The Tips can head into the Christmas break with a bit of a smile thanks to Sunday’s 6-1 victory in Portland, their second in two nights against the Winter Hawks.
OK, I know it was just Portland, the team with the worst record in the league and one the Tips should beat. But I think these two victories were a pretty big deal for Everett. I’m not sure the scenario could have set itself up better for Everett in the final two games. The Tips were forced to play without Kyle Beach and Zach Hamill, meaning other players had to have to step up and provide some offense. What happened? Ten goals in two games scored by eight different players,
And it probably needed to be an opponent like Portland for that to occur. If Everett played a team like Seattle, the team that most resembles the defense-first Silvertip teams of Kevin Constantine, I doubt those secondary offensive players would have had the same opportunity to find their game. The Birds would ahve smothered Everett’s players before they got a chance to do anything. But playing a struggling team like Portland allowed the likes of Vitali Karamnov and Shane Harper and Zack Dailey that extra split second in order to make plays, and they did.
Having that success should be a significant confidence boost. At this age players are still learning what they can do, and they need to experience some success to validate their own abilities. Players are more likely to attempt to make a play when they know it’s worked before, whereas there’s a natural tentativeness when there’s no past experience to build from. Now some of those younger players have some sort of foundation to work from, and maybe they won’t need that extra split second the next time around. So even though Everett still didn’t resemble the Edmonton Oilers of the 80s, these two games should help in the long run.
Now I don’t think that means the Tips are suddenly going to become challengers for the U.S. Division title. There’s several other issues that need to be addressed. But I suspect the Hamill-Gendur-Beach combination won’t be providing 90 percent of the offence the way it did during he first half of the season.
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