BOISE, Idaho — THIS DAY IN SPORTS…July 11, 2019, five years ago today:
A few days after Neil Graham departs for the Texas Stars of the AHL, the Idaho Steelheads name Everett Sheen to replace him as head coach. Sheen had served as Graham’s assistant the previous three seasons. The 32-year-old native of Lethbridge, AB, was the eighth coach in the franchise’s 22-year history and became the second-youngest hire ever (Graham was the youngest). Graham, meanwhile, compiled a regular-season record of 166-91-31 in his four seasons with Kelly Cup Playoff bids each year.
Oh, the things Sheen has seen the past five years. The 2019-20 season, Sheen’s first, was rolling along with the Steelheads playoff-bound until it came to a screeching halt 11 games from the end of the regular season. The Steelies’ final game was on March 7, because five days later COVID shut down sports as we know it. Uncertainty reigned all the way into the fall as the pandemic raged. At one point the Steelheads hoped to begin the 2020-21 season in January. But then, on December 7, the entire campaign was scrapped. Are we having fun yet, Sheener?
But Sheen stuck it out and put the team back together for the 2021-22 campaign. Hockey-hungry fans filled Idaho Central Arena, but the Steelheads never quite got into a rhythm and missed the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the first time. All Sheen did from there was assemble an all-timer of a juggernaut. The Steelies posted the best record in ECHL history in 2022-23, going a staggering 58-11-3. They made it all the way to the Kelly Cup Finals—their fourth-ever trip to the championship series—before falling to the Florida Everblades.
Sheen’s fourth season (which should have been his fifth) produced a good, solid, high-scoring campaign, as the Steelheads went 48-20-4 in 2023-24, bringing his career record to 178-82-17. Sheen is 51 wins away from passing John Olver as the winningest coach in Steelheads history. But his effect for the organization goes far beyond the ice. “Everett is one of the most humble guys you will meet,” said team president Eric Trapp. “We are proud of what he has accomplished and how he represents us in the community and within the hockey world.”
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
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