Tipped Off
12-06-2006, 12:08 PM
Winning hockey starts with shrewd scouting
By JIM RILEY
Special to The Seattle Times
Many factors go into building a winning sports franchise, but none more important than finding talented players.
For the Everett Silvertips, unearthing raw hockey talent is the job of Scott Scoville and his staff of 13.
Scoville sees more than 400 games every year and reads reports on 2,500 more to keep tabs on thousands of players spread out over four Canadian provinces and the western United States.
"It does get kind of hard to keep track of them all," Scoville admitted. "Fortunately, all the top teams tend to gravitate to all the same tournaments. I rely very heavily on our area scouts so that when I come in to see a player I'm not spinning my tires."
Scoville has had extraordinary success picking the right players, and he's a big reason Everett is ranked as the top junior hockey team in the entire 56-team Canadian Hockey League.
Scoville was the first hire of Everett General Manager Doug Soetaert and is quick to acknowledge his good fortune.
At the time, he worked for an oil company making sure profits from each well were shared properly and as a part-time area scout for the Swift Current Broncos.
"I didn't even think I was qualified [at first]," Scoville said. "But over the course of a couple of weeks I had some really good conversations with Doug, and I was thrilled when I got the job."
Soetaert was looking for someone with a fresh perspective who was willing to put in the hard miles and long hours to find prospects other teams might ignore.
"Scott has a really good eye, and we give him a lot of free rein," Soetaert said. "I really liked the energy he brought to the table and the idea that I could mold him a little bit. He's done a great job."
Not only did the Silvertips draft an expansion team that won the Western Conference title, they built for the future with an outstanding 2003 Bantam draft of players who were then 14.
The biggest steal came when Everett selected goaltender Leland Irving in the fifth round with the 81st pick.
Irving is now the best goaltender in the WHL, a first-round National Hockey League (NHL) pick by the Calgary Flames, and was selected to go to an elite tryout camp for players who will represent Team Canada at the World Junior Championships.
Before that landmark pick, Scoville said Irving played for such a poor Bantam team that it was difficult for him to shine.
"The first time I saw him play, he faced 40 shots in the first two periods," Scoville said. "He gave up four goals, and anyone who walked into the building would have said there were no goalie prospects there. But he showed a lot of composure, and there was a battle to him."
Scoville and Soetaert agreed Irving was the top goaltender in the draft but knew he wasn't as highly regarded by other teams.
So they gambled and selected five other players before calling Irving's name.
That original draft also included key current players Zach Hamill, Peter Mueller, Brady Calla, Taylor Ellington, Graham Potuer and Jonathan Harty, the core of the best team in the WHL.
Scoville, whose twin brother, Darrel Scoville, played in the NHL, says predicting how players will grow and develop is more art than science and that luck plays a part.
"My brother and I are both 6 foot 4, and neither of our parents is over 5-9," Scoville said. "Sometimes you just don't know. That's why we talk to coaches, parents and teachers. We try to get as much information as we possibly can."
While Scoville is proud of players like Hamill, Mueller, Eric Doyle and Kyle Beach who were selected at the top of the draft, he said it's the late-round picks that eventually help an organization consistently win.
"If you look at most playoff series, the first two lines are usually a wash," Scoville said. "If your third and fourth lines are better than the other team, you've got a great chance to win."
Other Silvertip steals in that original draft were defensive standouts Jonathan Harty, with the 221st pick, and Graham Potuer, with pick No. 161.
"Every year we strive to draft only kids we think can play a significant role with our team," Scoville said. "We're thrilled when we see kids like that succeed."
Scoville, 31, lives with his wife, Lindsay, in Calgary, Alberta, and gets to see the Silvertips play only a few times a year. When he's not out scouting, he often watches Everett games on the Internet from the WHL Web site.
"My wife is really understanding," Scoville said. "I'm away a lot and I'm fortunate that she takes care of things at home."
Eventually, Scoville would like to be a general manager in the NHL, but for right now he's enjoying every minute as a member of the Silvertips.
"I'm fortunate to be part of a great organization," Scoville said. "There's a lot of hard travel involved, but all I have to do is think back to how tedious that oil job was. I'm looking forward to bringing the Memorial Cup to Everett."
Everett rewind
Record: 23-2-0-1, first in the U.S. Division (through last weekend's games).
Last week: The Silvertips ran their winning streak to five with a 4-3 win at Portland and a 6-2 victory in Chilliwack, B.C. The Silvertips set a franchise record with five power-play goals against Chilliwack and are 11-2-0-0 on the road this season.
This week: The Silvertips play at Kelowna, B.C., on Friday and then welcome the Seattle Thunderbirds to the Everett Events Center on Saturday. So far this season, Everett is 2-1-0-0 against the T-birds, with one of the wins coming in a shootout.
Star of the week: Kyle Beach had the first hat trick of his WHL career in Sunday's win over Chilliwack.
Who's hot: Zach Hamill had two goals and four assists in Everett's wins over Portland and Chilliwack.
Rankings this week: The Silvertips were ranked first in the 56-team Canadian Hockey League rankings compiled by a panel of NHL scouts and released Nov. 29. Everett was ranked first in the WHL in a poll of newspaper writers who cover the league.
Quote of the week: "We got them out of their natural rhythm, and they had to ad-lib a bit, but they did a good job of it." — Chilliwack coach Jim Hiller to the Abbotsford News after Everett scored five power-play goals in seven opportunities on Sunday.
