Tough task awaits Tips in Spokane

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, March 31, 2007

EVERETT – The Everett Silvertips are one win away from the second round of the Western Hockey League playoffs.

The thing standing immediately between them and that accomplishment is a building where little has gone right for the Tips.

If Everett is to secure a berth in the second round today, the Tips will have to solve the riddle of Spokane Arena.

“We haven’t had a whole lot of success there,” Everett captain Jason Fransoo said. “But it’s got to change sometime.”

Everett leads its best-of-seven series against the Spokane Chiefs 3-2 after Friday’s 5-1 victory at the Everett Events Center. Having put themselves on the verge of the second round, the mood was upbeat at Saturday afternoon’s practice at the EEC, from which the Tips departed for Spokane.

However, in order to avoid a pressure-packed Game 7, Everett will have to win in a building where they’ve struggled all season long. The Tips have played six games in Spokane between the regular season and playoffs, registering just a single win.

And the building has treated Everett even worse in the playoffs as it seems every bounce and borderline call went against the Tips in Games 3 and 4, both won by Spokane.

“I don’t know what it is,” Fransoo said about Everett’s struggles in Spokane. “It’s a quieter building, but really there are no excuses. The end result is we have to be ready and mentally focused before coming into the game.”

At times this series it’s seemed that fate is against Everett in Spokane. The Tips actually played well in Game 4, controlling play through the first two periods. However, Everett managed just one goal, and when the Chiefs scored a controversial goal early in the third period to tie it, it changed the complexion of the game.

“I didn’t think in Game 3 we were bad territorially, but I didn’t think we played with any passion,” Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. “I thought Game 4 was the best game we’ve played all year in their building. We played pretty detailed and with passion, which was missing the night before. We’ve got to try to repeat our effort from Game 4.”

Everett will certainly be facing a Chiefs team running at full throttle. Now in a do-or-die situation, Spokane will be in full survival mode and likely play with the desperation of a cornered animal.

“We’ve got to be sharper mentally,” Spokane coach Bill Peters said. “A lot of our mistakes (in Game 5) were mental. And we’ve got to have a better commitment one through 20. We weren’t as committed as we were in the first four games.

“But it’s been a homer series so far, and we’ve got to continue that trend (today).”

Said Constantine: “I expect them to be great. They’ve played us tough all year. There’s 13 games between the two teams and the teams have played each other dead even. So history would tell you that (today) should be a very tightly-contested battle.”

Fortunately for Everett, Friday’s victory means all is not lost should the Tips find themselves unable to overcome the jinx of Spokane Arena.

“It would be nice (to end it in six), but it’s best-of-seven for a reason,” Constantine said. “If it takes seven to decided it, it takes seven. It’s always nice to win it in six because you can get it done earlier and have more rest. But Spokane and Everett in the 2006-07 season has been dead even. So we understand fully it could go seven. We don’t want it to, but it could.”

All the same, the Tips would just assume finish it off today.

“Any time it goes to seven games anything can happen,” Fransoo said. “You don’t want to be in that position.”

Slap shots: Everett defensemen Taylor Ellington and Mike Alexander are both nearing a return. Both Ellington and Alexander have been out since the playoffs began with neck injuries. However, both fully participated in Saturday’s practice. Constantine said they both could be available for either Game 6 or a possible Game 7, and if not then definitely for the second round should Everett advance. … With Vancouver winning its first-round series against Chilliwack on Friday, Everett will play Prince George in the second round if it overcomes Spokane. … Spokane will have forward Judd Blackwater available again today. He’s completed his three-game suspension for his part in the post-game incident from Game 2.