Tipped Off
10-09-2005, 10:08 AM
On or off ice, Tips are hot
Silvertipmania fast spreading among teenage girls in county
By Jennifer Warnick
Herald Writer
EVERETT - At nearly 10 p.m. on a weeknight, a crowd of predominantly teenage girls congregates behind a steel barricade down the hall from the Silvertips locker room.
Their eyes are trained on double doors that could, at any moment, open to reveal handsome, freshly showered hockey players.
It's likely that only a few players will make the post-game appearance, but even a brief glimpse is worth the wait.
Almost half a century after the invasion of John, Paul, George and Ringo, Everett is experiencing something similar: Silvertipmania.
Only this band of mop-tops, with their matching uniforms and endearing accents, has taken Snohomish County by storm without singing a note.
"I'm here 'cause they're hot," declared Kayla Graham, 17.
"They're just really nice people, and they get really involved in the community," added friend Kami Irvin, 16.
"And they're really hot," Kayla said.
"Well - everyone wants to date them," Kami admitted.
Michael V. Martina / The Herald
Chloe Anderson, 15, of Lake Stevens considers herself the ultimate Silvertips fan. She loves the sport so much she hopes to go to college in Canada.
"I would so date a hockey player," Kayla said.
The friends, both from Granite Falls, said the hockey players seem more mature than the boys at their high school. "And that's attractive," Kami said.
New kids on the block
Like the Beatles, Backstreet Boys, New Kids on the Block and any number of other boy bands, any teenage fan can name her favorite Silvertip.
"Zach Hamill," said Lacey McAbee, 14.
She waited near the front of the line on game night, wearing her oversized Zach Hamill jersey and shifting from one chunky sneaker to the other.
"Zach Hamill, he's cute and everything. I like watching him skate around on the ice - and how fast he can be," Lacey said later. "He's just, like, an amazing hockey player. He can be kind of bashful, and I'm like that, too - there are similarities."
Hamill was her guy until one fateful day when she visited the team store to buy a No. 9 jersey.
She walked in the doors and saw the hockey players running laps around the inside of the Everett Events Center. She asked if she could run a lap with them and ended up jogging and chatting alongside Cody Thoring.
"Because of that, Cody scored points," Lacey said. "Cody's just a great guy. He's so sweet."
'Place dreams here'
It's no surprise that the Silvertips have a vibrant female fan base.
The Silvertips store sells a pillowcase in team colors. In the center, where the head goes, it says, "Place dreams here." It's hard to imagine that being a top seller among male fans.
Women like hockey. On any game night, in any given hockey league, odds are that the crowd will be about 47 percent female, said Tips spokesman and announcer Keith Gerhart.
Still, players say Everett's fans have developed a particularly exuberant reputation. That's evident when the Tips visit area schools.
"Gee whiz. The way the screams are, it's like a concert or something," Gerhart said. "The guys kind of smile and chuckle a bit - they get a pretty good kick out of it. It's almost like taking 'N Sync to schools."
This can be somewhat startling to the teenage players, many of whom come from places where almost everyone plays hockey, so it's no big deal.
But here, their faces adorn bedroom walls. Here, the guys are recognized at movies and in restaurants. Here, girls seek them out for autographs, hugs, photos - and even dates.
Silvertips players are allowed to date their fans, but they must abide by strict curfews.
Veteran center and assistant team captain Mark Kress, 20, said it never gets old.
"It's pretty flattering to have people want your autograph. When I go home, no one wants my autograph, I'll tell you that much," Kress said.
So adoring are Everett's fans that when Kress' Canadian girlfriend came to visit, he told her to "be ready for a pretty crazy experience."
She doesn't mind all the female attention he receives, even when Kress is handed the occasional phone number.
"As long as I don't call them," Kress said.
Feet on the ground
To the players' host families, they are not pop stars but growing teenage boys who consume huge amounts of food, sleep a lot and play video games.
"You sit and tell them that they're going to be popular and that girls are going to follow them around, but they don't believe it until they experience it all," said Pat Jones, the Silvertips' host family coordinator.
The teenage girls are resourceful. Sometimes when one girl obtains a player's cell phone number, e-mail address or instant messaging handle, the information is shared with the entire network of fans.
