Everett Silvertips

The Everett Silvertips are an American major junior ice hockey team currently members of the U.S. Division in the Western Conference of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The team is based in Everett, Washington, and joined the WHL as an expansion team for the 2003–04 season. The team name comes from the silvertip bear. The team plays at Xfinity Arena, a $71.5 million multipurpose complex built in 2003 that seats 8,300 (or 8,513 with standing room only seats included) for hockey.

Notable NHL alumni from the team include Ryan Murray, Peter Mueller, Radko Gudas and Zach Hamill. Throughout their history, the team has developed heated rivalries with the Vancouver Giants and the Seattle Thunderbirds.

History

Immediate success

During the Silvertips' inaugural season in the U.S. Division of the WHL, the team solidified its place as one of the most successful expansion hockey teams in history after breaking a minimum of ten junior hockey records for an expansion team in its first year. Under the direction of General Manager Doug Soetaert and Head Coach Kevin Constantine, the team won the U.S. Division title with a record of 35–26–8–2, while setting a record for a first-year team in any of the major junior hockey leagues in the Canadian Hockey League (the OHL, QMJHL and WHL) by earning 80 points in the regular season standings, eclipsing the old record set by the 1982–83 Longueuil Chevaliers of the QMJHL. Constantine received the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy from the WHL as the 2003–04 Coach of the Year.