EVERETT – It’s the best possible start.
The Everett Silvertips opened the season 4-0, outscoring their opponents 14-4 for the best start in franchise history. As a result, Everett is currently ranked second in the entire Canadian Hockey League, behind only defending Western Hockey League champion Vancouver.
So everything’s perfect, right?
Well, maybe not quite.
“I think we’ve played well at times, but we haven’t played like a 4-0 team for all 60 minutes of a game yet,” leading scorer Zach Hamill said. “Segments of our play have been good, others haven’t.”
Everett’s status as an elite team will be put to the test this weekend as the Silvertips face their first true challenge.
Everett’s first four victories came against questionable competition. One was against Chilliwack, an expansion team. Another came against Kelowna, currently ranked dead last by the Western Major Junior Hockey Writers Association. The other two were against Kamloops, which isn’t expected to be a factor in the B.C. Division race.
But tonight’s oppponent Spokane and Saturday’s opponent Seattle both have higher aspirations.
“You wouldn’t want any other record, so we’re happy with 4-0,” Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. “But we don’t know where the teams we’ve played are going to end up at the end of the year. I think we have to keep playing to know where we’re at. In the preseason I thought Spokane and Seattle were the cream of the crop in the division. This weekend will be an indicator of where we’re at in the division.”
Expectations are high in Everett this season. The Silvertips are considered among the favorites for the league title, and so far the results bear that out.
“It feels good being 4-0,” Everett captain Cody Thoring said. “We haven’t played our best hockey yet, either, so that feels good, too. We’ve wanted to win every game and we’ve played pretty hard.”
However, a closer look reveals the Silvertips have yet to reach their stride. Everett was taken to the limit by Chilliwack in the season opener, and both Kamloops games were closer than the score indicated. Everett’s power play, which was so effective last season, is scoring at a modest 13.6-percent clip, which is just 14th in the league. If not for the goaltending of Leland Irving, Everett’s record would be far less impressive.
“I think in two games we outchanced our opponent in a way that we should have won,” Constantine said. “But both Kamloops games were dead even. We could be 2-2 real easily. Kamloops could have beaten us twice, but we got better goaltending.
“But good teams have to win the close ones, too, so you can’t take that away.”
One thing in Everett’s favor is the Silvertips have yet to field a full-strength lineup as key forwards Peter Mueller and Ondrej Fiala have been unavailable – Mueller was at training camp with the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes, Fiala is recovering from offseason knee surgery.
That changes tonight as Mueller, who returned to Everett on Monday, is slated to make his season debut against the Chiefs. The 18-year-old center is the league’s reigning Rookie of the Year and his return should provide a big boost.
“There’s a number of reasons why having him back is helpful,” Constantine said. “The No. 1 reason is his talents; he’s obviously a good player. But the other nice thing is he’s another specialty teams guy on the bench. Guys get tired on the bench because we have a select few who play on the power play and the penalty kill. Peter does both, so his coming back takes a little of the stress off the other guys.”
This weekend also could set the tone for the U.S. Division race. Everett can announce its intention to run away with its third division title in four seasons with a pair of victories. However, a pair of losses will tell the rest of the division that the Silvertips aren’t the lock that many project them to be.
“We haven’t played any division teams yet, and those are always the toughest games because they’re four-point games,” Hamill said. “Hopefully this weekend we can keep it going.”
Slap shots: Defenseman Eric Doyle, who’s listed as day-to-day with a head injury, did not practice Thursday and is doubtful for this weekend’s games. … An interesting twist was added to Wednesday’s trade, that saw the Silvertips send goaltender Chris Ward to Kamloops for a sixth-round pick in the 2007 bantam draft. Ward was immediately traded to Portland to replace goaltender Kurt Kramer, who had been traded to the Winter Hawks but decided not to report to Portland.
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