Pre Game 1 stories

[Tipped Off]

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Silvertips: Everett's playoff chances depend a lot on goaltender Leland Irving, one of the WHL's best.

Nick Patterson
Herald Writer

The Everett Silvertips face an offensive juggernaut.

The Spokane Chiefs' forwards come in waves, with three lines capable of putting the puck in the net. Spokane's top line is arguably the best in the WHL's Western Conference. The Chiefs scored 251 goals during the regular season, the fourth most in the league, and even when they're not scoring, Spokane's forwards create headaches with their ability to control time of possession.

It's almost enough to make a Silvertips supporter concede the series to the Chiefs before it begins.

However, that's without accounting for one man. Everett has one player who stands between Spokane and the back of the net, and he's no ordinary man.

Goaltender Leland Irving spent the second half of the regular season re-establishing his status as one of the best junior goaltenders in the world, and he's Everett's best chance at a first-round upset.

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Flashback to Christmas.

Everett had just completed an indifferent first half of the season, and some of the fingers were being pointed toward the goaltending. Irving, Everett's golden boy the previous two seasons, suddenly appeared human. The 19-year-old native of Swan Hills, Alberta, who compiled astronomical numbers the previous two seasons and was taken in the first round of the NHL draft, suddenly found himself looking up in the league goaltender rankings.

Even Hockey Canada was beginning to agree. The heir apparent to backstop Canada's team at the World Junior Hockey Championships after serving as the backup the year before, Irving was instead passed over.

There were even grumblings amongst the fanbase that the Tips should have kept overage casualty David Reekie instead of Irving.

No one's making those claims anymore.

Irving's play snapped back in a big way during the second half of the season. During the bulk of the second half Everett won 21 of 29 games and Irving was the primary reason for that success.

"Leland's standards are so high for himself and he's such a hard-working guy, I know he's a little disappointed with his first half of the season." Tips MVP Dan Gendur said. "But I feel he was the MVP for our team this season. He really carried the load toward the end of the season."

Irving didn't finish with a sub-2.00 goals against average like in previous seasons, but he did get it down to a respectable 2.45, and he worked his save percentage to .919 to rank third in the league.

"I had a bit of a rough start," Irving admitted. "Part of it I think was just getting my timing back. Maybe there was a little jet lag and stuff from the summer (when he participated in the Canada-Russia Super Series). But I'm happy with the way things have progressed."

It didn't help that Irving kept jumping from team to team during August and September. He started with Team Canada, then went to training camp with the NHL's Calgary Flames before returning to Everett. Each stop brought different coaches and different philosophies.

But Irving continued to work with Tips goaltending coach Shane Clifford throughout the season, and Irving gives Clifford a lot of the credit for the turnaround.

"The main thing would be confidence," Irving said about his improvement. "But I feel my timing's a little better and I made a few adjustments in my stance that allows me to move better."

Perhaps the most remarkable part about Irving's second-half surge is that he did it while the Tips severely depleted on defense. Taylor Ellington, Graham Potuer and Mike Alexander all missed significant time because of injuries, yet the Tips didn't miss a beat. They can thank Irving for that.

And when Irving's feeling confident, so are the rest of the Tips.

"He's a major, major reason why we had such a good second half," Everett coach John Becanic said. "Our guys certainly have a lot more confidence going into games when they see Irv playing the way he's playing."

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Back to that offensive juggernaut known as the Spokane Chiefs.

Against every other team in the league Spokane averaged 3.7 goals per game.

Against Everett the Chiefs averaged 2.1.

Spokane outshot the Tips in every single matchup this season, sometimes doubling up Everett's shot total. But Irving, playing every single minute in goal against the Chiefs this season, finished 5-2-0-1 with a 1.96 goals against average and an obscene .944 save percentage.

"He was the difference," Becanic said about Everett's success against the Chiefs.

Irving's explanation: "For whatever reason, I don't know, the puck just seemed to hit me. They created all sorts of offense, I know they hit a few posts in there, so whether it was luck or skill I don't know. But we'll take it any way we can get it."

It's possible Irving's success against Spokane during the regular season may give him a mental advantage over the Chiefs.

