Road Trip Blog from Jon Rosen

[Tipped Off]

All of these articles can be found on the website at: http://www.everettsilvertips.com/news/index.cfm

Posted : : 10/30/2007
Road Tips: Day One
Everett > Edmonton: 766 miles
Jon Rosen

Edmonton, AB - Greetings from Edmonton! It was a long day on the bus, and I'm about ready to cash it in and start again tomorrow. We pulled out of Everett right at 7 AM, ate lunch in Kamloops and then pulled into Jasper for dinner at 7 pm mountain time. It's now 12:30 am, and I'm sitting here on my hotel bed, and with my attention span dwindling, I'm going to lay some thoughts out and give you a preview of things to come while they're still fresh in my head.

The bus ride has gone about as smoothly as we could hope for. It's been a beautiful - albeit chilly - day, and even after 15 hours on the bus, nobody wants to punch anyone else in the face. Every so often I'm interrupted from my reading or sleeping by hysterical laughter coming from the back of the bus, which is often precipitated by Lukas Vartovnik imitations. Supposedly there's a prank war going on between the 20 year olds on the team and everyone else, and one of the loudest outbursts of the day was when Taylor Ellington was ambushed by an onslaught of Silly String, courtesy of Brennan Sonne and Dane Crowley.

The only minor problem we encountered on the road was that our DVD player on the bus doesn't work! Fifteen hours on the bus...and no movies?!?!? It seems as if the speakers are blown, and that the rest of this trip will procede movie-free...which should allow for some ample reading time. Fortunately, we have a bunch of good-natured kids on our team, and nobody has even raised the slightest stink about a situation we don't really have any control over.

I've been hanging out up in the front of the bus, sitting in the second row behind Jay Varady and in front of James Stucky. The coaches have been busy studying the game tape of our upcoming opponents, and I've been peeking over Mark LeRose's shoulder as he pinpoints their tendencies and key players that we're going to want to watch out for. Rosey is also sporting his vintage trucker style Western Hockey League hat, something that Dan Gendur offered him thirty bucks for earlier in the day.

This is my first time traveling through the Canadian Rockies, and I've been stunned by all the amazing landscapes we've passed through. The only thing I can really compare it to is driving on I-70 through Colorado, when the majestic peaks are towering above the highways on both sides. This is truly beautiful country, and it's the farthest north I've ever been in North America.

So remember to check back along the roadtrip to get updates from players and coaches. Tomorrow you should expect to hear some good audio clips of Eric English conducting some interviews. He's been walking around on the bus carrying the microphone, chatting with players and getting a good glimpse into the non-game day travel routines. We'll also be putting photographs of our trip in the Photo Gallery section so everyone can get an idea of the beautiful terrain we've been traversing through.

***Tips fans, we've been experiencing difficulties loading and publishing photographs and audio bits from yesterday's bus trip. Make sure to check back later this afternoon for even more glimpses into the travel routines of your favorite 'Tips players!

[Tipped Off]

Posted : : 10/31/2007
Road Tips: Day Two
Jon Rosen




Edmonton, AB - So we've all spent a full day in Edmonton now, and one of the common conversations we've been having is the fact that it's been unseasonably warm here. We could have made this trip in mid February, like some other teams in our division, and would have had to put up with sub-zero temperatures and huge amounts of snowfall. But the weather today was partly cloudy, and even maybe a tad bit warmer than what we could expect in Everett. I hardly even needed my brand new Silvertips track suit.

While the team was practicing at Rexall Place this afternoon, I walked around the arena and took some pictures of all the banners they have hanging from the rafters. Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, Grant Fuhr, Paul Coffey, Al Hamilton... very, very few professional sports team can boast such a proud sports legacy.

While I was walking underneath the concourse at Rexall, I saw Oilers' Coach Craig MacTavish conducting an impromptu press conference. I had a strong urge to yell out, "MacTavish! Get a helmet!", but then I realized how much I love my job and didn't want to return to Everett unemployed. I then waited just outside the Oiler locker room to see if I could catch any players heading towards the parking lot, and what do you know - fellow Michigan Wolverine Andrew Cogliano comes strolling out! Andrew was very friendly and helped me out with an interview that will air during the first intermission of Thursday's game before he sat down to do a TV interview with a local station. We chatted about this weekend's Michigan - Michigan State football game, and he told me he has a wager riding on the game with former Michigan State Spartan Shawn Horcoff. I told Andrew he's about to make some easy money. Go Blue!

