland of the American Hockey League. The Tips addressed the problem by moving Torrie Wheat and Derek Lewis to center. Now Constantine will need to jury rig yet another solution.
“We played the last two games without a fourth center,” Constantine said. “We played with three centers, rotated those guys around and brought a D up every once in a while to take a few shifts at forward. I don’t know if we’ll go with seven D for a month or if we’ll actually try to work a guy into the center position. We’ll probably do a little of each.”
Tuques for tots: Instead of teddy bears, this year the underprivledged children of Snohomish County are getting hats.
Tonight, in lieu of a teddy bear toss, the Silvertips are holding a tuque (wollen cap) toss to benefit Christmas House.
Anyone who donates a toy to Christmas House will receive a certificate for a tuque which can be redeemed at tonight’s game against Tri-City. When the Tips score their first goal, fans are encouraged to throw their tuques on the ice. The tuques will then be donated to Christmas House.
Nick Patterson, Herald Writer
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