— Jim Riley
By JIM RILEY
Special to The Seattle Times
Many factors go into building a winning sports franchise, but none more important than finding talented players.
For the Everett Silvertips, unearthing raw hockey talent is the job of Scott Scoville and his staff of 13.
Scoville sees more than 400 games every year and reads reports on 2,500 more to keep tabs on thousands of players spread out over four Canadian provinces and the western United States.
"It does get kind of hard to keep track of them all," Scoville admitted. "Fortunately, all the top teams tend to gravitate to all the same tournaments. I rely very heavily on our area scouts so that when I come in to see a player I'm not spinning my tires."
Scoville has had extraordinary success picking the right players, and he's a big reason Everett is ranked as the top junior hockey team in the entire 56-team Canadian Hockey League.
Scoville was the first hire of Everett General Manager Doug Soetaert and is quick to acknowledge his good fortune.
At the time, he worked for an oil company making sure profits from each well were shared properly and as a part-time area scout for the Swift Current Broncos.
"I didn't even think I was qualified [at first]," Scoville said. "But over the course of a couple of weeks I had some really good conversations with Doug, and I was thrilled when I got the job."
Soetaert was looking for someone with a fresh perspective who was willing to put in the hard miles and long hours to find prospects other teams might ignore.
"Scott has a really good eye, and we give him a lot of free rein," Soetaert said. "I really liked the energy he brought to the table and the idea that I could mold him a little bit. He's done a great job."
Not only did the Silvertips draft an expansion team that won the Western Conference title, they built for the future with an outstanding 2003 Bantam draft of players who were then 14.
The biggest steal came when Everett selected goaltender Leland Irving in the fifth round with the 81st pick.
Irving is now the best goaltender in the WHL, a first-round National Hockey League (NHL) pick by the Calgary Flames, and was selected to go to an elite tryout camp for players who will represent Team Canada at the World Junior Championships.
Before that landmark pick, Scoville said Irving played for such a poor Bantam team that it was difficult for him to shine.
"The first time I saw him play, he faced 40 shots in the first two periods," Scoville said. "He gave up four goals, and anyone who walked into the building would have said there were no goalie prospects there. But he showed a lot of composure, and there was a battle to him."
Scoville and Soetaert agreed Irving was the top goaltender in the draft but knew he wasn't as highly regarded by other teams.
So they gambled and selected five other players before calling Irving's name.
That original draft also included key current players Zach Hamill, Peter Mueller, Brady Calla, Taylor Ellington, Graham Potuer and Jonathan Harty, the core of the best team in the WHL.
Scoville, whose twin brother, Darrel Scoville, played in the NHL, says predicting how players will grow and develop is more art than science and that luck plays a part.
"My brother and I are both 6 foot 4, and neither of our parents is over 5-9," Scoville said. "Sometimes you just don't know. That's why we talk to coaches, parents and teachers. We try to get as much information as we possibly can."
While Scoville is proud of players like Hamill, Mueller, Eric Doyle and Kyle Beach who were selected at the top of the draft, he said it's the late-round picks that eventually help an organization consistently win.
"If you look at most playoff series, the first two lines are usually a wash," Scoville said. "If your third and fourth lines are better than the other team, you've got a great chance to win."
Other Silvertip steals in that original draft were defensive standouts Jonathan Harty, with the 221st pick, and Graham Potuer, with pick No. 161.
"Every year we strive to draft only kids we think can play a significant role with our team," Scoville said. "We're thrilled when we see kids like that succeed."
Scoville, 31, lives with his wife, Lindsay, in Calgary, Alberta, and gets to see the Silvertips play only a few times a year. When he's not out scouting, he often watches Everett games on the Internet from the WHL Web site.
"My wife is really understanding," Scoville said. "I'm away a lot and I'm fortunate that she takes care of things at home."
Eventually, Scoville would like to be a general manager in the NHL, but for right now he's enjoying every minute as a member of the Silvertips.
"I'm fortunate to be part of a great organization," Scoville said. "There's a lot of hard travel involved, but all I have to do is think back to how tedious that oil job was. I'm looking forward to bringing the Memorial Cup to Everett."
Everett rewind
Record: 23-2-0-1, first in the U.S. Division (through last weekend's games).
Last week: The Silvertips ran their winning streak to five with a 4-3 win at Portland and a 6-2 victory in Chilliwack, B.C. The Silvertips set a franchise record with five power-play goals against Chilliwack and are 11-2-0-0 on the road this season.
This week: The Silvertips play at Kelowna, B.C., on Friday and then welcome the Seattle Thunderbirds to the Everett Events Center on Saturday. So far this season, Everett is 2-1-0-0 against the T-birds, with one of the wins coming in a shootout.
Star of the week: Kyle Beach had the first hat trick of his WHL career in Sunday's win over Chilliwack.
Who's hot: Zach Hamill had two goals and four assists in Everett's wins over Portland and Chilliwack.
Rankings this week: The Silvertips were ranked first in the 56-team Canadian Hockey League rankings compiled by a panel of NHL scouts and released Nov. 29. Everett was ranked first in the WHL in a poll of newspaper writers who cover the league.
Quote of the week: "We got them out of their natural rhythm, and they had to ad-lib a bit, but they did a good job of it." — Chilliwack coach Jim Hiller to the Abbotsford News after Everett scored five power-play goals in seven opportunities on Sunday.
— Jim Riley