Edmonton native Kent Simpson, the 'Tips 2007 first round draft pick, practiced with the team today and took part in some off-ice activities following the mid-day skate. Kent is a very focused goaltender and anyone who saw him in rookie camp and in his preseason debut against Vancouver knows how special of a hockey player he is. I let him know that I've made a living dropping references from The Simpsons in my broadcasts (always made easier when there is a player with the last name of Barney or Otto), and I told him whenever he gets in a regular season game with Everett, I'll have a long list of Simpsons lines to throw out there.

So I should have some more pictures up early tomorrow morning. One of the drawbacks of sharing an arena with an NHL team is that they control the practice times. The Oilers decided that they wanted to push their practice up by a couple hours, so the Oil Kings' skate has been pushed up, meaning our morning skate will be held from 9:00-9:45. Factoring in breakfast, the time it takes to get to the arena and for the team to get dressed, and it should be another early morning. I also promise to get some audio bits up over the next day or two & I've just been having some issues transferring them from my computer to the internet.

Thanks for checking in again, and LET'S GO 'TIPS!

[Tipped Off]

Posted : : 11/02/2007
Road Tips: Day Three
Everett Silvertips Press Release



Check the Picture Galleries section for more pics from this roadtrip.
Everett, WA - There are several things I learned today, and I have to thank my roommate Chris Walker for helping me out with this. First, I'm not allowed to wear my hat to any meal or video session. It doesn't matter if it's my brand new Silvertips had just purchased from the team store several days ago - if it's a mandatory team function, the hat stays in the room. Second, don't fall asleep on the bus on the way to the arena, because I have a tendency to snore. Thanks for waking me up, Chris.

There's a much different vibe around the team on game days, obviously with much less joking around and fewer Lukas Vartovnik imitations. There's a palpable sense of focus and determination shared between everyone on the team, and I do my best just to take a step back and make sure I don't interfere with anyone's game day routines. I am never, ever allowed to have a conversation with a goalie on a game day, kind of like the way you're not supposed to talk with a pitcher on the day he's throwing (though I broke that rule repeatedly while working in Minor League Baseball). I asked Brennan Sonne about his game day routines, and he says that he usually just hangs around, thinking about the game while relaxing and listening to music.

Chris and I made progress in our quest to find out who put a leaner against our door yesterday. For the uninitiated, a leaner is when some prankster leans a garbage can filled with water against your door, knocks on it, and runs down the hallway or into some safe house. When the person inside the room opens the door, the garbage can tips over and spills all the water inside your room. Well, that almost happened to us yesterday, and thanks to the keen eye of one Chris Walker, the damage was minimized as he just ever so slightly opened our door, and a tiny bit of water splashed into the entrance way of our hotel room. It could have been a lot worse. At lunch today, Kyle Beach blurted out that it was Mike Alexander who responsible; Mike, sitting two seats away from me at the time, turned bright red and tried to deflect attention away from himself. Naturally, my thoughts immediately turned to revenge. I suggested to Chris that we place a dead fish under his mattress once we get to Calgary, but that idea was met by a mix of skepticism and disdain. I think we'll wait a bit and see what pops into our head on the bus ride south tomorrow, but let me tell you this: Mike Alexander, if you're reading this, you better watch your back for the rest of this trip.

Yes, you, Mike Alexander. I hope you're paralyzed with fear.

