Game 72 - Sold Out Vs Vancouver

[Tipped Off]

The Everett Silvertips will play their final game of the regular season at the EEC on Saturday, March 17 against the Vancouver Giants. Game time is set for 7:05 p.m. There are no tickets available for the March 17 game. The game is officially SOLD OUT.

[Rooselk]

With the last game of the regular season and a sell-out it should be pretty wild in the EEC Saturday - especially against Vancouver.

[Tipped Off]

I guess it depends on who they play. The crowd was pretty subdued during hte PG game since 6 players sat out. If the Tips rest a bunch of people tonight, they'll probably all play tomorrow. If a lot of them play tonight, we'll probably see the young guys again tomorrow. I think KC's ONLY objective is to get through this healthy.

Even if Mueller, Gutierrez, etc... do play, my guess is they get 3rd and 4th line minutes with the regular 3rd and 4th lines getting the high end minutes.

From today's Everett Herald: Everett called up 1990-born right wing Matt Ius for this weekend's games as the Tips will continue to play youngsters and give veterans rest

[old_time_hockey]

So are they cracking down on fans now after the Portland bru-ha-ha? Have they got more security?

Seems to me the last regular season game against the Giants could get out of hand.

[Tipped Off]

Like I said, the crowd will be subdued without the stars playing. Also, they have put some extra security around the visitors bench.

[scrunt]

I suspect this game will mean a lot more to the Giants than the Tips, based on what has happened this season.

However, a win by the Giants would give them a big confidence boost if the two teams meet in the Western Final, whereas a Tips win this weekend would give them a big psychological advantage in a playoff series.

It will be interesting to see how seriously each team takes the game. I'm sure the EEC will be rocking.

Someone please have a pint of Diamond Knot IPA for me. I'll be listening in on the radio.

Cheers,

scrunt

[Rooselk]

Can't promise it will be a Diamond Knot. But I'll definitely have an IPA for you. :thumb:

[Tipped Off]

With what happened last night to Mike Alexander, I think there's even more of a chance we won't se the big guns tonight. That's exactly what you try to avoid heading into the playoffs. Mueller and Gutierrez seem to be the two who continuously are kept out. Fransoo missed his first game ever as a Tip last night. My guess is he will play. We'll see.

[Tipped Off]

Mueller, hamill, gutierrez, sonne, ellington, alexander

[Tipped Off]

Tips up 1-0 after one. Both teams are playing pretty hard. Lots of hard checks and not too many penalties. Both teams not all full strength, but entertaining so far.

[Tipped Off]

Still 1-0 tips. Giants have 20 SOG, Tips just 10. Puck was in tips end entire period. If this Irving shows up for playoffs I like our chances. We just can't get any offense going with thes youngsters.

[Tipped Off]

Well, the Giants dominated the Tips in the shots department. Both teams played Physical. The Tips played without Mueller, hamill, gutierrez, sonne, ellington, alexander & Crowley. Nice win by th youngsters and fo rhte team not to head into the playoffs with a 4 game losing streak.

Everett Posts Shutout Over Vancouver
Silvertips Sweep Season Series With Vancouver
Everett Silvertips Press Release



Zach Hamill Won The WHL Scoring Title
Everett, Wash. - The Everett Silvertips defeated the Vancouver Giants 2-0 on Saturday night in front of a capacity crowd of 8,513 fans inside of the Everett Events Center. The game was the team's 72nd and final of the 2006-2007 regular season. As a result of the shutout, Everett is now tied for first place all-time for total shutouts in one season. The 14 that they garnered equals that of the 2003-2004 Kelowna Rockets and the 2004-2005 Seattle Thunderbirds. The victory also completes their regular season series sweep of the Giants 6-0.

The incredible regular season comes to a close with the Silvertips winning their third U.S. Division Championship overall and second in a row. On top of that they also were crowned the Western Hockey League's regular season champions. Their final records on the season were 54-15-1-2 (111 pts) overall, 31-4-0-1 at home, and 23-11-1-1 on the road. On the individual side of things, the Silvertips own Zach Hamill officially wrapped up the WHL's regular season scoring title after producing 32 goals and 61 assists for a total of 93 points.