"Should we be fortunate enough to come up with a good game in the first game and he's solid, as the opposition you think, 'Man, we can't beat him,'" Becanic suggested. "I remember the year we played Vancouver (in the 2006 Western Conference finals), with (Giants goaltender Dustin) Slade it just seemed like everything hit him and mentally you start to go, 'Jeez, we just can't get it by him.' So hopefully that has a little bit off an advantage for us."

And Irving knows he has to have a good series for the Tips to prevail.

"In the playoffs the goaltender has to be good," Irving said. "That's always been a factor, and likewise in this series I'm going to have to be good.

"I think all goaltenders feel a little extra pressure in the playoffs," Irving added. "It's something you can't let get to you. In the big picture it's still just another game and that's the way I'm going to approach it."

And if Irving remains at the top of his game the Tips might just find themselves marching into the second round.

[Tipped Off]

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Head-to-head matchups with Silvertips favor Chiefs

By Nick Patterson
Herald Writer

Here's a look at how the Everett Silvertips and Spokane Chiefs match up in their best-of-seven first-round playoff series:



Offense

Spokane possesses one of the deepest and most dangerous collection of forwards in the Western Hockey League, a group that scored 251 goals during the regular season, the fourth-most in the league.

It all begins with the trio of Drayson Bowman (42 goals, 40 assists), Mitch Wahl (20 goals, 53 assists) and Chris Bruton (26 goals, 37 assists), who teamed up most of the season to form arguably the Western Conference's best line. But it doesn't stop there as Spokane had four other forwards -- Ondrej Roman (15 goals, 46 assists), Judd Blackwater (31 goals, 29 assists), David Rutherford (22 goals, 21 assists) and Justin McCrae (19 goals, 22 assists) -- who topped the 40-point mark.

Everett, on the other hand, is more reliant on its top performers. The line of Dan Gendur (29 goals, 55 assists), Zach Hamill (26 goals, 49 assists) and Clayton Bauer (25 goals, 19 assists) has been effective, but there's been a lack of consistency beyond those three. Kyle Beach (27 goals, 33 assists) struggled in the second half of the season with just nine points in his last 19 regular-season games, though Everett's checking line of Zack Dailey, Matt Ius and Lukas Vartovnik has been more dangerous offensively of late.

Edge: Spokane



Defense

Everett rarely has been at full strength on defense, with injuries plaguing the blue line the past two months. However, the Tips are getting healthy at just the right time. Key shut-down defender Taylor Ellington is expected back for Game 1 after missing the final 21 games of the regular season with a fractured bone in his foot. He joins Dane Crowley, Jonathan Harty and Graham Potuer to give the Tips a top four with 17 seasons of WHL experience.

Spokane's defense doesn't have the same experience level, especially when it comes to the playoffs. But Justin Falk and Trevor Glass are quality veterans, Jared Spurgeon had a fine season, and Jared Cowen is one of the most-gifted young defensemen in the league. Spokane's forwards also control the puck so well it takes much of the heat off the defensemen. The Chiefs allowed just 160 goals during the regular season, the second fewest in the league.

Edge: Spokane



Goaltending

Spokane rotated its goaltenders through most of the season, but all signs point toward Dustin Tokarski (30-10-0-3, 2.05 goals against average, .922 save percentage) getting the nod against Everett over Kevin Armstrong. Tokarski received an increased amount of playing time down the stretch, started every game against Everett during the regular season and played well when the teams met in the playoffs last season. Tokarski also finished as the league leader in save percentage.

But in Leland Irving Everett possesses one of the best in the business. Irving's numbers (27-24-0-3, 2.45 goals against average, .919 save percentage) may not be as impressive as Tokarski's, but he didn't play behind as strong a team. Irving is a first-round NHL draft pick, has plenty of playoff experience and got stronger as the season progressed.

Irving also was lights out against Spokane during the regular season, going 5-2-0-1 with a 1.96 goals against average and an astounding .944 save percentage.

Edge: Everett



Special teams

This area pits strength against strength. Spokane finished with the league's top-ranked power play, converting at a rate of 21.7 percent. Everett finished with the league's fourth-best penalty kill, killing at a rate of 85.5 percent.

