The big question for Everett entering the season was whether the team was going to be able to score goals. We only have a small sample size to work with, but so far the answer is an emphatic “Yes.” The Tips have scored 29 goals in seven games, which is 4.1 per game. That’s more than a full goal ahead of last season’s 3.0 per-game average. Everett scored five or more goals in four of its seven games.
A glance at Everett’s statistics shows three forwards averaging more than a point per game, which explains much of the scoring. But what immediately stands out after that are the defensemen. The Tips currently have three defensemen scoring at a high pace. Kevin Davis and Noah Juulsen both have seven points in seven games (though I suspect a scoring change will take a point away from Davis), and Cole MacDonald has six in seven contests. Those are huge rate increases from last season, when Davis had nine points in 65 games, Juulsen had 10 points in 59 games, and MacDonald had 17 points in 63 games.
The defensive involvement in the offense is probably the biggest difference from last season. Last season Matt Pufahl had a robust 50 points in 62 games, but he was the only defenseman anywhere near the point-per-game pace. No other blueliner even cracked the half-a-point-per-game barrier. But the Tips have three who are on that kind of pace so far.
It’s unfair to expect any defenseman to maintain the point-per-game pace — just three WHLers managed that last season: Seattle’s Shea Theodore, Prince Albert’s Josh Morrissey and Portland’s Derrick Pouliot. So let’s use that 50-point total Pufahl achieved last season as the benchmark for offense from a defenseman:
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.