Kress/Hamill return tonight
from the seattletimes.com
It was about this time last year when the upstart Everett Silvertips emerged out of a packed U.S. Division and shocked the Western Hockey League.
The Silvertips not only won the division title but also eliminated three teams in the playoffs before falling in the WHL championship series.
Everett has a similar record this season — 29-25-8-2 compared to 31-23-8-2 last year — and is locked in a tight battle with the Portland Winter Hawks to determine which team will finish second behind the Seattle Thunderbirds and have the home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
The Silvertips have eight games left in the regular season — four at home and four on the road — and are about to get two key players back from injuries.
Centers Mark Kress and Zach Hamill are expected to return to the lineup for tonight's game in Spokane and be ready for a big weekend, when the Silvertips host the Thunderbirds on Friday, travel to Portland on Saturday and return home to play Portland again Sunday.
Those final two games could determine which of the two teams gets to play Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 at home when they face off in the playoffs.
To be successful, the Silvertips may need to improve their offense. They rank 17th in the 20-team league in goals scored, averaging just 2.29 a game.
"Having those two [Kress and Hamill] back gives us the potential to score more," Everett coach Kevin Constantine said. "Our biggest concern right now is to get healthy and to have every part of our game working as best as it can."
Hamill, who is returning from an ankle sprain, is fourth on the team in scoring with 30 points in 51 games. Kress, who had a broken arm, has 11 points in 37 games this season.
"Although Kress is not known as being a prolific scorer, he generates a lot of openings for his line mates with his speed," Constantine said. "Hamill will make our power play better. Our second power-play unit hasn't been as good with him out, and he also is a good five-on-five player."
The Silvertips aren't counting on getting Tyler Dietrich, one of their best forwards, back for the regular season. Dietrich suffered a broken ankle Feb. 5.
Although Constantine conceded he would prefer to have the home-ice advantage, he doesn't believe it's critical or that his team needs to send Portland any type of message in the final two regular- season games.
"I don't believe those two games will set any kind of tone for the playoffs," Constantine said.
In its brief two-season history, Everett has handled Portland. The Silvertips are 11-5-4 against the Winter Hawks over two seasons and 4-2-2 this season.
"We played Portland a ton of games at the beginning of the season, and the teams are a little different now because of all the injuries," Constantine said. "They're playing well right now, so I don't know if the record is very meaningful or not."
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The timing could not be better