However, those strengths have been headed in different directions. Spokane's power play has been on fire, scoring at an obscene 32.7 percent (16-for-49) in the final nine games of the regular season. Meanwhile, Everett's penalty kill struggled down the stretch, effective at just a 71-percent rate (22-for-31) in the final four games.

The other way around both teams were just average. Everett's power play finished 14th at 18 percent, Spokane's penalty kill finished 15th at 80.6 percent.

Edge: Spokane



Coaching

Spokane's Bill Peters is now a playoff veteran. Sure, his experience consists of just one series, but during that one series last season against Everett Peters showed himself up to the task, guiding the Chiefs to a near upset of the vaunted Tips. Some of his adjustments during that series earned praise from then Everett coach Kevin Constantine.

Everett's John Becanic, on the other hand, is experiencing the playoffs for the first time as a head coach. Becanic has plenty of playoff experience as an assistant -- 11 series during the past four seasons with the Tips -- but he still has to prove himself as the head man.

Edge: Spokane



Overall

Everett gave Spokane all it could handle during the regular season. The Tips won five of the eight matchups, and several of those victories came despite being severely depleted on the blue line. Even though there was a 27-point difference in the regular-season standings, Everett appears to match up well against Spokane.

However, the Chiefs have so much depth up front that over the course of a series, it seems unlikely the Tips will be able to keep Spokane's under wraps.

Prediction: Spokane in six games.

[Tipped Off]

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Nick's WHL picks

Here are Herald hockey writer Nick Patterson's other predictions for the first round of the 2008 Western Hockey League playoffs (seeding numbers in parentheses):

Western Conference

Tri-City Americans (1) vs. Kamloops Blazers (8)

Synopsis: This one is really a no-brainer. Tri-City is coming off its best season in franchise history, winning the Scotty Munro Trophy for the league's best record, while Kamloops is coming off its worst season in franchise history. The Americans were great down the stretch, winning eight of their last 10 games, while the Blazers were dreadful, winning just once in their last 15. This one could be over quickly.

Prediction: Tri-City in five games.



Vancouver Giants (2) vs. Chilliwack Bruins (7)

Synopsis: Here's an interesting stat: In 23 games all-time between Vancouver and Chilliwack, both in the regular season and the playoffs, the Giants are 20-1-1-1. Vancouver also finished a whopping 41 points ahead of Chilliwack in the standings. The Bruins have a pair of top-end forwards in Mark Santorelli and Oscar Moller, but the Giants have the advantage everywhere else.

Prediction: Vancouver in five games.



Seattle Thunderbirds (4) vs. Kelowna Rockets (5)

Synopsis: Seattle is a good darkhorse candidate to go all the way. After an indifferent first half, the T-birds are playing their best hockey going into the playoffs and appear to have all the necessary elements. Kelowna, which struggled down the stretch, will be bolstered by the recent return of sniper Jamie Benn from injury, but it won't be enough to derail the T-birds.

Prediction: Seattle in five games.

Eastern Conference

Calgary Hitmen (1) vs. Moose Jaw Warriors (8)

Synopsis: For a one-versus-eight matchup there sure wasn't much separating Calgary and Moose Jaw -- just 11 points in the standings -- and the teams look competitive on paper, though Calgary won four of the five meetings during the regular season. The question is whether Moose Jaw has enough defensively to slow down Calgary's high-powered offense. Probably not.

Prediction: Calgary in six games.



Regina Pats (2) vs. Swift Current Broncos (7)

Synopsis: Regina loaded up at the trade deadline and that was enough to push the Pats to the East Division title. Swift Current actually won the season series 4-2. However, there are questions as to whether Swift Current's wide-open style will translate to the playoffs, where defense tends to take on a greater importance.

Prediction: Regina in six games.



Lethbridge Hurricanes (3) vs. Brandon Wheat Kings (6)

Synopsis: This one could be a shootout as both Lethbridge and Brandon have plenty of offensive ability. The emergence of goaltender Juha Metsola late in the season may be the factor that gives Lethbirdge its first playoff series victory in 11 years. Brandon has terrific young talent, but the wheat Kings are at least a year away.

