There were a pair of strangers at Everett practice Thursday afternoon at Lynnwood Ice Center.
Defenseman Ben Betker and goaltender Austin Lotz have both been away for two weeks as they first attended NHL rookie training camps, then advanced to main camps. Betker was with the Edmonton Oilers, who picked him in the sixth round of the 2013 NHL draft. Lotz was with the Vancouver Canucks on a free-agent tryout. Both were reassigned back to Everett earlier this week.
Both Betker and Lotz are thus available for this weekend’s two games in Portland. The Tips should be at full strength for those contests with the exception of recent trade acquisition Nikita Scherbak, who remains at camp with the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens.
—- UPDATE, 5 p.m.
The Tips released another bit of news late this afternoon, announcing they’ve renewed their radio deal with KRKO for five more seasons through 2018-19.
This is good news for the Tips as KRKO is an Everett-based station that is an all-sports format, so it’s the perfect fit. I’m just going to ask one favor: Could news like this be announced earlier than 5 p.m. in the future, please? Thanks.