[Tipped Off]

Posted : : 11/03/2007
Road Tips: Day Four
Edmonton > Red Deer > Calgary: 185 miles
Everett Silvertips Press Release



Lots of friendly faces on the road
Everett, WA - Even though this is such a high level of play, these aren't the big leagues. This isn't the NHL, and there aren't valets to unload the bus and carry our bags and set up our equipment for us. And because there is such a high volume of bulk to carry, often times players are asked to help the staff out and head to the arena in the middle of the day to get things off the bus. Today, I was hanging out in the lobby with our equipment manager James Stucky when defenseman Matt Strong happened to be in the wrong spot at the wrong time. Stuck asked Matt to head back over to Rexall to get the last of the equipment out of the arena and into the bus, and even though Strong was penciled into the lineup this evening and would have his game day routine disrupted, he didn't miss a beat in agreeing to help the staff out . I keep saying it, but these are good-natured kids that form a very solid locker room, and Strong's willingness to help out in the afternoon on a game day says a lot about his character.

I don't remember a lot about the drive from Edmonton to Red Deer, except that I fell asleep before we even got on the highway and woke up to Graham Potuer being called up to the front of the bus. Potsy, a Red Deer native, was asked by Coach Becanic to assist in directing Bruce, our bus driver, to the Enmax Centrium as we were given confusing directions. Potsy never missed a beat and got us to the building without forcing Bruce to make any U-Turns or block any traffic. Good job, Potsy.

Everything about the Enmax Centrium left a very strong impression on me. The building itself is a large, imposing beige structure amidst a horizon of mini-malls and chain eateries, but inside the building we were treated to an appreciative hockey crowd that packed the place and emanated class throughout the entire game. During the national anthems, after the crowd politely cheered following the first rendition of Star Spangled Banner inside the Centrium in two years, everyone in unison joined in the collective singing of O, Canada!. Everywhere I looked in the stands - kids, adults, grandparents - people were singing along. It was one of the louder national anthems I've heard, kind of like the old Chicago Stadium, minus the sparklers. After the first intermission, the on-ice emcee welcomed all the Silvertips fans traveling with the team (there's been a very strong contingent of green and white sweaters on this trip) and thanked us for coming out to Red Deer. The sightlines in the arena were great, and the view from the press box was perfect - not too high, not too low, practically centered at the red line. This might have been my favorite barn to watch a game in this season, except for the EEC, of course.

It took less than ninety minutes to bus down to Calgary after the game, and before ending our night at the hotel, we unloaded our gear at the Saddledome. Having followed Smythe Division hockey since I was five years old, this was a thrill for me to come in and see another famous building that I had watched time and time again on television - a building that played host to the 1988 Winter Olympics. Even though it was past midnight, our guys were wide awake when they walked onto the Calgary Flames' bench, thinking about players like Lanny MacDonald and Mike Vernon and Theo Fleury calling that bench home. Using the Flames' news conference wallpaper as a backdrop, Graham Poteur fielded fictional questions, using answers like "Well, it was great going out there and scoring every single goal for our team..." and hamming it up as he pretended to be some sort of NHL prima donna. Jonathan Harty took a while to appreciate the panoramic photo of the 1989 Stanley Cup championship Calgary team that formed a spectacular mural outside the Flames' dressing room, going through names like Gary Suter and Hakan Loob and Joel Otto and recognizing such a great collection of talent. Hopefully those great names will light a fire under the 'Tips skates as they take on a talented Hitmen team at the Saddledome on Sunday afternoon following a well deserved Saturday evening off.

Thanks again for checking in! Have a great weekend, 'Tips fans!

[Tipped Off]

Posted : : 11/04/2007
Road Tips: Day Five
Guest Blogger: Matt Strong
Everett Silvertips Press Release



It's a snowy Sunday in Calgary.
Everett, WA - We had a rare Saturday off-day, and while the weather was warm and the sun was shining, I decided to bunker down in front of the television to watch the University of MIchigan's thrilling comeback against the hapless Michigan State Spartans. Go Blue! Instead of boring you with the details of a rather uneventful day, I decided to hand the reins of the blog over to Calgary native and Silvertips defenseman Matt Strong as he broke down the last several days of hanging out in Calgary. Take it away, Matt!

November 2

At midnight, we umpacked all our hockey gear at the Calgary Saddledome. Although the lights were off and the rink was dead I could still feel the adrenaline start pumping into my body as I gazed in an awe struck amazement of how much different a rink really looks from the benches compared to the normal seats everyone sits in up in the stands.

