EVERETT — The Western Hockey League’s week-long holiday break represents the unofficial halfway point in the regular season.
The Everett Silvertips (24-4-5-0, 53 points) are 33 games into their schedule and atop the U.S. Division. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the Tips might be the most surprising team in the league.
Everett struggled to score goals last year, and lost four of their top six forwards from that team that finished second in the U.S. Division and fell to eventual Western Conference champion Seattle in five games in the second round of the playoffs.
“You wonder what’s going to happen,” head coach Kevin Constantine mused, following Everett’s 4-2 win over Portland to wrap up the first half this past Saturday.
“It doesn’t change how you plow into it, it doesn’t change how you go to work, it doesn’t change that you’re always trying to play the game the right way and learn and get better over the summer, but you really question where the team is going to be when those are factors,” Constantine continued. “What can you say other than the team has, in a touch of a surprising way, done very well.”
Indeed it has. What follows is the Tips’ midseason report card.
Goal scoring
Goals scored: 113 (13th in WHL), 3.42 per game (eighth in WHL)
Power play: 23.2 percent (eighth in WHL)
The most noticeable difference from last year has been the increase in goals scored. The Tips are averaging 3.42 goals per game, solidly in the top third of the league. Not only is it good enough for eighth, but it’s light years beyond last year’s 2.58.
The pickup of overage import Dominic Zwerger (13 goals, 24 assists) was the most obvious acquisition as he came over from Spokane after the first weekend of the season. Linemate Patrick Bajkov is having by far the best season of his career as he leads the team in goals (17), assists (27) and points (44). Finnish import Eetu Tuulola (eight goals, seven assists) was also a big offseason pickup.
But there are also a number of complementary players who have advanced their performance this season. Riley Sutter (11 goals, seven assists) has blossomed as a 17-year-old, particularly on the power play, while Kevin Davis (three goals, 23 assists) is quarterbacking the first power-play unit and leads all Tips defensemen in points. Matt Fonteyne (eight goals, 15 assists) and Noah Juulsen (nine goals, 11 assists) are also having impressive years.
Goal scoring was the top focus coming into the season and Everett has taken some necessary steps to address that concern. Zwerger has been everything the organization had hoped for when it traded for him. We’ll see if the team is done making moves to improve the offense as the trade deadline looms on Jan. 10.
Grade: B
Goal prevention
Goals against: 67 (first in WHL), 2.03 per game (first in WHL)
Penalty kill: 85.3 percent (third in WHL)
The team’s attention to detail and defensive structure has it allowing just 26 shots per game, tied with the Seattle Thunderbirds for the league low.
That represents a team-wide defensive effort, but Everett also boasts one of the top goalies in all of the CHL in Carter Hart. The result has been an infinitesimal 2.03 team goals-against average. For context, the Tips have allowed 24 fewer goals than Prince George, the team allowing the next-fewest goals.
Hart (16-3-4-0, 1.85 goals-against average, .928 save percentage) leads the league in GAA and is second in save percentage. He has a league-best four shutouts and was the WHL Goaltender of the Month in November.
The Tips have experienced defensemen in Juulsen, Davis and Lucas Skrumeda. But after that the experience drops off as the remaining four blue liners are all 16 or 17 years old. So far that lack of experience hasn’t hurt Everet in the wins department and the organization has high hopes for Jake Christiansen, Wyatte Wylie, Montana Onyebuchi and Kyle Walker.
Nevertheless, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that the Tips could look to add a physical, experienced defenseman to bolster depth before the deadline.
Everett has been nearly flawless on the penalty kill with much of the credit going to Hart.
Grade: A
Intangibles
Constantine’s teams have frequently played above expectations and even he can admit that about this year’s team. Much of it stems from the Silvertips’ culture that emphasizes hard work, competitiveness and passion in everything they do.
That’s best exemplified by the formal leadership group that consists of captain Juulsen, and alternates Skrumeda, Davis and Fonteyne. Along with Bajkov, that group has been together for four years and the continuity shows in how successful this team has been.
The team has weathered numerous challenges so far this season, including multiple injuries, losing players like Juulsen and Hart for long stretches due to NHL training camp and the World Junior Championship, and a difficult travel schedule.
Through it all they have yet to lose back-to-back games in regulation and are 4-0 against Prince George and Medicine Hat, the two teams sandwiching second-place Everett atop the overall standings.
Grade: A-
Overall
The Tips are one of four teams currently in the mix to win the Scotty Munro Trophy for the best regular-season record. It’s a distinction they’ve earned only once during the 2006-07 season. Everett’s winning percentage of .803 is second only to Regina’s .806.
The Tips still have a two-week road trip to the East Division looming in February, but they have built their U.S. Division lead by handling their division opponents. Everett boasts a substantial lead of a dozen points over Tri-City in the division standings, with Portland 14 points back, Seattle 16 points behind and Spokane 19 points in back.
The defending division and Western Conference champion Thunderbirds have ample opportunity to make up some ground with eight more meetings with Everett remaining in the season. However, Portland plays Everett just five more times, while Tri-City and Spokane have just four more meetings each with the Tips.
At this juncture the 2016-17 U.S Division title is Everett’s to lose. But can the Tips ride that momentum past the second round of the playoffs where their season has ended the past two years?
We’ll find out in about four months.
Grade: A-
For the latest Silvertips news follow Jesse Geleynse on Twitter.
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