Perpetual Bridesmaid?

In the wake of another successful regular season followed up by a rather disappointing playoff run, the Everett Silvertips have decided to part ways with coach Kevin Constantine. Constantine had led the Silvertips to the playoffs in each of his two stints with the team, from 2003-2007 and from 2013-2017. His first stint was arguably the team's best time, as they went to the WHL Final in his first season with the team, which also happened to be the team's first season in the league. They also went to the Conference Finals in 2006, where they were unceremoniously dumped by eventual league champion Vancouver Giants. Since then, the Silvertips have failed to reach the Conference finals.

The run of playoff failures in the last ten years prompts a question of whether the Silvertips are going the way of the St. Louis Blues and Washington Capitals, in that they have great regular seasons, yet fall short of expectations in the playoffs. Like Washington and St. Louis this season, the Silvertips rode their top ranked defense to the top of the conference. However, like the NHL teams mentioned of the past (I say past because both the Blues and Capitals are still in it), the Silvertips often find ways to lose games. Whether it's lack of offense, as has been the characteristic of Constantine-coached teams, or the inability to develop an identity, which would be Mark Ferner, Craig Hartsburg, and John Becanic (coincidentally, those non-Constantine squads all exited in the first round of the playoffs). What could be done for the Silvertips to finally get back to the Conference Finals, at the very least? That will be a question for the next coach to answer, as they have the goaltending in Carter Hart, as he will be back next year. However, they will need to find replacements for Noah Juulsen and Dominic Zwerger, both of whom will be moving on.