WHL Everett Silvertips

Silvertips are 2003-04 U.S. Division champs

Published on March 15, 2004 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Everett Silvertips News Release


March 15, 2004: 72 games are in the books and the Everett Silvertips in their first season in the Western Hockey League have come away with a U.S. Division regular season championship. The Silvertips finished the 2003-2004 campaign with a record breaking 35-27-8-2 record while breaking many expansion team records along the way in their historical season.

The Silvertips started the last week of the season against their U.S. Division rival the Tri-City Americans on Wednesday, March 10th at the Everett Events Center. Shaun Heshka and Tyler Dietrich each added a goal and an assist while goaltender Jeff Harvey made 28 saves as the Everett Silvertips defeated the Tri-City Americans 4-1. Jeff Schmidt and Curtis Billsten also added goals in the victory. The Silvertips outshot the Americans 30-29 in the hockey game. Everett went 1 for 7 on the power play and Tri-City went 0 for 3 on the extra man advantage.

On Friday, March 12th the Silvertips played their last home game of the regular season against the Seattle Thunderbirds in front of a sellout crowd of 8,567 at the Everett Events Center. Curtis Billsten tallied a goal :13 seconds into the hockey game and Marc Desloges scored the game winning power play goal with 2:41 remaining in the 3rd period as the Silvertips slip by the Seattle Thunderbirds 2-1. Goaltender Jeff Harvey was solid between the pipes for the Silvertips as he made 36 saves in the victory. The Thunderbirds outshot the Silvertips by a margin of 37-22 in the hockey game. Everett went 1 for 7 on the power play and Seattle went 0 for 3 on the extra man advantage.

The Silvertips were back in action of Saturday, March 13th against the Tri-City Americans at the Tri-Cities Coliseum in Kennewick, Washington. Silvertips center Mark Kress tallied 2 goals and goaltender Jeff Harvey made 19 saves as the Everett Silvertips down the Tri-City Americans 2-1 to clinch their first U.S. Division title in their first season in the WHL. Curtis Billsten, Jeff Schmidt, Torrie Wheat and Ivan Baranka each added assists in the clinching victory. The Silvertips outshot the Americans 34-20 in the hockey game. Everett went 1 for 4 on the power play and Tri-City went 0 for 3 on the extra man advantage.

The 2003-2004 regular season ended on Sunday, March 14th against the Seattle Thunderbirds at Key Arena in Seattle, Washington. With the Silvertips sitting out a few key players, the Seattle Thunderbirds landed a 5-1 victory over the Everett Silvertips. T-Birds forward Dustin Johner ended his WHL career on a good note with a goal and an assist in the victory. Barry Horman tallied the lone goal for the Silvertips and Mike Wall made 27 saves in the loss. The Thunderbirds outshot the Silvertips 32-14 in the hockey game. Everett went 1 for 4 on the power play and Seattle went 0 for 2 on the extra man advantage.

NEWS AND NOTES

SILVERTIPS LEADING SCORERS

With the regular season coming to an end John Dahl (25 goals, 19 assists) and Riley Armstrong (18 goals, 26 assists) each led the hockey club with 44 points. Dahl led the hockey club with 25 goals in the regular season and Riley Armstrong led the Silvertips with 26 assists. Mitch Love (12 goals, 15 assists) led all Silvertips defensemen with 27 points. The plus/minus leader this season went to Curtis Billsten who finished with a +14.

SILVERTIPS STRONG GOALTENDING

Both Silvertips netminders finished in the top five in a few goaltending categories as the regular season comes to a close. Jeff Harvey finished 2nd in the WHL with a 1.97 Goals Against Average, tied for 2nd with a .926 Save Percentage, tied for 9th with 24 wins and tied for 6th with 5 Shutouts. Mike Wall finished 5th among WHL goaltenders with a 2.24 Goals Against Average and 7th with a .921 Save Percentage.

SILVERTIPS INJURY REPORT

None to report.

2003-2004 YEAR END AWARD WINNERS

After the regular season home finale, the Everett Silvertips held their inaugural year end awards. Awards included Team MVP, Unsung Hero and Rookie of the Year which voted by the Silvertips players. Other awards included the Most Improved Player, Iron Man Award, Top Shot Blocker and the Coaches Award voted by the coaches and management. The Community/Public Relations Award was also was announced voted by the Silvertips Public Relations and Marketing Department.

TEAM MVP: Jeff Harvey (Goaltender)

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Ivan Baranka (Defenseman)

UNSUNG HERO: Shaun Heshka (Defenseman)

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER: Curtis Billsten (Right Wing)

TOP SHOT BLOCKER: Mitch Love (Defenseman)

COMMUNITY RELATIONS AWARD: Mitch Love (Defenseman)

COACHES AWARD: Torrie Wheat (Right Wing)

IRON MAN AWARD: Bryan Nathe (Defenseman) and Barry Horman (Right Wing). Played in all 72 games.

SILVERTIPS BOOSTER CLUB F.I.E.R.C.E. PREDATOR AWARD: Mitch Love (Defenseman)

SILVERTIPS SET NEW EXPANSION RECORDS

The Everett Silvertips have set a new standard in expansion success. The Silvertips finished with 35 wins, which is the most wins by an expansion team in WHL history. Everett also finished with 80 points which is the most points earned by an expansion team in the history of the Canadian Hockey League and finished with a .556 winning percentage which is the highest by an expansion team in the WHL. The Silvertips also recorded 7 shutouts which are the most by a first year hockey club and also were the first expansion team to record back to back shutouts.

2004 WHL PLAYOFFS

The Everett Silvertips will face off in the first round of the WHL Playoffs against the Spokane Chiefs in a best of seven series. The Silvertips went 4-4 against the Chiefs this season and each team went 3-1 on the road in the regular season series.

GAME #1: Friday, March 19th, Spokane Chiefs vs. Everett Silvertips @ Everett Events Center, 7:05 p.m.

GAME #2: Saturday, March 20th, Spokane Chiefs vs. Everett Silvertips @ Everett Events Center, 7:05 p.m.

GAME #3: Tuesday, March 23rd, Everett Silvertips vs. Spokane Chiefs @ Spokane Arena, 7:00 p.m.

GAME #4: Wednesday, March 24th, Everett Silvertips vs. Spokane Chiefs @ Spokane Arena, 7:00 p.m.

GAME #5 (IF NECESSARY): Friday, March 26th, Spokane Chiefs vs. Everett Silvertips, Everett Events Center, 7:05 p.m.

GAME #6 (IF NECESSARY): Saturday, March 27th, Everett Silvertips vs. Spokane Chiefs, Spokane Arena, 7:00 p.m.

GAME #7 (IF NECESSARY): Tuesday, March 30th, Spokane Chiefs vs. Everett Silvertips, Everett Events Center, 7:05 p.m.

SEA OF WHITE

The Everett Silvertips are asking all fans to wear a white for every home playoff game. Fans are asked to wear a white t-shirt, sweatshirt and even a home Silvertips jersey to every home playoff game. Also the Silvertips are encouraging fans to bring a white towel, rag or anything white to wave around during all playoff games.

SILVERTIPS ON THE RADIO AND INTERNET

You can follow all of the exciting hockey action on the home of Silvertips hockey North Sound 1380 and North Sound 1380's FM translator 107.3 FM inside the Everett Events Center. Keith Gerhart and Dave Sheldon have the call of every Silvertips hockey game. The Silvertips Pre-game Show starts 30 minutes before game time. You can also listen on the world-wide-web on everettsilvertips.com. Click on the Listen Here link on the Silvertips website to catch the action.

Check out the Everett Silvertips Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from March 15, 2004


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