Game 20 - Kamloops

[Tipped Off]

Tips return home feeling great
Everett is No. 1 in the latest WHL poll after going 6-0 on its longest road trip of the season.

By Nick Patterson
Herald Writer


EVERETT - The Everett Silvertips take to their home ice for the first time in three weeks tonight.

But the way things have gone, perhaps they'd feel more comfortable staying on the road.

The Silvertips officially return home tonight when they face the Kamloops Blazers, and they return as conquering heroes, having completed a perfect 6-0 swing through the WHL's East Division.

"We wanted to make a statement going out on the road," center Peter Mueller said. "Not all teams can do that, but that was the goal, we stuck to it and came away happy."

The Silvertips, who last played at the Everett Events Center on Oct. 25, will undoubtedly be warmly received when they take the ice against the Kamloops Blazers tonight. Not only did Everett win all its games on the road trip, the Tips now have an 11-game winning streak and own the best record in the entire Canadian Hockey League. All thanks to their road prowess.

"I certainly didn't know if we could go 6-0," Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. "I'm a little surprised we did it because it's difficult, but pleasantly surprised because we got it done. We had a little luck along the way, but they players found a way to get it done, so it was a good trip."

And naturally, having that kind of success makes the road trip considerably more enjoyable.

"It was awesome," said right wing Moises Gutierrez, who led the team in goals during the trip with five. "A road trip like that really brought us together. After the last win in Swift Current the majority of the team stayed up until 6 in the morning on the bus, taking pictures and having a good time. There were so many different good moments in everything we did."

Before the Tips departed for the seven-game, 17-day road trip, the players stated a goal of winning every game. Usually that sort of talk is little more than lip service and not a realistic prospect. Most teams hope just to finish .500 on their long road trip, and a sweep is unthinkable. But after the opening game at Prince George was postponed because of damaged ice after two periods with Everett trailing 2-1, the Tips plowed right ahead and pulled it off.

"It was huge for us to go 6-0," said defenseman Taylor Ellington, who capped off a strong trip by scoring the first two regular season goals of his three-year WHL career. "We had a goal right off the bat and we accomplished it. It was a lot of hard work, a lot of bonding that went along with that road trip, and we just won."

Everett was well worth its victories. In the six games the Tips outscored their opponents 24-9, outshooting the opposition by at least six shots in every game.

Everett also dominated the special teams battle. The Tips finished 15-for-48 (31 percent) on the power play during the trip and held the opposition to 5-for-50 (10 percent) on the advantage. Everett even tossed in a short-hander for good measure.

Mueller led the way, racking up four goals and nine assists and being named the game's first star three times. Gutierrez (five goals, two assists), Zach Hamill (three goals, four assists) and Jason Fransoo (seven assists) each added seven points. Goaltenders Leland Irving and David Reekie combined to limit the opposition to no more than two goals in any game.

Everett didn't do everything perfect - Constantine mentioned a lack of energy in the 3-2 shootout victory at Regina, taking some unnecessary penalties and moments of poor backchecking. But the Tips proved capable of overcoming those lapses.

"I don't think the reasons we won were any different than why we've been winning all year," Constantine said. "We've generally gotten very steady goaltending and our special teams have been good. Our penalty kill keeps us in, and our power play adds goals. Then it's just a lot of hard work in between all those things."

Maybe as important as the results was the state of the team's health. Last November the Tips returned from their trip to the Central Division with six of their top players out because of injury or illness. This time Everett departed with one injury (left wing Ondrej Fiala's knee) and came back completely healthy.

"I remember last year it wasn't much fun," Mueller said. "A lot of guys got sick, a lot of guys got injured. But this one seems like it went by just like that. It seems like it was just yesterday that we had our last game and were coming home. You're having fun when you've got good guys on the team and you're winning."

And now the Tips get their fans back, too.

Slap shots: Constantine returned home with something missing: his hair. In the past Constantine vowed to shave his head if the Tips won five straight, which they did last season. When Everett won its fifth straight this season the players inquired, but Constantine called the five-game winning streak the previous standard and to come back when they reached 10. ... Constantine also received a $500 fine for being ejected from last Friday's 6-0 victory at Swift Current. ... The Tips are supporting the Garrett Robinson Recovery Fund at both tonight's and Friday night's games. Donations will be collected and the proceeds from both the chuck-a-puck and the 50-50 raffle will go towards the fund, which was set up after the Moose Jaw forward was critically injured in an automobile accident on Oct. 22.

[Tipped Off]

Mueller keys 6-0 road trip
By Jim Riley

The Everett Silvertips used a simple formula, one as easy to understand as it is difficult to execute, to continue their remarkable roll to start the season.

Everett improved its Western Hockey League record to 16-1-0-1 with a 6-0 road trip through the northern Canadian prairies and the East Division by playing to their strengths.

"The keys to the success on our road trip were the same ones we've had all season," Everett coach Kevin Constantine said after the team returned home Sunday afternoon. "We've been getting pretty good goaltending, pretty good special-teams play and have been working hard. That's really it."

