Tips Ready for Opener

[Tipped Off]

Published: Friday, September 23, 2005

Silvertips ready for opener
Everett begins WHL season Saturday on the road at Kamloops

By Nick Patterson
Herald Writer

LYNNWOOD - The Everett Silvertips have had enough of the preseason. It's time for the games to begin.

Everett departs today for Saturday's season opener at Kamloops, and the Silvertips are ready for the regular season to start.

"It's good to have exhibition, but it's good for it to be done, too," newly appointed alternate captain Mark Kress said. "It helps to get the team ready, but I'm happy it's done and now the points matter."

Everett begins it's third Western Hockey League season Saturday, and the Silvertips are looking to build upon the success of Everett's first two seasons. Two seasons ago Everett finished 35-27-8-2 and won the U.S. Division and Western Conference titles, and last season the Tips were 33-28-9-2 and reached the second round of the playoffs.

"I think we're ready to go," defenseman Cody Thoring, another alternate captain, said. "Everyone's anxious and we're all hyped up and ready to go. I hope that will carry over to the game and help us on the ice. There's lots of systems and lots of new guys getting used to that. But once we get out there we can just play hockey."

Everett has a solid mix of returning veterans and impact newcomers that the Silvertips are hoping will provide the right combination.

Among the top returning players are right wing Torrie Wheat, last season's leading scorer with 25 goals and 32 assists; defenseman Shaun Heshka, last season's leading scorer among defensemen with 12 goals and 26 assists; center Zach Hamill, who led the league in scoring among 16-year-olds with eight goals and 25 assists; and left wing Karel Hromas, who was second on the team in goals with 18.

The newcomers expected to have the biggest impact are center Peter Mueller, who the Silvertips lured away from the U.S. National Development Program; left wing John Lammers, acquired from Lethbridge in an offseason trade; and center Ondrej Fiala, Everett's first-round pick in this year's Import Draft.

"I think our team's coming along well," Kress said. "We've got lots of talent, lots of skill. So if we can just put it all together as a team, hopefully we can get things accomplished."

In one unfortunate regard, the Silvertips are already in midseason form. Everett has six players who are injury concerns.

Four of those players - forwards Michael Wuchterl (concussion), Jesse Smyke (shoulder) and Zach Dailey (hand) and defenseman Graham Potuer (hand) - have already been ruled out of Saturday's game.

Wheat, Everett's captain, still hasn't practiced since taking a shot off his foot last Sunday against Seattle. Both he and defenseman Jonathan Harty (shoulder) are listed as questionable.

With Mueller also out because of a suspension, Everett could be playing significantly short-handed.

On the plus side, defenseman Randy King has returned to the team and should be available for the opener. The 18-year-old King had an extended stay with the NHL's New Jersey Devils before returning to Everett on Thursday.

The Silvertips start the season on the road for the third straight year - in 2003 the final touches were still being put on the Everett Events Center, the last two years the team has had to wait until October to play at home because of United States immigration laws.

Kamloops should provide a stern test in the opener. The Blazers had a down year last season, going 26-37-7-2 and finishing fourth in the B.C. Division. But with 2004 first-round NHL draft pick Devan Dubnyk in goal and skilled left wing Kris Versteeg having recently arrived via trade with Lethbridge, Kamloops is expected to be stronger this season.

The Tips are hoping Saturday's game is just the first step to bigger and better things.

"We have the talent to do it all," Thoring said. "I hope we have the heart. I think we do. It's going to take a lot of time to build up our systems and get everybody playing in the right spot. But we're capable of great things this year if we want it bad enough."

[Tipped Off]

Silvertips embark on "mystery year"

By Jim Riley

When the Everett Silvertips open their third Western Hockey League season tomorrow, highly regarded center Peter Mueller won't be on the ice.

Mueller was suspended for one game for an obscene gesture toward the Seattle Thunderbirds' bench in the final exhibition game in Kent. After the Silvertips beat the Thunderbirds 4-1, Mueller sat out a meaningless shootout used only to practice the format for the regular season.

Mueller's gesture earned him a gross-misconduct penalty as well as the suspension.

That means he won't play when the Silvertips open the regular season in Kamloops, B.C., tomorrow.

Mueller will return for the team's home opener Oct. 1.

The 17-year-old from Bloomington, Minn., decided to join the Silvertips this season rather than accept a scholarship to the University of Minnesota. Last year he played 56 games with the U.S. Under-18 team and had 38 goals and 39 assists.

The Silvertips also made a big roster move when they traded 20-year-old goaltender Michael Wall to the Regina Pats for a pair of draft picks. That leaves the goaltending to Leland Irving, who was 8-9 with a 1.80 goals-against average last season.

"We traded Mike partly because we felt we might well lose him anyway and partly because if we kept them both, one of our key assets would have been on the bench for half our games," said Kevin Constantine, Everett coach and general manager.

Last season the Silvertips finished third in the U.S. Division behind Seattle and Portland. Everett beat Portland in the playoffs before being swept by Kootenay in the Western Conference semifinals.

The Silvertips, entering their third season, had a roster that was both very young and very old with little in the middle.

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"This is a mystery year for us," Constantine said. "It's pretty rare in this league when the core of your team is 17, and that's what we have. We have the potential to have a lot more skill and score a lot more goals this season."

Constantine, who took on added duties when then-general manager Doug Soetaert left to become president of the Omaha Knights, believes the teams that can adjust most quickly to the rule changes will get off to the fastest start.

"It's just hard to know what's going to happen, but in the beginning there could be a lot more power plays and penalty kills," Constantine said.

Team at a glance

Coach, general manager: Kevin Constantine (third season,

68-55-17-4, 16-16 in playoffs).

Last season: 33-28-9-2, third in U.S. Division. Beat

Portland 4-3 in first round of playoffs; lost to Kootenay 4-0 in Western Conference semifinals.

Home arena: Everett Events Center (capacity 8,250).

Radio: Live on 1380 AM with Keith Gerhart and Dave Sheldon calling

the action. Live webcasts available for a fee at www.whl.ca.

Key players: C Torrie Wheat, D Shaun Heshka, C Zach Hamill, C Peter

Mueller, G Leland Irving, LW Karel Hromas, RW Brady Calla.

Outlook: Everett enters its third season with more skilled players, adding

John Lammers, Peter Mueller and

Ondrej Fiala of the Czech Republic. Goaltender Leland Irving will

have to avoid the sophomore jinx for Silvertips to contend for

a title.

Ticket information: Can be purchased at the Everett Events Center box office or online at everetteventscenter.com. Single-game tickets range from $10-$25. Season and group ticket information can be found at everettsilvertips.com or by calling 425-242-5100.