January is about to hand the ball off to February, and it’s hard to imagine two more different months schedule wise as far as Everett is concerned. Let’s break things down:
Number of games:
January: 14
February: 13
Analysis: February is actually slightly busier than Everett’s busy January, as 13 games in 28 days (a game every 2.15 days) is a tad more frequent than 14 games in 31 days (a game every 2.21 days).
Home games/road games:
January: 3/11
February: 9/4
Analysis: These two months are pretty much opposites. January was almost exclusively on the road, February is largely at home.
Longest bus ride:
January: Approximately 2,800 miles
February: Approximately 600 miles
Analysis: January’s is the round trip to Brandon, February’s is the round trip to Spokane. Everett also had the approximately 1,100-mile trip to Prince George in January. The Tips do Spokane twice in February, go once to Kennewick and once to Kent. So the total February mileage is just about equal to the mileage of the trip to Prince George alone.
Five-day rests:
January: two
February: one
Analysis: The two months are almost equally busy in total, but the distribution of the games is different. January, because it was all on the road, included big bursts (six in nine, four in five) alongside lengthy recovery times. February is more evenly distributed, with three three-game weeks and one four-game week.
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In other news, Everett still hasn’t fully recovered from the illness that afflicted the team while it was on the road. Most of the players who missed practice earlier this week were able to take part today, at least in part. That includes defenseman Jordan Wharrie, whose knee seems to be fine. But a couple still departed practice early, and forward Ivan Nikolishin still hasn’t returned. So while the week off has helped some, it hasn’t cured Everett’s ailments completely.
Also, the San Jose Sharks have recalled defenseman Mirco Mueller from the AHL, but based on Twitter accounts it looks like he will be scratched tonight. This is odd. Mueller was in the AHL undergoing a conditioning stint after being on the IR. I believe he still had time left for his conditioning stint and could have continued playing games. Instead, he gets recalled just to go back into the stands. I have no idea what this means with regards to the possibility of Mueller being reassigned to Everett, and frankly I have ho idea what San Jose’s logic is at all.
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