November 3

After 17 years of watching Calgary Flames, and Hitmen hockey I have finally skated on the Saddledome's ice for the first time. Its been along time coming, but the rush it gave me is far better then what I dreamed of all those nights growing up, I still remember the days when we lived on a ranch in Milleraville, Alberta. I used to pretend I was playing on the Saddledome ice as I would rush up and down the pond in the freezing cold until it got dark. Now that dream's coming true!

November 4

Game day, I visited home and got to see my family and dog which was great, and now all things come down to tonight. From the buzzer at the end of the game in Red Deer we've all been preparing for tonight's game. The Hitmen are a highly touted team, but they don't know Silvertip hockey. Have a great day, and I hope your all looking forward to tonight as much as I am.

[Tipped Off]

Posted : : 11/05/2007
Road Tips: Day Six
Calgary > Medicine Hat: 183 miles
Everett Silvertips Press Release




Everett, WA - If you see Zach Hamill, challenge him with some hockey trivia. The kid knows everything. Aftyer our game in Calgary Sunday evening, we were driving east towards Medicine Hat when we passed through the town of Strathmore, Alberta, the site of the very first Silvertips training camp. The 'Tips held camp in Central Alberta as a way to make sure that there was excellent attendance from all of their listed players from Western Canada back in 2003. Several of the 87s and 88s on the team were at that original training camp as rookies, and Hamill attended the camp after he was drafted in the club's first WHL Bantam Draft. The team was in a good mood following a strong performance in a win over Calgary, and Coach Becanic took a break from his video sessions up at the front of the bus, asking several of the other coaches for a couple of bucks before walking towards the back of the bus.

"Hey guys, there's eight bucks in my hand for the person who can name the only player in Silvertips history from Strathmore, Alberta!

There were several wrong answers - I think Taylor Ellington even yelled out "What's Strathmore?" - when Hamill yelled from the back of the bus, "Chad Bassen!"

Hamill has a bear trap of a mind. The kid is a trivia monster.

It is nearly impossible to conduct an interview whenever James Stucky is around. Earlier today, when trying to get a prospect update from Director of Player Development Scott Scoville on the visitor's bench at the Saddledome, Stucky started rocking the bench back and forth as hard as he could until my distraction began to drift to annoyance. While in Edmonton several days ago, I was just finishing up an interesting conversation with Shane Harper when Stucky intervened with seconds left in the interview to say derogatory things about Tim Horton's, interrupting the chat. Kyle Beach can be the same way. Whenever I'm trying to conduct an interview, he takes that as his time to be a distraction, last week when I was pressed for time and was forced to conduct interview on the bus on the way to the Toyota Center, Beach literally ran down the aisle with a smile on his face to where I was interviewing Shayne Barrie to blow into onto his neck until our young goaltender couldn't take it any more and started breaking up with laughter.

At the morning skate today, Calgary Flames goaltender Brent Krahn was at the rink rehabbing from an injury when he asked if several of the 'Tips could stay a few minutes late to take some shots on him as he looked to get back into playing shape. Eric English and Chris de la Lande stayed afterwards and peppered Krahn with a barrage of shots, several of which actually found their way into the net. It was one of the proudest moments of English's career - he put several pucks past an NHL goalie, drawing this response from Stucky:

"NHL goalies are used to seeing 90 mph fastballs and then you through Eric in there with his 68 mph "knuckleball" its hardly any wonder he slipped a few by Mr.Krahn. Its kind of like Gary Sheffield looking for Roger Clemens heater and getting Jamie Moyer's change up. Brent was out in front of a few of English's circle changes."

Touché.

[Tipped Off]

Posted : : 11/06/2007
Road Tips: Day Seven
Jon Rosen




Medicine Hat, AB - We had an off-day in Medicine Hat today, and the prank war has become a completely full blown war of attrition. At around two in the afternoon today, when Chris wasn't expecting anyone to come over and receive treatment, we heard another suspicious knock on the door and the sound of footsteps running down the hallway. Obviously knowing what that entailed, Chris opened the door ever so slightly to reveal yet another leaner. So, so juvenile. It didn't matter who left it there - we actually just pitied that poor person for lacking the creativity to come up with some new practical joke.