As for the game itself Everett didn't score many nor often, but they did score early. They found themselves on a power play inside of the games first minute and eventually they were working a brief 5-on-3 advantage. It was during the second power play when a log-jam of players along the right wing boards in the Vancouver zone resulted in the puck popping free. Zack Dailey was the first to gain solid control and skated out of the right circle, cutting towards the left circle. He drew Vancouver goaltender Tyson Sexsmith to the edge of the crease before throwing the puck back the other direction to a wide open Jonathan Harty who hammered it into the open net at 4:01. Lukas Vartovnik was scored with the secondary assist.

The second period was all about defense for the Silvertips and their goalie Leland Irving was a huge part of that. He stopped all thirteen Vancouver shots that came his way in the 20-minutes. But it was in the third period when he was his strongest.

Irving was called upon several times to make big saves as the Giants manufactured pressure throughout the remainder of the game to try and tie the score. However, it went beyond Irving and was a total team effort just prior to the period's midway point. Vancouver went onto a four minute power play and the Silvertips were able to hold them to just a pair of shots-on-goal.

The Giants began a ferocious attack in the waning minutes of the game and pulled Sexsmith with a minute-and-a-half remaining for the extra skater. That's when Everett would finalize the scoring. The Silvertips cleared the puck out of the zone and Vartovnik pursued Vancouver defenseman A.J. Thelen into the Giants end. Thelen gained control of the puck but as he was skating in front of his own goal, Vartovnik poke-checked Thelen's stick and knocked the puck into the empty net at 19:09. The goal was unassisted.

The Silvertips will now focus their attention on the 2007 Western Hockey League Playoffs. Their first game of which will be next Friday night, March 23rd, inside of the Everett Events Center. The initial puck drop against their opening round opponent Spokane Chiefs is scheduled for 7:35 p.m. Game two of the series will be the following night, March 24th. Again it will be a home game at the EEC with the scheduled game time for 7:05 p.m.



Silvertips Box Score

Lukas Vartovnik (11) 1g, 1a
Jonathan Harty (5) 1g
Zack Dailey 1a

Leland Irving (34-12) 29/29 - 11th Shutout of the Season

Starting Line-up: Leland Irving (G), Jason Fransoo (D), Jesse Zetariuk (D),
Lukas Vartovnik (LW), Damir Alic (C), Jesse Smyke (RW)

Power Plays: Vancouver 0/6; Everett 1/7
Shots On Goal: Vancouver 29; Everett 11
Attendance: 8,513

3 Stars
1. Leland Irving
2. Milan Lucic (Van)
3. Lukas Vartovnik

[Tipped Off]

Tips end regular season winners
Leland Irving stops 29 shots for his 11th shutout and Everett beats Vancouver 2-0 Saturday night.

By Nick Patterson
Herald Writer


EVERETT - It doesn't matter what the Everett Silvertips do.

It doesn't matter who they put on the ice.

Whatever the circumstances, it seems the Everett Silvertips always have a solution against the one team they know they have to eventually beat in their quest for the Memorial Cup.

With the majority of its offense sitting in the stands, Everett leaned on the reliable hands of Leland Irving, and the Silvertips concluded the regular season by defeating the Memorial Cup host Vancouver Giants 2-0 Saturday night.

Before a sellout crowd of 8,513 at the Everett Events Center, Irving put on a sensational display, making Jonathan Harty's early goal hold up as Everett (54-15-1-2) finished the season 6-0 against the Giants.

"I really don't know what it is," Irving said about Everett's mastery over Vancouver.

"Some nights you just get the bounces and I thought tonight that was definitely the case."

Irving finished with 29 saves for his 11th shutout of the season, and Lukas Vartovnik added an empty-net goal for the Tips, who open the playoffs against Spokane at home Friday.

Tyson Sexsmith only had to make nine saves in goal for Vancouver (44-17-3-7), which has been snakebitten against Everett. Although they lost all six meetings, based on how they played, the Giants could lay claim to at least five of those.

"We did a lot of good things out there today," Vancouver left wing Milan Lucic said. "Maybe we've got to take it to the next level to beat these guys if we meet them in the playoffs."

Everett center Zach Hamill all but secured the league scoring title, though not without having to sweat it out.

Hamill, who was given the night off to rest up for the playoffs, went into the night five points ahead of Kootenay's Steve DaSilva. DaSilva scored three points in Kootenay's 4-2 victory over Medicine Hat. Then Lethbridge's Zach Boychuk, who seemed out of it 10 points back, had eight in the Hurricanes 11-1 victory over Red Deer. Both finished two points behind Hamill's 93.

Six teams still have games remaining today, but no players on those teams have a realistic chance of catching Hamill.

