EVERETT — There were no ringing cowbells or banging on the boards. There weren’t even any people in the seats. But Tuesday afternoon the Everett Silvertips got their first preview of what opening night will be all about.
The Silvertips had their first skate on the arena ice at the Everett Events Center on Tuesday. With Saturday’s home opener against Prince George looming, the Everett players made their first attempt at familiarizing themselves with their new home rink.
"Every home rink has its home bounces and hopefully we can find our bounces here — and hopefully they go our way," right wing Riley Armstrong said.
The players came off the ice at the end of practice impressed with their new home, even if the ice surface wasn’t perfect.
"It’s a sweet rink, probably one of the best rinks in the (WHL), I’d say," center Mark Kress said. "I’m pretty pumped to play in it for the home opener this Saturday."
"The arena itself is really nice," defenseman Stewart Thiessen added. "The ice will keep coming along as they keep putting some floods down on it. It’s a little rough right now after having that artificial floor down (for last Saturday’s open house). Once they get the climate inside the rink a little cooler the ice will be better."
Suderman released: The Silvertips released 20-year-old defenseman Matt Suderman, bring the number of players on the roster down to 26.
Suderman played in three games for the Silvertips and did not score a point.
"That was probably the toughest decision I’ve made so far in that Matt’s a great guy, he was working hard and he was trying to do the things we were putting in place," Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. "He hadn’t had a great training camp. He played OK, but it wasn’t great, and we’re in a situation where if you’re an older player, you really should be one of our top four defenseman. At this stage he wasn’t in our top four"
Suderman’s release leaves the Silvertips with four 20-year-olds, opening up one roster spot for an overage player. Constantine said there was no specific plan to acquire another overage player, but that it remained a possibility.
Ticket update: As of midday Tuesday, there were still about 700 tickets still available for Saturday’s home opener against Prince George. The team expects to sell out the opener at the 8,250-seat Everett Events Center.
Tickets are available by calling 425-252-5100.
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