Actually, the new trend in practical jokes today was to "tornado" someone's room, by covertly sneaking in and turning everything upside down. Vartovnik and Ellington's room was hit particularly hard, as the culprits went as far as to upend their mattresses so that the box springs were on top. When Elli returned to his room after a day at the indoor pool, he decided to throw his large frame on top of the bed, resulting in a painful crash onto a hard wooden surface. We all hope he's ready to go for the game tomorrow.

At the Medicine Hat Lodge, there are two large indoor waterslides in the atrium of the hotel that snake around each other for five stories before emptying into a shallow pool. After what our boys did to them today, we're surprised those waterslides are still standing. It got to the point where five players would go down the waterslides at once, going down backwards, sideways, practically throwing punches and kicking each other as they descended. We could actually hear the creaky old waterslides shifting and moaning from our room as the weight from all the players became too intense.

So it's now a month and a half into the season, and I finally got shoe-checked. For the slightly confused out there, getting shoe-checked is when one person creates a diversion while another person sneaks under the table and puts butter or salad dressing or some kind of spread all over the unsuspecting person's shoes. Once it has been completed, everyone in the area takes a spoon and bangs on their water glass. I have to hand it to Ellington - he created the perfect distraction by walking right over to my area of the table and asking Shane Harper and Zack Dailey if they were going to take advantage of the water slides after lunch. Now that I think about it, something seemed suspicious when Ellington asked the question several times, getting the same response. While I was listening to Harper's answer, Dane Crowley snuck over and dumped his entire ranch dressing on my Converse All-Stars, though I have to say I hope his slap shot is more accurate than his ability to dump ranch on my foot. Most of it got on the floor, though I did receive a healthy dollop that cascaded down the side of my left shoe. So, basically, you can now add Crowley to the "Mike Alexander List Of People I'm Going To Murder By The End Of This Trip".

We traded our track suits for dress shirts and nice shoes at dinner tonight as Bill Yuill, president of The Monarch Corporation and Owner of the Silvertips, treated us to a phenomenal dinner at the Cypress Club, a Gentleman's Lounge in downtown Medicine Hat that was established in 1903. We all had the meal of the year tonight that consisted of wonderful Alberta prime rib along with mashed potatoes, veggies and of course Yorkshire Pudding. Aside from how well behaved our boys were in the other room (there were no leaners or tornadoes at dinner tonight), I was most impressed with how Bill took several of the new members of the Silvertips family - myself, Chris Walker, Mark LeRose - and welcomed us into his town and made us feel as if we had been with the team for years.

Terry Thom, Vice President of Finance and Corporate Affairs, took us upstairs in the Cypress Club and showed us a vintage bank shuffleboard table and a huge snookers table that had entertained guests for over a hundred years. LeRose made a comment - "Oh, if only these walls could talk, they'd be saying some pretty amazing things" as we were all taken back by the history of Medicine Hat and its legacy of social and business gatherings. After how well we were treated this evening, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a little extra pressure on our guys to come up with an extra strong effort against the always difficult Tigers tomorrow evening. I also heard that some of the gals at The Monarch Corporation have been reading this blog and have been entertained by the photographs - there will be new pics up tomorrow, once we get a strong enough internet connection that will allow me to post them!

As if we needed one, tonight was just another reminder of how fortunate we all are to be Everett Silvertips and now let's just knock off the Tigers and hope that this great roadtrip keeps getting better!

[Tipped Off]

Posted : : 11/07/2007
Road Tips - Day Eight
Jon Rosen




Medicine Hat, AB - It's great to see that after a day of goofing off and horsing around on waterslides and pulling pranks at a hotel that the Silvertips could come back and focus on their game at Medicine Hat Tuesday night. It was a strong performance by a team that is without a doubt heading in the right direction, and it shows that once it comes down to game time, our boys are incredibly focused at the task on hand. The team is now 4-1 on the roadtrip (counting the Tri-City game) before heading over to Lethbridge for a game against the Hurricanes Wednesday night.