"It's pretty cool," Hamill said about winning the scoring title. "You look at the guys who won it the last couple years and you think, 'Wow, to be in the same category with those guys is something special.' It's definitely one of my highlights, something I worked for. But winning a Memorial Cup would be a lot better."

Everett and Vancouver have taken very different approaches to closing out the season. Everett, which clinched the best record in the WHL last week, chose to rest its top players - Saturday's scratch list included luminaries Hamill, Peter Mueller and Moises Gutierrez - in an effort to gain full health.

In contrast the Giants, who sewed up the B.C. Division long ago, have continued to field their best lineup in an effort to keep the players sharp.

Everett's second stringers versus the defending WHL champions at full strength would appear to be a mismatch. Much of the game felt that way as the Giants controlled play, and almost the entire third period was played in Everett's zone. But Irving was spectacular in net, time after time he splayed his body across the ice to deny the Giants in close. Irving appears to have ironed the wrinkles out of his game at just the right time, and he's the primary reason the Tips go into the playoffs off a win instead of a four-game losing streak.

"I've never been so exhausted for a game," Irving said. "But the fans here, they're just cheering the whole way, they get your adrenaline up and push you all the way through.

"It's huge (getting a win going into the playoffs)," Irving added. "It just gets the guys up. I think we would have approached Spokane the same way whether we won or lost, but it feels nice to come off a win going into the playoffs."

Everett grabbed the lead on the power play 4 minutes, 1 second into the game. Zack Dailey latched onto a loose puck in the slot, then backhanded a pass to the far post, where Harty was there to sweep it into an open net, making it 1-0.

Vancouver turned up the pressure the rest of the way, outshooting the Tips 23-4 in the final two periods and putting several more shots just wide. But Irving held firm, and Vartovnik hassled Vancouver defenseman A.J. Thelen into putting the puck into his own empty net with 50.3 seconds remaining, sealing the victory.

Slap shots: Everett defenseman Mike Alexander appears to have escaped major injury from the hit that sent him to the hospital Friday against Tri-City. Alexander had full feeling in his limbs and attended Saturday's game wearing a heavy neck brace. ... The Tips raised a 2006-07 U.S. Division banner after the game and were also presented with the Scotty Munro Trophy for the league's best record in the regular season. ... Hamill provided the color commentary on the radio broadcast during the second period, partially to take his mind off the scoring race. ... Everett finished with a season attendance of 232,543, good for 6,460 per game.

At Everett Events Center

Vancouver 0 0 0 - 0

Everett 1 0 1 - 2

First Period-1, Everett, Harty 5 (Dailey, Vartovnik), 4:01 (pp). Penalties-McArdle, Vancouver (hooking), 0:33; Repik, Vancouver (delay of game), 2:06; Campos, Everett (hooking), 5:55; Wuchterl, Everett (high sticking), 11:29; Harper, Everett (holding), 18:20; McArdle, Vancouver (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:51.

Second Period-No scoring. Penalties-Franson, Vancouver (checking from behind), 4:19; Eskesen, Everett (holding), 10:14; Franson, Vancouver (checking from behind), 13:09; Campos, Everett (hooking), 13:36.

Third Period-2, Everett, Vartovnik 11, 19:09 (en). Penalties-Strong, Everett (tripping-holding), 8:31; Watt, Vancouver (interference-10-minute misconduct), 19:26.

Shots on goal-Vancouver 6-14-9-29. Everett 7-3-1-11. Power-play opportunities-Vancouver 0 of 6. Everett 1 of 7. Goalies-Vancouver, Sexsmith 31-12-2-6 (10 shots, 9 saves). Everett, Irving 34-9-1-2 (29 shots, 29 saves).

A-8,513.

[Highlander_Yank]

So are they cracking down on fans now after the Portland bru-ha-ha? Have they got more security?

Seems to me the last regular season game against the Giants could get out of hand.

Well, I noticed before the game the ushers were checking people's tickets before letting them go to the seats ... cracking down? Could be!!

I think the Portland game was an aberration where some really bad apples got into the mix. The crowd at the Saturday game was loud and partisan, but well-behaved. Lucic got a HUGE round of applause (and cowbells, this being Everett) when he skated back out for his star. Good 'un on ya, Milan! :thumb:

[ihlemic10]

So are they cracking down on fans now after the Portland bru-ha-ha? Have they got more security?

Seems to me the last regular season game against the Giants could get out of hand.

They also have been announcing that you can and will be removed for bad behavior at the games alot more now.