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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   ADDITIONAL ITEMS • Everett Silvertips (External Link)   Related Stories • Silvertips Fan Quiz 3/21/08 • Audio slideshow: Sights and Sounds of the Silvertips 3/21/08   CONTACT THE HERALD Report scores and results to 425-339-3470 or 1-866-6-SCORES (Call after 4:30 p.m.) E-mail information including items for Tuesday's Communities Sports Roundup and Thursday's Outdoor Calendar, to sports@heraldnet.com Kevin Brown, Sports Editor kbrown@heraldnet.com   Published: Friday, March 21, 2008 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.

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