The roadtrip is beginning to catch up to me a little bit - I'm battling the flu, the prank war, and the pasta we had for lunch at the Medicine Hat Lodge yesterday. Even though were all having a great time on the trip and the team has been winning, I think just about everyone is ready to get back into the U.S. and bunker down in their own beds for a good night's sleep. You wouldn't be able to tell that on the 'Tips faces, however, there's still that steel-lock grip of determination and desire to finish this roadtrip successfully, as we still have three games left against talented teams, culminating with the divisional matchup in Spokane on Saturday night. We're pleased with where we're at, but there's still a lot more work to be done.

I wanted to thank David Reekie and Dan Gendur for some excellent color commentary work from the Medicine Hat press box last night. Reeks was on the mic for the first period and a half before handing it over to Gendur, who finished the game off strong. Speaking of Strong, Matt was up in the press box as well, along with Taylor Ellington for a short period of time, meaning that at one point there were five of us packed into a tiny little cubicle looking out over the Medicine Hat ice as there weren't many seats to be had for the players downstairs. If Eric English tried to join us, I'm not sure what we would have done. It must have been quite the sight for the fans sitting opposite us as they wondered why in the heck there were so many bodies crammed into such a small space.

It's just about time to hit the road here in the 'Hat, so expect some more stories from the road tomorrow morning. Let's hope for a strong performance tonight against the Hurricanes, and Let's Go 'Tips!

[Tipped Off]

Road Tips - Day Nine
Medicine Hat > Lethbridge > Cranbrook: 294 miles
Jon Rose




Cranbrook, BC - Today was a long day of travel, not made any easier by the fact that the 'Tips lost a tough game to the Lethbridge Hurricanes, 4-1, though the game was closer than the score indicated. With the injuries that our team is facing, coupled with the stretch of games in back to back nights near the end of almost two weeks on the road, you can get a sense of how difficult it is to win games consistently in this league. Give our boys credit for going out there and competing hard while facing the third top-tier Eastern Conference team in four nights.

A question to the Hurricanes fans sitting directly in front of the pressbox: Is it really necessary to taunt the broadcaster? Look, I've called losses before. I can handle conceding a goal or two, and you really don't need to rub in every single Lethbridge tally by standing on your seat, turning around, and clapping in my face. If you're really going to make that choice to heckle someone, save it for the NHL or other major professional sports, where players are given exorbitant contracts that they often fail to live up to. I don't see a place for heckling kids that might otherwise be in high school, and I think it's fairly petty to heckle a broadcaster, who is just out there trying to do their job. This was my first visit to Lethbridge, and is this the impression that you want me to leave with?

So we're back in British Columbia in the gorgeous town of Cranbrook, where the temperatures are fairly high for this time of year. When reading the schedule, I was hoping to hit the slopes on this off-day, but there's been no snow anywhere on this trip, save for about two hours on Sunday morning while we were in Calgary. Though a day off at Fernie or Kimberley would have been amazing, we're really fortunate to be taking this trip in early November. We traveled through some high mountain passes last night to get to where we are right now, and I have a feeling those roads are awfully treacherous in the middle of January. Bruce, our bus driver, has been doing a fantastic job in carrying us safely through narrow mountain cutbacks and everyone on our team owes him a huge thank you.

That's about it from the road, and I'll get more pictures up on the website when I get to the RecPlex for morning skate tomorrow. I can't wait for tomorrow night's game - I've always been looking forward to calling a game in Cranbrook, a city of just under 19,000 people. I've heard about the ways that this community comes together for Ice games, and I'm looking forward to experiencing that firsthand. We got a glimpse of that last night when we unloaded the bus at the arena shortly before 2:00 am, when Graham Potuer and Jonathan Harty tried their best to do imitations of the Kootenay PA announcer...

Thanks again for checking in, and Let's Go 'Tips!

[Bocephus]

I apologize for our rude fans here in Lethbridge. Your view should also extend to booing of the opposition. Like you say, these are kids and not paid professionals.
I only hope that the reputation of the "library" hasn't been tarnished completely.
I was also very impressed with the Everett fan bus turnout and representation. This must surely be evidence of a well run operation down there in Everett. cheers

[tyeryan9]

Bang on Bocephus. Very unclassy move by a few of our fans. They represent a few and not the majority, that is not a fair representation of our city. Your fan support was great! Best wishes the rest of the way.