"The players are very sought after, and not necessarily always for the right reasons," Jones said.
Coaches and host families play a vital role in grounding the hockey stars and helping them stay focused on the game.
"They're on the ice, the music's loud and it's like a Sonics or Seahawks game," said Ann McNeil, Kress' host mom. "But they come off the ice and come home and wake up in the morning, and their hair is messy. You just see them as a normal kid, and they're going through everything that the kids that age go through."
Fishing for details
KRKO radio personality Jeff "The Fish" Aaron has experienced firsthand the teenage fan phenomenon. He produces a spot called "Silvertips Hot Seat" in which Aaron rapidly fires silly, nonhockey questions at the players for about 10 minutes.
The interviews have become a teenage commodity for their personal revelations.
"They want to hear their little idols talk about what kind of movies they go to and what kind of girls they like," Aaron said.
Upon request, he has started burning the interviews onto CDs, and has given out nearly 250 free copies of the two-volume set.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
In the world of teenage girl fans, it's not all swooning, squealing and giggling.
Chloe Anderson, 15, of Lake Stevens may be known for wearing an autographed blue bomber hat with ear flaps, but she's serious about hockey.
Chloe, who has season tickets and sometimes follows the Tips on the road, has turned her bedroom into a hockey and Silvertips shrine. She has totally embraced the sport and is trying to start a school hockey club. She's even considered moving to Canada.
Other fans, including Kim Dennis and Brianne Stewart, both 16, have a healthy esteem for the Silvertips, because they know what the guys go through. They both play for the Ravens, a local women's hockey team.
"I respect them because it's hard," Kim said.
After the last of the players have gone, Marysville residents Jeannette Zingmark and Cassie Pierce are the last fans to leave the vigil at the Everett Events Center.
It was a successful night for the Marysville girls, both 16.
Cassie, who held out her Silvertips boxer shorts for autographs, managed to get a few signatures as well as a hug from her favorite player, Karel Hromas.
"You know what? You come to watch the hockey," Cassie said. "The players are just an added bonus."
Reporter Jennifer Warnick: 425-339-3429 or jwarnick@heraldnet.com.
Silvertipmania fast spreading among teenage girls in county
By Jennifer Warnick
Herald Writer
EVERETT - At nearly 10 p.m. on a weeknight, a crowd of predominantly teenage girls congregates behind a steel barricade down the hall from the Silvertips locker room.
Their eyes are trained on double doors that could, at any moment, open to reveal handsome, freshly showered hockey players.
It's likely that only a few players will make the post-game appearance, but even a brief glimpse is worth the wait.
Almost half a century after the invasion of John, Paul, George and Ringo, Everett is experiencing something similar: Silvertipmania.
Only this band of mop-tops, with their matching uniforms and endearing accents, has taken Snohomish County by storm without singing a note.
"I'm here 'cause they're hot," declared Kayla Graham, 17.
"They're just really nice people, and they get really involved in the community," added friend Kami Irvin, 16.
"And they're really hot," Kayla said.
"Well - everyone wants to date them," Kami admitted.
Michael V. Martina / The Herald
Chloe Anderson, 15, of Lake Stevens considers herself the ultimate Silvertips fan. She loves the sport so much she hopes to go to college in Canada.
"I would so date a hockey player," Kayla said.
The friends, both from Granite Falls, said the hockey players seem more mature than the boys at their high school. "And that's attractive," Kami said.
New kids on the block
Like the Beatles, Backstreet Boys, New Kids on the Block and any number of other boy bands, any teenage fan can name her favorite Silvertip.
"Zach Hamill," said Lacey McAbee, 14.
She waited near the front of the line on game night, wearing her oversized Zach Hamill jersey and shifting from one chunky sneaker to the other.
"Zach Hamill, he's cute and everything. I like watching him skate around on the ice - and how fast he can be," Lacey said later. "He's just, like, an amazing hockey player. He can be kind of bashful, and I'm like that, too - there are similarities."
Hamill was her guy until one fateful day when she visited the team store to buy a No. 9 jersey.
She walked in the doors and saw the hockey players running laps around the inside of the Everett Events Center. She asked if she could run a lap with them and ended up jogging and chatting alongside Cody Thoring.