Prediction: Lethbridge in six games.



Medicine Hat Tigers (4) vs. Kootenay Ice (5)

Synopsis: Kootenay was one of the league's best teams during the second half of the season, and the Ice entered the final week with an outside shot at landing the No. 1 seed. Things didn't work out and Kootenay ended up with a terrible draw, away to defending league champion Medicine Hat. The Tigers aren't the team they were last season, but they have plenty of playoff experience. This series will be a battle.

Prediction: Kootenay in seven games.

[Tipped Off]

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The playoff roles are reversed this year for the Everett Silvertips and Spokane, their first-round opponent

By Nick Patterson
Herald Writer

EVERETT -- It's as if someone reached down from the heavens and placed a mirror between the years 2007 and 2008.

The Everett Silvertips and Spokane Chiefs are once again meeting in the first round of the playoffs. But this time the roles are reversed.

Last year, the Tips entered the playoffs as the top-ranked team in the entire Canadian Hockey League, and the Chiefs were the unsung upstarts charged with the unenviable task of unseating the league's top dog.

This year, it's the Chiefs who go into the series as the heavy favorite, being ranked second in the CHL and coming a single victory away from winning the Scotty Munro Trophy for the league's best record.

And the parallels don't end there. Last year, despite losing just 18 games all season, Everett finished just 4-4 against Spokane. This year the Chiefs lost just 22 games, yet Everett won the season series 5-3.

Last year's playoff series ended up being highly competitive despite the discrepancy in the standings, Everett eventually winning the best-of-seven series 4-2.

With the eerily familiar lead-in, everyone is expecting another hotly-contested series again this year.

"There's a lot of similarities," Spokane coach Bill Peters said. "They won the U.S. Division last year and we kind of had their number during the regular season. This year we had a good regular season and they had our number. It's two evenly-matched teams, so it should be a good series."

It doesn't appear that evenly-matched based on overall records. Spokane is perhaps the most-accomplished No. 3 seed in the history of the WHL. The Chiefs finished 50-15-1-6 and set a franchise record for points with 107. Spokane finished a single point behind U.S. Division and WHL regular season champ Tri-City, the difference between the two determined when the Americans won a head-to-head, winner-takes-all game last Saturday.

"Spokane's a great team," Everett captain Jonathan Harty said. "They've got high offense, great goaltending. It's definitely going to be a challenge."

Meanwhile, Everett had a somewhat disappointing season. The Tips were picked by many during the preseason to win the division. However, Everett finished 39-30-0-3, a whopping 27 points behind Tri-City, and the Tips still have yet to find the consistency they've been seeking.

Nevertheless, the Chiefs aren't taking the Tips lightly.

"Everett's a great team," Spokane captain Chris Bruton said. "They have a lot of talent up front and a world-class goalie, so they're an all-around solid group."

The wild card in the matchup is the head-to-head results. Everett often found the answer against Spokane, with goaltender Leland Irving saving some of his best performances for the Chiefs.

However, Peters believes part of the reason for Everett's success against the Chiefs during the regular season is correctable.

"A couple times we went in there (Comcast Arena) and didn't play with enough discipline," Peters said. "The first time we were short-handed 11 times, and in another game there we gave up four power-play goals. We can't be giving them those type of opportunities. Discipline's going to be something that's key in this series for both teams."

For their part, the Tips feel good about their position based on the regular season series, especially since some of that success came when the team was short-handed on defense, and the Tips expect to be back to full health for Friday's Game 1. But do they believe that gives them the advantage?

"I think it gives us some confidence, but in the big picture it's pretty irrelevant," Irving said. "It doesn't say a whole lot. When that puck drops our records coming into the game don't matter, all that matters is that next game."

And the Tips, upset by Prince George in the second round last season, seem comfortable with the reversal or roles with Spokane from a year ago.

"We're coming in as the underdog," Irving said. "Things didn't go so well for us last year with the high expectations, so I don't mind where we stand now."

