Silvertips Outclassed Against Winterhawks - 12/31 Game Recap + BIG Trade Reaction and Analysis
LOOKING AT WHAT WENT WRONG IN A BRUTAL NYE LOSS AND ANALYZING A SPLASH TRADE
Happy Friday evening y’all! Hope everyone had a pleasant New Years day and is enjoying the start of a fun sports weekend. The final NFL regular season weekend, World Juniors elimination games, and of course - Silvertips HOCKEY. This article covers both the 5-2 loss to Portland from Wednesday AND the blockbuster trade with Red Deer from earlier today. Both have huge headings so you can scroll to each easily.
The Silvertips also play tomorrow 1/3 against the Wenatchee Wild at 6 pm, that game preview will be published tomorrow. For now, read about the Silvertips nemesis and how they continue to defy Everett’s success against pretty much every other team in the league the last two years and then about a trade that could alleviate that stress in adding a huge NHL-drafted defenseman who is 18 and not merely a rental.
Enough with the intro - here’s what you came for:
GAME RECAP
Unfortunately, as often happens against the Winterhawks, Everett came out just completely outmuscled and lacking energy. Luke Wilfley scored just 90 seconds in a play that was just chaotic mis-execution on every level. Not long later - Jaxsin Vaughan took a boarding/cross-check penalty which is not the worst thing to see. You never want to see something that is maliciously dirty, but when someone is laying out hits, they are inevitably going to get some boarding and cross check penalties due to positioning, balance luck, aggressiveness etc. However a charging penalty is something is not ever ok - as it is either due to you jumping into a check or taking more than three strides into a check. Vaughan was sent to the box for charging again just five minutes later. This case was him jumping - and gave Portland their third and fourth minutes on the powerplay before the second media timeout, something your assistant captain cannot do. At the same time - he was the only one really trying to be physical that was wearing a Silvertips jersey.
But more concerning was that Mirco Dufour’s shot eight minutes into the game was the first of the period, very telling of the control and possession that Portland had. Despite being nearly completely void of shots, it looked as if Jesse Heslop had a rebound goal off of a Jaxsin Vaughan shot, but the referees then huddled and called no goal and did not go to a video review. Heslop did barrel into Chase but it seemed as if it occurred after shooting the puck into the back of the net.
AFTER THE PERIOD, IT WAS REVEALED THAT THE REFEREE BEHIND THE NET DIDN’T SEE THAT PUCK WAS STILL FREE, MEANING HESLOP SHOOTING IN THE PUCK OPEN IN THE CREASE WAS NEGATED BECAUSE THE REFEREE ADMITS HE BLEW THE WHISTLE EARLY.
The second period started off much better as Rhys Jamieson successfully scored a goal that counted on a great rebound goal off a low shot from Clarke Schaefer. Perfectly occurring on his off-side, he one touched it to the back of the net. Much credit goes to Schaefer for muscling his way to protect the puck and throwing a high leverage chance with a low shot to the far side. Kaplan then drew a penalty 5 minutes in - drawing a hooking because he drove the puck hard on net. The Hawks would reclaim the lead on a powerplay goal after some good movement tired out Everett’s kill.
DuPont scored right at the end of the period when he haphazardly threw a puck on net from the sideboards near the blue line and it just never got stopped by a Winterhawk player or Cruz Chase and found twine to tie the game. Going into the second intermission felt like somewhat odd. On one hand - Everett had tied the game against their divisional opponent - so 20 minutes of hockey would determine the rest. But at the same time - it did not FEEL like it was a tied game. It felt like a dominant Portland performance that had two good Silvertips chances and a great goalie in Miller in net to bail them out. And coming out of intermission - Everett didn’t seem very fired up.
The third period would devolve into chaos and once Portland pulled away - a physical game of anger and frustration from Everett. They allowed three goals in the period and never really threatened in one of their worse periods they’ve played this season. I think that Silvertips broadcaster Casey Bryant summed it up best when laying out why Portland plays Everett so well: they’re not intimidated by them. And then to expound further with my own opinion, I think this lack of fear is what really frustrates this team; which is bad. They need to embrace and enjoy the good and close games they play, not lose their temper that its not a blowout. There were way too many ‘coincidental penalties’ and again, solo roughings in this game - a close game for the first forty minutes.
Overall - this game was a hard watch. It’s what I assume most opposing fans feel like when they play the Tips, just overwhelming puck possession predicated on superior speed and an immense shot differential. Elite Portland Special Teams also negated any chance of a come back.
@TheTipsJar on Twitter Observations:
Henri Ament was pretty present out there on Wednesday, laying hits and extending offensive zone time. He’s going to get at least three more games of third line minutes and needs to continue to bring the boom
Pretty uninspiring effort in the third period all around. Going to need more from the leadership group to right the ship, whether it’s laying into the guys to get going on the bench, getting in a brawl on the ice, challenging them in practice - but that third period level of play is pretty unacceptable - especially since they started the period tied.