TR

[Tipped Off]

Posted : : 11/09/2007
Road Tips - Day Ten
Guest Blogger: Kyle Beach




Cranbrook, BC - So with the day off, the 'Tips had some time to check out the small mountain hamlet of Cranbrook. And with the extra time, we decided to give Kyle Beach an opportunity to get his thoughts out on the page...err...screen.

Enjoy our guest blogger, Kyle Beach!

So today was a bit of a boring day without much hockey; we were woken up by the most annoying drilling and cutting noises mixed in with a little bit of train since our rooms are directly next to the train tracks. After taking the option on practice, Shane Harper, Zack Dailey Zach Hamill and I decided we'd reenact the final inning of the World Series in the hotel room.

Hamill was the pitcher who threw an assortment of pitches with the bottle cap as a ball, yet no matter what he threw he was unable to get a strike by Beach as he loaded the bases before hitting a home run to celebrate his first ever world series win. Dailey did not get much action as the catcher - he played his role to a "T", telling me what pitches were coming.

To kill the time throughout the day, we decided to go exploring a little bit in the city. Starting with the old train parked out behind the hotel, we tried to get into it yet no matter what we tried it was going to be impossible without a key so we decided against that idea.

We proceeded to go for a walk down towards the city center joining Harper, Vitaly Karamnov and Lukas Vartovnik along the way as they had just finished the tour of the train station museum. Of course they were a bit embarrassed for being in a museum but Vartovnik was quite happy and this probably made his trip.

After wandering down the road a little further and finding not much more besides a gas station, Dailey finally pulled out the wallet and bought us a small snack. It was a very generous gesture from Mr Dailey.

We decided we were becoming quite exausted from our 15 minute hike down a completely flat side walk and decided to return to the hotel, but before we were able to make it the whole way back we ran into some 'Tips fans and chatted with them before proceeding with their walk. Wow this was a hike of a lifetime.

Well, day ten wasn't the most exciting day, but I hope you enjoyed reading! GO TIPS!

[Swando]

Just KIDS..got to love them!!

[Tipped Off]

Road Tips - Day Eleven
Cranbrook - Spokane: 188 miles
Jon Rosen




Spokane, WA - We're in Spokane now on the final game of the trip, and looking back over the previous twelve days, our guys have really made some strong strides forward. The hotel pranks from Edmonton and Medicine Hat have given way to a fierce sense of determination, exemplified by the fact that our team has lost several key players due to injury. Tonight is a key game as a win means the 'Tps go 5-3 on an eight-game trip against top-notch competition.

The schedule doesn't get any kinds for the Silvertips, as Everett will be welcomed back home with games against Chilliwack , Kelowna and Vancouver on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday before hitting the road once again immediately on Sunday with an evening game at Chilliwack and a Tuesday date at a new-look Kamloops squad. There really are no easy games in this league, speaking volumes about the great competition and the excellent parity.

And with games in the near future against Seattle , Regina , and at Vancouver , the lengthy roadtrip which we're about to complete will have played huge dividends as the Silvertips will be no strangers in matching up against strong competition.

I hope some of you have had the pleasure of listening to Dan Gendur's intermission updates with the team. In the broadcast booth, Dan is the same way as he is on the ice. He has excellent vision, is vastly intelligent and understands the game extremely well. Obviously we'd all rather have him back out there scoring some goals, but as long as he is watching the game from the stands, I'm going to keep bringing him back on the air so everyone can get a unique perspective that only a player can provide.

I owe a big thank you to everyone who's checked this blog out over the last two weeks, and I hope you all enjoyed an insider's perspective of what goes on when the team isn't out there on the ice giving their all. These are human beings out there competing, young, stand up citizens, and their unique personalities and intricacies are part of what makes this organization so wonderful.

I hope you have a chance to attend the Silvertips Radio Show on Tuesday from Sporty's. Team captain Jonathan Harty will be our guest as he recaps the roadtrip and previews the next several games.

Of course, a new homestand begins against the Chilliwack Bruins on Wednesday with Jason Fransoo Bobblehead Night courtsey of Abbey Carpet- I can't wait to get back home and see you all out there at the EEC!

LE'S GO 'TIPS!