Everett finally plays its first home game of the season Friday night. The Tips are the last team in the WHL to play in front of their home fans, and it’s the first time since 2005 that Everett has had to wait until October for a home contest — and back then the Tips were required by law to wait until October to play at home because of immigration regulations.
However, the Tips couldn’t have dialed up a more challenging opponent in their home opener. The Kelowna Rockets are coming to Xfinity Arena, and they bring an intimidating resume with them. Kelowna finished with the best record in the league last season, and the Rockets appear poised to make another run at the Scotty Munro Trophy this season. Kelowna returned the bulk of its team, and the Rockets are off to a blistering 4-0 start in which they scored a staggering 28 goals, an average of seven per game. The fewest goals Kelowna has scored in a game is six.
So that’s what the Tips face in their home opener. Everett will be hoping a defense that has allowed just five goals in three victories will be able to slow down a Kelowna offense that has produced four of the league’s top nine scorers. That includes Madison Bowey, who somehow has eight point in two games — as a defenseman.
The good news for Everett is the Tips should have their newest addition in the lineup. The availability of Russian winger Nikita Scherbak, acquired from Saskatoon last week in a blockbuster trade, was still questionable because of visa issues. However, Everett general manager Garry Davidson confirmed Scherbak’s visa has been approved, and the paperwork should be completed in time for Scherbak to play against the Rockets.
And Scherbak may be needed badly. If Kelowna continues to score at its current pace, the Tips are going to need every ounce of firepower they can muster just to keep up.
—- UPDATE, 4:45 p.m.
Daniel Nugent-Bowman of the Saskatoon Star Phoenix just tweeted the following:
Blades have released F Ty Mappin. He’ll go to Olds of the AJHL, which is where he played last year. His rights go back to Everett.
— Daniel Nugent-Bowman (@DNBsports) October 2, 2014
Everett traded Mappin, the seventh-overall pick in the 2011 bantam draft, to Saskatoon at last season’s trade deadline in exchange for a conditional bantam draft pick. It started as a seventh rounder and could have upgraded to a fifth rounder depending on whether Mappin was on Saskatoon’s roster at a specific date. Because the Blades cut Mappin now, the Tips don’t even get the seventh rounder.
I have no idea what happened with Mappin. He was a consensus high first-round pick in the bantam draft. He was the top scorer on the best midget team in Canada as a 15-year-old. But at 18 a team that appears to be one of the worst in the WHL decided he wasn’t even worth a seventh-round pick.
Nugent-Bowman said Mappin’s rights return to Everett. I have no idea what the Tips intend to do with those rights, but it’s hard to imagine he has any future in Everett, and I’m not sure the Tips would even bother opening up a spot on their protected list to take Mappin back. I suppose it’s a cautionary tale that being a first-round bantam draft pick doesn’t guarantee success.
I should add two more notes:
– By starting 3-0, Everett sneaked into this week’s CHL top-10 poll, coming in at No. 8. It’s ridiculously early in the season, and the CHL poll generally is based almost completely on taking the three teams with the best records from the WHL, OHL and QMJHL, then adding in one more, so take this ranking with a huge dose of salt.
– Hockey Canada released its three rosters for the U-17 World Hockey Challenge today. The only player with Everett ties selected was forward Tyson Jost. Jost, Everett’s first-round pick in the 2013 bantam draft, spurned the Tips this season to play for the Penticton Vees of the BCHL.
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