Ads

Another update on the look and layout of the website here. I really have never liked the Ads that were put into the website (by me). I think they look tacky and often they have nothing to do with hockey... but the whole point of putting them there was to maybe make a few bucks to offset how much time I spend writing and doing things to cover the team. Obviously I don't do this for the money... I do it because I love doing it but a little extra cash for some beers at ShoWare never hurt anyone.

Bottom line.... I have never liked them and I haven't even cashed one check yet so I'm getting rid of them. As a substitute, I have placed a Donation button on the left. Nobody should feel obligated to donate, and I know times are tough for a lot of people. If you like my work here on the website and you want to give me a virtual pat on the butt you can now donate securely through the website.

I envision this being far down the road... but if I received enough in the way of donations I think it would be a great idea to take that money and pump it back into you, the fans, by organizing and hosting a Let's Go Birds event in the future. I'll take the money and we can get hardcore fans together to talk a little hockey before a big game. Who knows... I might even be able to secure "guest speaker" type event... but that is all in my visions for the future.

Seattle selects Russian Mikhal Senturin

Tbirds use the 35th overall selection in the CHL Import Draft to select Mikhal Senturin of the Moscow Dynamo.

Senturin is listed as a 1992 birthday and is 6'0" and 176 lbs.

I will post more as information comes in.

EDIT: I can't find ANYTHING.... seriously...

NHL and Import Drafts...

NHL draft happened over the weekend and no Tbirds were selected... well technically one Tbird was selected. Anthony Hamburg was selected by the Minnesota Wild in the 7th round and the Tbirds have previously selected him in the 10th Round of the Bantam draft.

I'm not sure if he is still listed... Alan Caldwell did not have him on his annual post of Seattle's prospects but I know Hamburg played with Colin Jacobs at some point and that might carry some influence.

Probably more important is CHL Import Draft which will happen tomorrow. The Tbirds "twitter" places the pick happening around the 12:10 mark.

I would say the Tbirds are about 80% likely to select someone they know will come over and play next year, 15% likely to select someone who might not come over right away and about %5 likely to trade the pick. So I expect the selection tomorrow to be wearing a Tbirds jersey.

Website Update..

I know there aren't a ton of people checking in on the website daily... and I know that will increase quite a bit as we get closer to training camp.

I'm messing around with the layout so if things look bad or funny... don't freak out too much until we get closer to the start of the season. If it looks bad at that point... you can let me know.

Twitter and Facebook...

It might be the off-season but the Tbirds are still working hard at getting information out to us (the fans).

Tbirds now have an official Facebook page that can be found here.

The Tbirds also have a new Twitter page that was quite useful during the Bantam Draft getting quotes and information out nearly instantaneously.

You can find the new Tbirds Twitter right here.

More ways to get your Tbirds information... always a good thing.

8th Round

Seattle selects their first goaltender of the Bantam draft... getting Goalie Jared D'Amico of Calgary, AB. Listed at 5'6" and 130 lbs. That is a small goaltender... but nobody ever said he couldn't grow a little or a lot between now and 2 or 3 years from now.

D'Amico played for the Okotoks Oilers of the AMBHL. He was not among the leaders in goaltending for the South Division (looks like the Oilers weren't very good so it may not have been his fault) so his stats are not listed. I'm sure the Tbirds will have them available in just a moment.

7th Round

Seattle selected defensemen John Dora from Erie, CO., listed at 6'2" and 175 lbs.

Dora played last season for the Colorado Thunderbirds Bantam AAA team, playing 59 games and scoring 4 goals with 16 assists to go with 52 PIMs and a +48 rating.

Good size... little bit of scoring... don't know much about him after that.

6th Round

Seattle finally selects a defensemen with their pick here in the 6th round and it is Evan Wardley of Vulcan, AB who goes 6'3", 186 lbs. Playing for the Lethbridge Bantam AAA Val Matteotti Golden Hawks (cut and paste is a beautiful thing).

Big D-men are never a bad idea... especially if they have an ounce of skating ability.

Wardley was selected to play in the Alberta Cup with the South Senators.

5th Round

Seattle selects another forward... this time it is Jayson Ness from Drayton Valley, AB

Took me a while but I found him....

Jayson played last season for the Leduc Bantam AAA Oil Kings. He is listed at 5'9", 165 lbs. and plays Right Wing. His stats are not listed as he was not in the leaders for the North division of the AMBHL which means he had less than 25 points.

Edit: Tbirds just posted his stats, 29 games, 5 goals, 17 assists, 123 PIMs

Looks like he probably has a brother named Jordan Ness.

Ness has also competed in competition "steer riding" in the past... I'm going to guess he's a pretty tough kid.

Now they have a short break between the 5th and 6th Rounds.

4th Round

Tbirds don't have a 4th round pick... it was traded to Prince Albert....

I "think" this was in the trade for Devon LeBlanc last year... someone can correct me if I'm wrong.