EVERETT — Mike Hill remembers exactly when the hockey bug bit him.
He knows the date, the game and the score. But most of all, he remembers how the bite felt.
"It was everything," said Hill, an Everett resident. "It was the speed of the game. The crowd. I’d been to one hockey game before in my life, but it was nothing like this. I was hooked right away."
Count Hill as one of thousands who discovered hockey this past season through the remarkable Everett Silvertips, who completed their astonishing run Wednesday night in the Western Hockey League finals, losing to the Medicine Hat Tigers in four games.
Hill’s first experience at the Everett Events Center coincided with the Silvertips’ first victory on Oct. 8, 2003, a 2-1 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds.
"It was a thrill," he said. "It was kind of like watching history, in a way. The Silvertips held them off. (Seattle) couldn’t beat (goalie) Jeff Harvey. Everyone stood and went nuts at the end and chanted, ‘Har-VEE, Har-VEE.’ How could you not love it?"
The WHL expansion team looked the part of a typical first-year team early in the season, starting the year 0-4-1. But thanks to a remarkable coaching staff led by former National Hockey League coach Kevin Constantine, a proven pro in the front office in general manager Doug Soetaert and a scouting staff whose mission it was to go after players who loved to work hard, the Silvertips went places no other expansion team has gone before.
Everett won the Western Conference’s U.S. Division on the next-to-last day of the regular season, beat Spokane and Vancouver in the first two rounds of the playoffs, and came back from a 3-1 deficit in the Western Conference finals against the defending WHL champion Kelowna Rockets, scoring three straight victories in overtime.
Despite playing before record, standing-room-only home crowds the past two nights, however, the Tips were swept by a fast Medicine Hat squad.
This was a hybrid of Fantasyland and Hollywood.
The Silvertips set a WHL record for victories by an expansion team (35), became the first expansion team to win a division title, and were the first to win a playoff series.
On the way, they captured the region as few minor-league teams of any sport have before, anywhere.
Multiple sellouts. Wild, rafter-shaking crowds that cheered everything from goals to icing. Clanging cowbells galore. Faces painted green. Foam-rubber bear claws. Signs, signs and more signs.
It didn’t take long for the Everett Events Center to earn a reputation as the loudest house in the league. Or for the city to embrace the team as one of its own.
"I think people here relate to the players," said Snohomish resident Ed Gage. "Everett has them because other teams didn’t want them. The way the economy is, who hasn’t been fired or let go by their employer? I think there was an instant feeling of fellowship between the fans and players, and it grew and grew and grew."
Mobs of fans would routinely gather behind a metal barrier outside the team’s dressing room to serenade the players, coaches and trainers after games. Rock stars don’t get as much adoration.
"The fan interest is unbelievable," WHL commissioner Ron Robison said.
"To see how it’s been sustained over the course of the year has been remarkable. I think it’s important in an expansion team like this to have success in its first year, because that really builds the fan interest and carries over into the upcoming seasons."
The league had been looking at Everett for some time. Seeing the potential for a natural rivalry between Everett, Seattle, Vancouver, B.C., and the Tri-Cities, Robison and his staff pushed hard to show city officials the benefits of hosting a WHL franchise.
Erin Williams is glad they did. Another fan introduced to the game just this year, Williams figures she’s gone to 15 home games and three on the road when the Silvertips played the Thunderbirds in Seattle.
"I work a lot of nights, so sometimes it took some creative scheduling," said Williams, a server in an Everett restaurant. "It’s the most fun I’ve ever had watching a sport. The kids work so hard. Then they started believing in themselves. They’re so fun to watch. It’s been unbelievable."
Now, it’s wait until next year, which fans will do, albeit impatiently. And the way the minor league hockey system is, the great thing is that many of the players will be back.
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