Yes the four best forwards are out right now - but there still needs to be killer instinct and aggressiveness from the rest and really Zach Shantz is the only one who has shown any of that. Really need Heslop, Gould, Vaughan, and Smith to step up offensively with those players out
PK Needs improvement
It’s really bad out there, they had two good stops in the first period of this one but have been really weak aside from that giving up 5 PPG in the last three games.
This is also coupled with the fact that Everett has been going to the box at a slightly higher rate as of late. Need to play a more disciplined game. The below news could help with that…
TRADE REACTION:
WOW!!! This is one of those trades that I had been hoping to see - but was slightly pessimistic might not happen. After all - the Silvertips seem to prefer small potatoes ‘picks for slight upgrades’ over blockbuster moves to bolster their roster. But this one, the first big midseason trade under Mike Fraser, breaks from tradition!
About Luke Vlooswyk:
The prize of the trade is Luke Vlooswyk - a 2007 born defenseman who is 6’5” 210 lbs. He is known for his shutdown style of defense, utilizing his immense reach and size to neutralize offensive threats. He averaged more than 20 minutes per game last year at 17 years old, and on the worst team in the Eastern Conference this year he has a +6 rating (with only six points) meaning that teams essentially don’t score when he’s on the ice at 5-on-5.
Drafted in the fifth round of the 2025 NHL draft by the Philadelphia Flyers, he is a right-shot defender, meaning that Everett now has anchors on the right side of all three pairings with Vlooswyk (18), Liske (17), and DuPont (16) - all of whom will return for next year as well. He instantly slots into the top PK unit with DuPont, strengthening the second unit to Smith and Liske.
Whether he debuts tomorrow or next weekend, this addition is huge for the Tips. Fraser continues to show his preference for bigger and more physical players - a complete 180 from the Dennis Williams era.
Thank you Cole Temple and Cameron Dillard:
Now as mentioned above - the Silvertips gave up a lot to acquire Vlooswyk, trading ‘07 winger Cole Temple and ‘08 defenseman Cameron Dillard.
Cole Temple was acquired last season in a one-for-one trade with Regina for Julian Maze (who Regina has since moved as well). The former first round bantam pick was a big boon for the Tips last season contributing 30 points in 42 games for Everett during the regular season. He was injured early in the playoffs and never really regained his form during the second round. Going into this season, Temple seemed primed for a breakout. He had a full healthy offseason training and came back to be with players he’d formed a connection with. He got PP2 minutes and due to initial NHL preseason, an injury to Shea Busch, and then the world junior departure he got significant minutes in the Top Six so far this season. But in 34 games he only tallied one goal and eight assists and a -2 rating with a game that is pretty mutually exclusive from playing bottom six style.
Cameron Dillard is the Silvertips 2024 US Prospects Priority Draft first round pick and broke camp with the team this year as the #7 defenseman. At 6’4” 218 and just 17 years old, it seemed like Everett finally had their bruising big-body defenseman that could help matchup against Seattle and Portland in the playoffs. Dillard’s deployment was odd at times from Steve Hamilton in terms of development, but he ends his Tips tenure with 17 games played, 2 goals, 1 assist, and a -2 rating. Dillard didn’t seem to have a role with the Silvertips for the remainder of this season with the addition of Matias Uyeda and impending trades.
Overall - Everett sends two players, aged 17 and 18, to Red Deer for one of their better 18 year olds and a fifth round pick. This lack of additional picks sent by Everett shows that Red Deer really believes they can turn Dillard into Vlooswyk AND that they think Temple can be a 60+ point producer next year.
For Everett’s perspective - they upgrade a defensive position with a huge physical defenseman whose hockey is much more mature and developed, with the casualty of a winger whose role in the team was in jeopardy because of his skillset. While he never played for/under him, Cole Temple seems so much more suited for the Dennis Williams style of hockey than the Steve Hamilton style. He just cannot take and dish the physical contact that Hamilton expects/trains his wingers to do. Carter Bear, Shea Busch, Matias Vanhanen, Clarke Schaefer, Jaxsin Vaughan, and Hunter Rudolph can all regularly win puck battles, dish hits, and have diverse skillsets. It’s not a primary asset in the deal, but they also acquired a 5th round pick in the 2027 Bantam draft.
I think that Dillard and Temple will vastly improve via this move as well. Temple will pretty much see guaranteed Top Six minutes the next two years for rebuilding Red Deer and hopefully flourishes with more time on ice, and Dillard should get sustained games rather than being the odd man out which will allow him to develop and have more piece of mind. The Tips Jar wishes both Dillard and Temple nothing but the best moving forward and will be rooting for their success for the duration of their hockey careers!
COMMENT BELOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THE TRADE!
Tomorrow’s Game Preview for the Wild game will be back to PAID subscription tier, and will be published at NOON. Go Tips!
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