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3.21.2009

Seattle steals home ice advantage from Spokane

Tbirds pick up an enormous win tonight in Spokane... holding off the Chiefs in the final moments and holding on for a 2-1 victory.

Seattle got on the board in the 2nd period on a Power Play goal by Thomas Hickey who put a shot on Chief goaltender Dustin Tokarski from the left point where he made the save but saw the puck bounce off of his defender and into his own net.

Tbirds then added to the lead as Sena Acolatse went hard to the net, around the Spokane defender and banged home a rebound of a Lockhart shot from the right circle that gave Seattle the 2-0 lead.

Drayson Bowman picked up his 3rd of the playoffs on a weird play that the camera missed... I guess it was an errand pass by Greg Scott that Bowman picked up and went top shelf over the glove hand of Calvin Pickard to cut the lead in half.

Seattle dug down deep and held off the Chiefs in the closing moments to secure the 2-1 win and even the series at 1-1.

I cannot emphasize enough how great Pickard was again tonight for the Tbirds.... finishing the game with 33 saves on 34 shots and earning the 1st star of the game in the process. The future is amazingly bright for young Pickard... but it appears that perhaps the future is already here.

Seattle hops on the bus for the happy ride back to Kent knowing that they only need to win their 3 home games to take the series away from the 4th seeded Chiefs.

Game 3... is Tuesday night at the ShoWare Center... followed by Game 4 on Wednesday night.

15 comments :

Unknown said...

Way to go T-birds! I'll see you at home on Tuesday and Wednesday. Sleep well tonight guys!

Unknown said...

i wasnt at the game tonight, but noticed colin jacobs was in the line up tonight... and fleming was out, which seems wierd to me, was he hurt the night before? because that left us with just 5 defenders so im assuming sena was playing some d? how did jacobs look?

Anonymous said...

Rob said Fleming was sick so Jacobs was in. TBirds really only going with 4 D anyway. Acolatse continued to play wing with Lockhart and Wells. Good thing too because he scored the game winner off a rebound from Lockhart. Jacobs got ice time on lines with Scott/Rai and OBrien/Boyer. He did good, took one long shot on net from just outside the blueline and went hard to the net coming close to knocking in an OBrien rebound (but he wound up in the net instead of the puck). Pickard played another great game and the whole team played great infront of him. A solid well deserved team win! The two games at home should be a blast!

Anonymous said...

I cant imagine them using more than their top 4-5 defenders at this point in the season anyways. Hickey, Warg, Schappert and and probably splitting time with Haber and Dillon. The latter two seem to be more of a liability right now, especially when they are out there together. Fleming's time will come, but his minutes will be very limited in the playoffs this season. I think there is no chance we See Berg the rest of the way out unless their is injuries, and Sena's move is perminent. I just don't see him manning the blue line anymore unless it is on the power play. Which brings me to Chaffin... When he is healthy next season is there going to be a spot for him???

Anonymous said...

Is it me or does the WHL enjoy bending there scheduling for the Spokane Chiefs. Since when is it a valid excuse to change the day of a playoff game... Because fans in your city want to watch a college basketball game. Ridiculous. Should the T-birds request all Saturday games so they don't run into the Seahawks? I know it really isn't a huge advantage on the ice, but we have to deal with Tuesday and Wednesday games where we will be lucky to pull in 2400 fans. So the Chiefs should have to deal with there untimely schedule.

Anonymous said...

Totally agreed! The better question is why do teams keep bending to satisfy Spokane's wishes? We should have said NO! Just like we should have dropped the puck at 7 pm on Saturday and hit as many as possible into the net until Spokane decided to take the ice! This is just stupid. It's not like Gonzaga is playing in the same damn arena.

So now if there is a Game 6 the team has to sleep on the bus after Game 5 and get up a few hrs later and play game 6?? Gimme a break!

Anonymous said...

Maybe we should reschedule the T-birds games how can we get our puckbunnies into the arena when American Idol is on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. 50 million more people will watch that crap than Gonzaga basketball. Apparently that is grounds for moving game days around in the WHL.

Anonymous said...

Would you be saying the same thing if the UW was in the sweet 16 and the game was being played the same time as one of the birds home games? Im sure you would like the fact that it was being moved. It is nothing more than accomodation to the fans of the WHL so they can still watch both games. Kudos to the WHL.

Anonymous said...

Kudos to the WHL.... What a moron. First of all not everybody over here goes to UW or cares. Just like everyone in Spokane doesn't go to Gonzaga it should be a non issue. Once again the T-birds go against larger sporting events than Gonzaga in the sweet 16. And the WHL doesn't change those game days.

Anonymous said...

Yes Kudos to the WHL for putting college basketball ahead of their own league!! LOL What a joke!

Kudos for ruining the plans of thousands of fans of the WHL. They have no problem screwing their own fans! Kudos baby kudos!!

Anonymous said...

I can understand the WHL wanting Chiefs fans to watch both, I get that point. But the above poster claims what if UW was there. I think he forgets the T-birds have gone against UW deep in the tournament, as well as the Seahawks in the playoffs, or the Mariners opening weekend, even the Sonics on TV when they were around. So the "what if" card doesn't really work here. Really it's the WHL, not the NCAA. If the WHL was that concerned about other local sports teams on TV. Then surely the Thunderbirds and Winterhawks should start changing game days to avoid the Seahawks, Mariners, Sounders, Blazers, UW, OU, OSU. Where does it end. I guess what I'm saying is, if you do it for the Chiefs for something like this. Then what happens in cities like Portland and Seattle where there is a lot more going on.

Anonymous said...

Kudo's to the WHL for changing the day of the game! Now I don't have to take time off work on friday to drive over and make it to the game. Sometimes I wish my team would get more points than the other teams in the league and get some weekend playoff games. That would be really cool.

Kudo's to the WHL for scheduling 11
out of my teams 36 road games close to home so my team can sleep in their own beds and travel 2.5 hours or 25 minutes to them.

Kudo's to the WHL for allowing my team to totally call their own schedule this year and maximize their home games in my new arena!

Shame on the NCAA for scheduling a sweet 16 game for GONZAGA the same night as game 5 of the Seattle vs. Spokane WHL first round game. They could have put them in another bracket that would have them playing Thursday night..... Geesh

Anonymous said...

NCAA is college basketball, this is semi-pro hockey. You see you can have two events at the same time without changing schedules at the last minute for no reason.

Are we protesting because there is a Sounders game on Saturday??

Leaving fans who have already made plans and spent money out in the cold is bad business baby bad business.

Chiefs fans could have made a decision to either watch Gonzaga OR go to the hockey game! Decisions are part of life.

Anonymous said...

That's it Mike.... ignore what the league has done for YOUR team and whine about something. I hope you feel better.

The last minute? they told you 4 days in advance. what else do you need? so call your hotel and change the night from Fri. to Sat. or better yet stay home! and save a ton of money.

We don't need anyone over there complaining about nothing anyway. The fact is this change is better for more T-Bird fans to be able to get there.

Anonymous said...

WHAT A JOKE!!! There are fans that have booked on Hotwire.com which is NON-REFUNDABLE!! Better for our fans?? How dumb. Even if it was, you don't change a set schedule for something so inane as another game in a different league.

Food illness?? Tragedy?? Then you change but not for a Gonzaga game! It's totally unprofessional.

Not to mention that now OUR team cant even get a nights sleep in their own beds before a possible Game 6! Stupid!

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