Slap shots: The Tips will pick ninth overall and ninth in each subsequent round of this year's bantam draft, the league announced Wednesday. That is the earliest the Tips have picked since the 2003 draft, which took place before Everett had ever played a game. Red Deer won the draft lottery and will pick first overall. ... The league also announced the Eastern Conference all-star teams and awards finalists. The first-team all-stars include forwards Steve DaSilva (Kootenay), Tyler Ennis (Medicine Hat) and Jordan Eberle (Regina), defensemen Karl Alzner (Calgary) and Logan Pyett (Regina) and goaltender Linden Rowat (Regina). Rowat was nominated for Goaltender of the Year, Alzner for Defenseman of the Year, Ennis for Most Sportsmanlike Player, Brayden Schenn (Brandon) for Rookie of the Year and Michael Dyck (Lethbridge) for Coach of the Year. The Western Conference all-stars and award nominees will be announced today.

[Tipped Off]

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Silvertips feel good despite poor finish

Everett lost its last five games of the season and had a controversy with one of its top players, but players say they're confident going into the playoffs.

By Nick Patterson
Herald Writer

EVERETT -- This isn't exactly the way the Everett Silvertips wanted to enter the playoffs.

The Tips went into the final week of the regular season with visions of home ice in the first round dancing in their heads.

Instead: five straight losses; a controversy swirling around one of the team's top players; and a first-round matchup against the second-best team in the WHL.

The sum total has created an air of uncertainty around Everett going into Friday's Game 1 of their best-of-seven playoff series against the Spokane Chiefs. Many wonder just where the team's psyche is at this point.

However, the Tips themselves feel fine about their current state of mind.

"I think we're at a good mental level," Everett captain Jonathan Harty said. "We're not too high because we're not seeded that high (sixth in the Western Conference), but we're not too low because we know we can beat Spokane (5-3 against the Chiefs during the regular season)."

All the emotions came to a head during last Friday's home game against Seattle. At that point the Tips still had a shot at finishing fourth and earning home-ice advantage in the first round.

But the Tips lost 3-1, with the decisive two goals scored during a third-period five-minute major penalty taken by Kyle Beach. Beach was subsequently criticized publicly by coach John Becanic, and the Tips essentially conceded their final two games to end with the five-game losing streak.

Now with the playoffs approaching the Tips are trying to distance themselves both from the Beach incident and from the losing streak.

"I think what happened against Seattle happened," Beach said. "It's done, it's behind us and we're going to move on.

"I think our guys are all strong enough to know it's the playoffs now and we've got to be prepared," Beach added. "We can't do anything that's going to hurt the team."

As for Beach's teammates, they're hoping the Beach that was a point-per-game performer during the regular season shows up for the playoffs, rather than the one who piled up a team-record 222 penalty minutes.

"Kyle's an unbelievable player," Everett leading scorer Dan Gendur said. "Sometimes he needs to get his emotions in check, just like every other player out there. We need him for the playoffs. He's a top-five (NHL) draft pick in my mind and we need his skill to come through for us in the playoffs."

But it's not just Beach. Becanic is hoping all the Tips are able to maintain cool heads against Spokane.

"The playoffs are a time of emotional control and that's going to be a point of emphasis," Becanic said. "Looking at Spokane's power play over the last 10 games it's at about 36 percent. Discipline's going to be a huge factor for us, and discipline is a byproduct of emotional control."

While the Tips are still concerning themselves with their discipline, they're not concerned at all about the losing streak. Part of that is because Everett rested many of its key players during the final two games, diminishing the import of those two defeats. Another part is because the playoffs are considered a whole new season.

"In the playoffs everything's wiped clean," Gendur said. "Anyone can beat anyone in this league. We have a pretty tall task in beating Spokane, they're an unbelievable team. We're also a good team, maybe not a lot of people know that, but we're a pretty confident bunch."

Becanic, for his part, saw the possibility of some good coming out of the losing streak.

"I hope it makes us hungrier," he said. "It's like an animal stalking its prey, you want the taste of blood and right now we want a taste of winning. You could see it out there in practice, there's a little bit of an edge. We maybe weren't as sharp as we'd like to be, but I like the fact we're a little angry out there now. That's going to have to roll over into Friday, but without penalties."

