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11.07.2009

Tbirds fall short against Spokane

Seattle drops a 3-1 decision to Spokane last night at home in the Sho.

Overall I actually thought it was a really good effort by the Tbirds especially in the first two periods. Seattle was the better team last night and it isn't too often the better team loses the game... but a combination of a poor third period and a nice goaltending effort by Spokane's James Reid kept the Tbirds with only the single power play goal before Blake Gal eventually gave the Cheifs the go-ahead and game winning goal.

Seattle earned 6 Power Plays last night and I thought it was a pretty good indication of how hard the Tbirds were working, forcing Spokane into situations where they reached and picked up penalties.

Truth be told I thought Spokane played like a team that figured they could just coast through the game and still pick up the victory (and perhaps they were right?) and Seattle took advantage through the first 40 minutes.

The third period was a bit of a different story as Spokane out-shot the Tbirds 18-6 and moved the pressure from their own zone and into the Tbirds zone. Spokane finally broke the tie with a nice pass by Mitch Wahl to a wide open Blake Gal who finished nicely in the corner past Pickard... a defensive breakdown by the Tbirds.

Gal was a pest all night long and wound up with the GWG and a +3 night.

This was a poorly officiated game from start to finish and the crew of Benbow and Raphael should be really disappointed with their game.... culminated by an absolutely atrocious non-call on a trip against Acolatse which gave the puck right back to Mitch Wahl who went the length of the ice for the empty net goal to ice the game. Just an unreal no call. You should not reward teams for not moving their feet and reaching for the puck and Spokane was guilty of it all night long and that penalty should have been called.

Coach Rob Sumner picked up a bench minor in the protest and quite frankly I thought he showed restraint in not throwing a water bottle or jumping on the ice himself. A terrible call at the most critical time of the game.

Overall though I am very encouraged by what I saw last night. The effort was mostly there, the decision making was better and the Tbirds generated some opportunities while the defensive breakdowns were far fewer than we have seen so far this season. If the Tbirds can continue to play like that the wins should come a little more often and perhaps the team can get back into the playoff race.

Seattle is back to action tonight down in Portland where the Winterhawks have actually been shutout two games in a row and will no doubt be smelling blood with the Tbirds coming to town.

6 comments :

Unknown said...

One player I've been really impressed with so far is rouse. He wins face offs, he's strong with the puck, and I think with age he's going to finish. I think last night was another perfect example on what this team does not have, and that's offense. They don't have someone that can really put the puck away, and into the back of the net. Yeah, I know, we have scorers, parker, rai, and jacobs, but they aren't scoring. I know the whole youth thing, and I do agree the scoring will come. But expect a lot of games like this one, and the kootney game. Here's to a long season.... and I'm still hoping they trade rai to a contender, he would play a lot better with players around him.

Mike said...

Without Rai we will really suck. I truly don't care about helping an individual player or another team at this point. We were just unselfish by trading DeSerres and I want to be selfish for once.

Rafael was horrific, and it would have been totally justified for Rob to jump on the ice. The other guy looks about 18 and has no business being in this league. Until the Dub gets some real officials on the ice it will never be a premier league.

Anonymous said...

Even with Rai the T-Birds really suck. Why not attempt to get something of value for the future that might speed the recovery back to the playoffs? Rai probably can't win a game single-handedly so it isn't aiding either party to keep him. If Farwell had a clue and a willing trading partner, Rai would be gone. But if history is any indication, Prab Rai will finish his WHL career in Seattle.

bs

Anonymous said...

wow... If Derek Zalaski has a job tomorrow the WHL has once again failed.

Anonymous said...

Wow...what a difference 20 games make. This Seattle team has made huge progress over the course of the last 6 weeks!It's hard not to look into the future and get pretty excited. They are going toe
to toe with some of the WHL best and getting closer and closer abd on a faster track than I thought after the first 5 games.

Unknown said...

Mike,
What's the point of even keeping rai around? He's a playmaker type of player, and if he doesn't have the players around him, he's not going to get points let alone any goals, he's just not a natural goal scorer. And I'm not knocking him as a player, I know he is probably the best all around player on the team, but why not trade him to a team like calgary or kelowna? Give him a chance to player with players around him. If the whl is a devlopment league, aren't we hurting his game by not giving him players to play with?? This team is young and has a bright future, why not bring in someone too help for years to come rather than keep someone one who won't even be in the league next year. I am all for the rebuilding year and all that goes with it. I was well aware this was going to be a long season, why not trade a player who has given us a good couple years a chance to play for something and make our future brighter. There isn't a point in sefishness this season. It was over when it began, sit back and watch this team grow now, because in a few years, we will probably be talking about bringing players in, rather than trading them away

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