Pretty good in all those areas is definitely a conservative description.

Goaltender Leland Irving leads the league in wins (13), save percentage (94.8), goals against average (1.19) and shutouts (5).

Irving had four wins and a 92.8 save percentage on the road trip, but backup David Reekie was even better, winning twice by saving 93 percent of the shots thrown his way.

Everett ranks first in the league in penalty killing (92.2 percent), is second on the power play (23.6 percent) and prides itself on never being outworked.

Constantine said center Peter Mueller was especially good on the trip.

"Our worst game of the trip was in Regina (a 3-2 shootout win) when we really didn't play well," Constantine said. "We won that game just because of Peter. If you had to pick out our best player on the trip, he was it."

Mueller, a first-round draft pick of the Phoenix Coyotes, had 12 points in the six games, with four goals and eight assists.

"Peter won our hard-hat award as the most skilled and hardest-working guy two games in a row," Constantine said. "It's pretty unusual to win it twice in a row, but it was impossible to give to anyone else because he was so clearly our best player in both games."

Mueller's picture is on the cover of the WHL media guide that came out last week. Last season's rookie of the year, Mueller was selected because he was the highest drafted player (eighth) from the league last year.

Film review ends Hamill's streak

Zach Hamill's WHL-best point streak ended at 15 games on Nov. 7 against Moose Jaw.

Hamill was originally given an assist on a goal by Moises Gutierrez in the second period, but when the Everett coaches reviewed the game film they saw conclusive evidence that Hamill's pass to Eric Doyle touched Shane Harper, meaning Harper should have been awarded the second assist.

Harper tried to tell everyone he didn't touch the puck.

"I wanted Hams to keep the streak going, but the video evidence was pretty overwhelming," Harper said. "I was hoping it didn't touch me."

Constantine said Harper was just trying to be a good teammate and the video was conclusive.

"It wasn't a very fun way to end a long point streak, but we look at the assists after every game and have already corrected them about 10 times this season," Constantine said. "We know points are important and we want them given to the right guy. It's just something we do after every game. We hated to see it broken, but you have to hand out the points honestly."

No complacency

If the Everett Silvertips let their hot start cause any complacency, it won't be because they weren't warned.

"Winning can soften your resolve a little bit," Constantine said.

"As soon as you forget the price you paid to be good, you're set up to lose."

Constantine said he's seen little sign of it so far, although he didn't feel his team played well in either Regina or Brandon on the trip.

"Those are the only signs we've seen of it, but we might have been a little fatigued in both of those games," Constantine said. "So far those are the only signs we've seen and we'll stay right on top of it."

Long road

The Silvertips left Swift Current, Saskatchewan, for the 1,105-mile trip to Everett Friday night after beating the Broncos 6-0. After a stop at Cody Thoring's home in Swift Current for a post-game meal, the bus hit the road about 11 p.m.

The next morning, the team stopped in Spokane for breakfast and finally pulled into Everett at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Home sweet home?

The Silvertips are 1-3 in their history after returning from their longest trip of the season.

That fact hasn't escaped Constantine's attention.

"In general teams are notoriously poor at home after a long road trip," Constantine said. "It's something we'll be mentioning a few times before [tonight's] game."

Everett rewind

Record: 16-1-0-1, first in the U.S. Division.
Last week: The Silvertips ran their wining streak to a franchise-best 11 last week with a 3-2 win in Brandon on Thursday and a 6-0 win in Swift Current on Friday.

This week: Everett hosts Kamloops tonight and Prince George on Friday. The team then plays in Seattle against the Thunderbirds on Saturday.

Star of the week: Goaltender Leland Irving stopped 38 of 40 shots to pick up both wins last week and help Everett go 6-0 on its road trip against the East Division.

Who's hot: Ondrej Fiala, a third-round draft pick of the Minnesota Wild, scored his first goal of the season on Friday against Swift Current. Fiala had offseason knee surgery and has played in only three games this season.

Rankings this week: The Silvertips have overtaken Vancouver (18-2-1-1) to be ranked first in the weekly Western Hockey League poll voted on by writers who cover the league. Quote of the week: "Consistency is a mental thing and Leland [Irving] is just really motivated to be the best at his position. He has a really good regimen he takes himself through to keep himself steady." — Everett coach Kevin Constantine

[Tipped Off]

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[Tipped Off]

This was an ugly game. I don't think either team laid a hand on each other until late in the 1st. I only saw the game misconduct out of the corner of my eye, so I can't really comment on whether it was a cheap shot or not. MAybe someone who saw a replay ar someone who saw it better than me can comment.

The tips did take a lot more shots than the 18 registered, but the Blazers laid out and kept the Tips shots to one from the point and blocked most of them.

Both Blazers goals came on Tips miscues (hence the fact they were both unassisted). Both were played poorly by Irving, but there was obvious miscommunication by more than Irving on that 1st one. What happened there?