[Tipped Off]

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Role reversal: Silvertips and Spokane Chiefs

Last season it was the Tips who were the favorite in a first-round series with Spokane. This year the third-seeded Chiefs are the ones expected to beat Everett in their first-round series, which begins Friday.

By Nick Patterson
Herald Writer

SEATTLE -- The Everett Silvertips had to settle for the sixth seed from the Western Hockey League's Western Conference. Their reward: a series against the third-seeded Spokane Chiefs in the first round.

But Spokane is no ordinary No. 3 seed.

Spokane presents a formidable challenge for Everett. The Chiefs finished 50-15-1-6 for 107 points, one fewer than regular season champion Tri-City, and they are ranked second in the entire Canadian Hockey League.

So the Tips have their work cut out if they want to continue their streak of advancing past the first round in every season of franchise history.

"They're a great team, right up there for first in the league," Everett center Zack Dailey said of the Chiefs. "But I think that if we play our game and play hard we can come out on top of it."

The series begins with games Friday and Saturday in Spokane.

But after that is where the script diverges from the norm. From there WHL series usually move to the lower-seeded team's arena for two games, then the venue switches each game for the final three if-necessary games.

However, Spokane Arena is unavailable for the weekend of the 28th because of the NCAA women's basketball tournament. Therefore, Games 3, 4 and 5 (if necessary) will be held in Everett on Mar. 26, 28 and 29.

That affords Everett a luxury rarely available for lower-seeded teams: two weekend dates as Games 4 and 5 (if necessary) take place on a Friday and Saturday, respectively.

"Playoffs are playoffs," Everett coach John Becanic said, downplaying any possibility the format change will work in Everett's favor. "It's such an emotional swing. You can get up one game and get too high. It's so hard to win games and things can change."

Games 6 and 7, if necessary move back to Spokane on Apr. 1 and 2, a Tuesday and Wednesday. Should the series go the full seven games, it will probably require a quick turnaround for the winner as the second round typically begins on the following Friday.

As impressive a resume as Spokane possesses, the Tips probably don't mind drawing the Chiefs in the first round. Everett finished 5-2-0-1 against Spokane this season. Had the Tips held on for fifth they would have faced Seattle in the first round, a team they went 2-7-0-1 against.

"When you're the team going in as the underdog I think that helps," Becanic said about Everett's advantage in the season series. "I don't know if it discourages Spokane. You're looking at a team that has 107 points, so I think it's a little deceiving when you see three versus six."

It's also an almost perfect reversal of last year's first round. Everett and Spokane were first-round adversaries last season, when the Tips went into the playoffs ranked No. 1 in the CHL and the Chiefs were heavy underdogs. Everett ended up winning that series 4-2, but was challenged the whole way.

"There's a lot of pressure off us from last year," Dailey said. "Last year we were the top dogs and this year we're coming in with a little lower ranking. But it doesn't mean anything, we were ranked first and lost in the second round of the playoffs. Anything can happen in the playoffs, you just have to come ready to play."

The good news for Everett is that the Tips should be 100-percent healthy for the start of the series. Defenseman Taylor Ellington, who's been out since Jan. 24 with a broken bone in his foot, is Everett's last remaining injured player and he's expected back for Friday. The Tips haven't fielded a first-choice lineup since before Christmas.

Becanic was a little more vague when discussing the status of Kyle Beach. Everett's third-leading scorer was called out by Becanic following last Friday's 3-1 loss to Seattle for taking undisciplined penalties. Beach served a one-game league-mandated suspension Saturday and was held out of the lineup Sunday.

"The league's not holding him out, I'll leave it at that," Becanic said. "We're going to dress the 20 best players who are going to help us win a game next Friday. We've got five more days before we have to make that decision."

Tickets for Games 3 and 4 in Everett go on sale at 10 a.m. today. They can be purchased at the Everett Events Center box office, the Silvertips office, or online at everettsilvertips.com.

Nick Patterson's Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog

[HomerSimpson]

Great reads, thanks a bunch!

[Tipped Off]

There was even more in the paper that wasn't online. A full page of Tips/Playoff preview. Great job by the Herald staff.