"Because of that, Cody scored points," Lacey said. "Cody's just a great guy. He's so sweet."
'Place dreams here'
It's no surprise that the Silvertips have a vibrant female fan base.
The Silvertips store sells a pillowcase in team colors. In the center, where the head goes, it says, "Place dreams here." It's hard to imagine that being a top seller among male fans.
Women like hockey. On any game night, in any given hockey league, odds are that the crowd will be about 47 percent female, said Tips spokesman and announcer Keith Gerhart.
Still, players say Everett's fans have developed a particularly exuberant reputation. That's evident when the Tips visit area schools.
"Gee whiz. The way the screams are, it's like a concert or something," Gerhart said. "The guys kind of smile and chuckle a bit - they get a pretty good kick out of it. It's almost like taking 'N Sync to schools."
This can be somewhat startling to the teenage players, many of whom come from places where almost everyone plays hockey, so it's no big deal.
But here, their faces adorn bedroom walls. Here, the guys are recognized at movies and in restaurants. Here, girls seek them out for autographs, hugs, photos - and even dates.
Silvertips players are allowed to date their fans, but they must abide by strict curfews.
Veteran center and assistant team captain Mark Kress, 20, said it never gets old.
"It's pretty flattering to have people want your autograph. When I go home, no one wants my autograph, I'll tell you that much," Kress said.
So adoring are Everett's fans that when Kress' Canadian girlfriend came to visit, he told her to "be ready for a pretty crazy experience."
She doesn't mind all the female attention he receives, even when Kress is handed the occasional phone number.
"As long as I don't call them," Kress said.
Feet on the ground
To the players' host families, they are not pop stars but growing teenage boys who consume huge amounts of food, sleep a lot and play video games.
"You sit and tell them that they're going to be popular and that girls are going to follow them around, but they don't believe it until they experience it all," said Pat Jones, the Silvertips' host family coordinator.
The teenage girls are resourceful. Sometimes when one girl obtains a player's cell phone number, e-mail address or instant messaging handle, the information is shared with the entire network of fans.
"The players are very sought after, and not necessarily always for the right reasons," Jones said.
Coaches and host families play a vital role in grounding the hockey stars and helping them stay focused on the game.
"They're on the ice, the music's loud and it's like a Sonics or Seahawks game," said Ann McNeil, Kress' host mom. "But they come off the ice and come home and wake up in the morning, and their hair is messy. You just see them as a normal kid, and they're going through everything that the kids that age go through."
Fishing for details
KRKO radio personality Jeff "The Fish" Aaron has experienced firsthand the teenage fan phenomenon. He produces a spot called "Silvertips Hot Seat" in which Aaron rapidly fires silly, nonhockey questions at the players for about 10 minutes.
The interviews have become a teenage commodity for their personal revelations.
"They want to hear their little idols talk about what kind of movies they go to and what kind of girls they like," Aaron said.
Upon request, he has started burning the interviews onto CDs, and has given out nearly 250 free copies of the two-volume set.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
In the world of teenage girl fans, it's not all swooning, squealing and giggling.
Chloe Anderson, 15, of Lake Stevens may be known for wearing an autographed blue bomber hat with ear flaps, but she's serious about hockey.
Chloe, who has season tickets and sometimes follows the Tips on the road, has turned her bedroom into a hockey and Silvertips shrine. She has totally embraced the sport and is trying to start a school hockey club. She's even considered moving to Canada.
Other fans, including Kim Dennis and Brianne Stewart, both 16, have a healthy esteem for the Silvertips, because they know what the guys go through. They both play for the Ravens, a local women's hockey team.
"I respect them because it's hard," Kim said.
After the last of the players have gone, Marysville residents Jeannette Zingmark and Cassie Pierce are the last fans to leave the vigil at the Everett Events Center.
It was a successful night for the Marysville girls, both 16.
Cassie, who held out her Silvertips boxer shorts for autographs, managed to get a few signatures as well as a hug from her favorite player, Karel Hromas.
"You know what? You come to watch the hockey," Cassie said. "The players are just an added bonus."
Reporter Jennifer Warnick: 425-339-3429 or jwarnick@heraldnet.com.