Giants hinting that goalie could be back for playoffs but Silvertips staying quiet about top D-man and sniper


The Vancouver Giants begin their best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal with the Everett Silvertips on Friday in Everett, Wash.

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The Vancouver Giants have company in injury uncertainty when it comes to their first-round WHL playoff series.

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The Giants begin their best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal with the Everett Silvertips on Friday in Everett, Wash., with questions about the status of goalie Jesper Vikman (lower-body injury) and winger Cole Shepard (lower-body injury). Neither have played in several weeks but both have been practicing with Vancouver over the past few days.

The Silvertips, meanwhile, didn’t have Canadian world junior team defenseman Olen Zellweger for their last two regular-season games and 46-goal winger Jackson Berezowski for their final one, and Everett coach Dennis Williams declined Wednesday to update their statuses for Game 1 against Vancouver.


NEXT GAME

Game 1, best-of-seven

friday

Vancouver Giants vs. Everett Silvertips

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7:05 pm, Angel of the Winds Arena. Radio: Sportsnet 650


Zellweger and Berezowski shared the team’s most-valuable-player honors for Everett (45-13-5-5), who finished atop the West standings, 47 points in front of the eighth-place Giants (24-39-5-0) .

“You’re just going to have to wait and see on Friday,” Williams said when asked about whether the pair will be playing. “I won’t be commenting on any injuries.”

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Williams was quoted by the Everett Herald on Tuesday as saying that “Olen will be set to play,” after they asked the coach about the possibility of a Zellweger return.

Zellweger, who’s an 18-year-old from Calgary, left Everett’s April 10 game against the Seattle Thunderbirds in Kent, Wash., on a stretcher after a hit into the boards by Seattle defenseman Samuel Knazko. There was no penalty called on the play.

The Silvertips list Zellweger as upper body, day-to-day in the last WHL medical report, which came out April 12.

Zellweger led the WHL defenseman in scoring in the regular season with 78 points, which included 14 goals, in 55 regular-season games. He and fellow Everett blueliner Ronan Seeley both missed eight games due to world junior duties with Team Canada this season.

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Zellweger is a signed prospect with the Anaheim Ducks, who picked him in the second round of last summer’s NHL Draft.

Berezowski, a Yorktown, Sask., native who turned 20 in February, left Everett’s Friday road game against the Portland Winterhawks, favoring his shoulder, according to social-media reports. He didn’t play Saturday against the Tri-City Americans.

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His goal total was third-best in the WHL this season, behind Red Deer Rebels forward Ben King (52) and Regina Pats forward Connor Bedard (51).

The Giants, meanwhile, posted an interview with coach Michael Dyck on their Instagram feed Tuesday where Dyck said that Vikman was “looking well… looking like Jesper Vikman” in practice. They ended the post with a few bars from the Michael Buble song “Feeling Good.” Buble, of course, is a minority owner with the Giants.

Vikman, a Swede who turned 20 last month, hasn’t played since injuring himself by overextending to make a save against the Kamloops Blazers on March 4. The Giants have listed it only as a lower-body injury.

Vikman, who was a fifth-round draft of the Vegas Golden Knights, was 17-15-2-0, with a 3.05 goals against average and a .903 save percentage this season.

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Shepard, a West Vancouver native who turned 20 in February, hasn’t played since March 16 due to a lower-body injury. He’s been practicing with the team this week as well. He had seven goals and 20 points in 28 regular-season games.

Vancouver Giant vs. Everett Silvertips

Tale of the team

REGULAR-SEASON RECORDS

Everett Silvertips: 45-13-5-5 (100 points, first place West, third place WHL)

Vancouver Giants: 24-39-5-0 (53 points, eighth place West, 19th place WHL)

GOALS FOR

Everett: 280

Vancouver: 185

GOALS AGAINST

Everett: 190

Vancouver: 254

POWER PLAY

Everett: 27 per cent (79-of-293), second WHL

Vancouver: 17.7 per cent (43-of-243), 18th WHL

PENALTY KILL

Everett: 78.9 (56 goals against, 265 opportunities), 12th WHL

Vancouver: 76 (63 goals against, 262 opportunities), 18th WHL

HEAD TO HEAD

Everett: 2-2-0-0

Vancouver: 2-2-0-0

HEAD-TO-HEAD POWER PLAY

Everett: 26.7 per cent (4-of-15)

Vancouver: 25 per cent (4-of-16)

HEAD-TO-HEAD PENALTY KILL

Everett: 75 per cent (four goals against, 16 opportunities)

Vancouver: 73.3 per cent (four goals against, 15 opportunities)

[email protected]

twitter:@SteveEwen

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