I'll take a win any time I can get one, but the Tips did seem a little too relaxed...especially diring the first 3 minutes of that 5 minute major penalty (power play) they had in the 3rd. That was ugly.

REgardless 12 in a row is nothing to sneeze at. I just hope, selfishly, I get to see a better "hockey game" on Friday night.

[ihlemic10]

It did look like the only time the Tips kicked it up was in the 2nd. I also didn't see the hit. The blazers have definetly improved since the last game with them. Its nice to see a win, but that definetly could have gone either way...

[Tipped Off]

EVERETT - The Everett Silvertips proved they can win on the road. Wednesday night they were determined to show they could continue that mastery at home, too.

Coming off an historically successful road trip, the Silvertips carried that momentum over to their first home game in three weeks, defeating the Kamloops Blazers 3-2 at the Everett Events Center.

Jason Fransoo scored the game-winning goal with 3 minutes, 39 seconds remaining as Everett, which swept its six-game road trip through the WHL's East Division, won again to stretch its winning streak to 12.

"We came into this game knowing that in franchise history, coming back from a long road trip the team hasn't done well," Fransoo said. "So we really stressed coming out hard this game."

Zack Dailey and Zach Hamill also scored and Leland Irving made 18 saves in goal for Everett, which is in the midst of the longest winning streak in the league this season.

Brock Nixon and Ivan Rohac scored and Dustin Butler finished with 15 saves for Kamloops (14-6-1-1), which was playing its fourth game in five nights.

Everett usually hasn't fared well in its first game back after returning from trips through the Eastern Conference. The Tips were 1-3 in franchise history upon returning from long trips, and in Kamloops the Tips were facing the second-hottest team in the league. The Blazers had won seven of their past eight before Wednesday.

But Everett, which appeared sluggish at times, benefited when Kamloops' Travis Dunstall took a major penalty for checking from behind with 8:03 remaining and the scored tied 2-2 - a hit that injured Everett's Damir Alic. The preliminary diagnosis was that Alic suffered a shoulder separation.

After floundering for more than three minutes on the five-minute power play, Everett coach Kevin Constantine called a timeout. The Tips scored 31 seconds later, Fransoo shooting from the left circle and putting the puck into the far-upper corner.

"We knew we were having the roughest first three minutes of that power play," said Everett's Peter Mueller, who had two assists. "(In the timeout) it was mostly (assistant coach Jay Varady) talking, saying, 'One of our players drew a five-minute major penalty and is hurting in the locker room right now, and this is the best we can do for him?' So that gave us more motivation to go out there and pump one into the back of the net."

The major penalty couldn't have been timed any worse from Kamloops' perspective. The Blazers had just tied it less than three minutes earlier on their second fluke goal of the game. This time Rohac just tipped the puck in off the stick of Everett defenseman Taylor Ellington, who had caught the puck in front, but didn't notice Rohac behind him.

"It's an unfortunate time to take any penalty," Kamloops coach Dean Clark said. "After coming back and tying the game, never mind majors, you shouldn't be taking two-minute penalties. They got some breaks because of what we did. They got two power-play goals and that was the difference in the hockey game."

Everett hasn't exactly blown through the competition during its win streak - seven of the 12 victories came by two goals or less. Wednesday night was no different as the Tips were outshot by the Blazers 20-18.

However, Everett always seems to find a way to win the close ones.

"There's two thoughts when you talk about that," Constantine said. "One is that any time you put a streak together you're going to have a lot of luck along the way. Then you hope it's also an indication that a good team finds ways to win those close games. I think there's a little but of luck and I think a little bit says these guys are a good hockey club."

Everett took the lead 12:48 into the game. Brandon Campos took the puck behind the net, then spied Dailey open in the slot. After receiving the pass Dailey put a wrist shot into the top of the net, giving the Tips a 1-0 lead.

However, Everett gave the goal right back. The Tips were on the power play when a miscommunication between Irving and his defense allowed Nixon to get to the puck first behind the Everett net. Irving dove to stop Nixon's wraparound attempt, but Nixon threw the rebound out front and the puck deflected in, making it 1-1 at 16:31.

Everett regained the lead on the power play at 13:07 of the second period. Mueller made a nice feed to Hamill at the left circle, and Hamill's one-timer found the far corner, making it 2-1.

Slap shots: Everett was ranked No. 1 in this week's Canadian Hockey League poll. The Tips were ranked second last week, but jumped ahead of Vancouver, which lost Sunday to Kamloops. ... Everett had three players listed in the NHL Central Scouting Service's preliminary rankings for the 2007 NHL draft. Defenseman Eric Doyle was ranked fourth among WHL skaters, Ellington was 16th and Hamill was 21st. Kamloops defenseman Keaton Ellerby was ranked No. 1. ... Kamloops played without defenseman Victor Bartley, who was injured in a fight during Tuesday's 5-4 loss to Kelowna.