Solid effort from Seattle tonight... benefactors of NINE power play chances tonight, converting on two of them on their way to the 3-1 victory.
Tbirds definitely could have played a better game tonight but they also deserved the victory and was the better team tonight.
Blazers leading scorer Tyler Shattock received a boarding major and a game misconduct in the first period giving Seattle a 5 minute power play. I have to tell you... I think Shattock got jobbed here. I really didn't the hit was that bad and it was just extremely unfortunate that Chaffin was injured as a result of the hit. I'm not sure Shattock deserved more than a minor penalty and I'm sure the "result" of the penalty was the reason why a major was handed out. This is just plain wrong... and I see more and more of this going on in hockey these days. Referees should not be calling games based on the result of the hit and based on the actual infraction. I need to get the game footage tomorrow and take some more looks at the hit to see if maybe I didn't see it right.
The Tbirds scored on the resulting power play but quickly gave the lead back when Shane Wiebe stole the puck from Acolatse and Jacobs and made a nifty play to poke the puck between them and beat Pickard with a backhand at the far post. Great effort by Wiebe to give Kamloops a net even on a 5 minor penalty kill... but they weren't really able to build on that momentum.
Lindsay Nielsen got his second of the game throwing a shot in off the back of the leg of Blazers goaltender Jon Groenheyde in the second period and Seattle never really looked back. The Blazers spent so much time killing penalties (right or wrong) they really never really had many good chances to get back into the game.
Sena Acolatse finished the scoring emphatically with another rocket into the back of the net on the power play to finish the scoring. Acolatse has really grown into that spot and wow is he on fire right now. Eventually teams are going to see video and adjust to the shot from that spot and it will be up to Sena to adjust and exploit when teams finally start coming out to stop the rocket.
I really hope Steve Chaffin is ok... he was clearly shaken up from the hit by Shattock and if he doesn't have a concussion... well I would be shocked. I have no idea how many concussions Chaffin has had but this has to be at least his second significant one and I would be surprised if he wasn't out at least a couple of weeks... a real shame.
Seattle is back to action tomorrow night at home against the Everett Silvertips who were smashed by the Americans tonight 6-0 in Kennewick. Another chance for the Tbirds to show their progress.... they will need to play better against Everett than they did against 'Loops to come away with the victory.
Hockey Challenge 2014
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Teams are already signaling in on Sena when he is on the point. On Tuesday Tri was really playing high up when Sena was on the ice not giving him the shot and last night everytime it was passed to Sena they would rush him. What seatle will need to do now is find a mid threat that can stand between the opposing player by the net and the person rushing Sena or playing him high so that if they cover Sena they are going to get exploited elsewhere.
They put Parker and Rai or Wells and Nielsen in the circles or on the half wall so when thee Sena shot is challenged he passes to them and they draw the forwards down or they have the option to skate in and shoot.
One thing that I don't think is being talked about enough, is the great net prescence by Lockhart lately.
Not taking anything away from Sena, he has a rocket shot which he seems to have gotten control of, but Lockhart has been awesome with his work in front of the opposing goal lately. This seems like something the T-Birds have been missing for the past few years.
I really wish I could make it to the game tonight, should be interesting to see how Everett comes out tonight after getting throttled last night in Kennewick.
I was actually going to say how I don't like lockhart on the powerplay, last night I watched him 3 times get pushed out of the way or onto the ice. I've said before I've never really been that impressed with lockhart. I think people got excited because he's wreckless and really can't skate so would just skate into people, well that's great when you are on a line with leblanc and cloud. They took care of his unfinished business. This year, he isn't as gritty as he was the year before which kind of takes away what he's good at. He shouldn't be taking face offs, and he shouldn't be on the power play. Period. I would way rather see alos, or even haber out there infront of the net. Infact I think I would rather see dillon out there.
One thing I notice last night was how cheap the kamloops player. I didn't see the shattock hit directly, but the refs arm went up immediatly after the hit, and was in direct view of the hit. I'm sure he saw exactly what happened. It is too bad it happened to chaffin who I really thought was coming into his own as a player. I really think the league should take a look at the tape of the game. The kamloops players were out of control, with cheap little slashes, cheap little hits, and all the complaining and whining they did. ( shattocks temper tantrum was worse than my 4 year old), another player I was dissappointed in was jimmy bubnick, I was really excited to see him play because he's explosive on the ice. But after the game last night, I was sick to my stomach about how immature he his, that cheapp elbow he gave to lund at the end of the game was ridiculous. And it went on all during the game. For sure he deserved the 10 minute game misconduct he received. Other than that I was impressed with the birds, wasn't there best game I've seen, but, they still pulled out the win. Very impressed with the d. Schapps and warg are solid, fleming played well, and I'm impressed with haber falling back into some d again last night. He has been impressive this year. Not the best game this year from the birds, but they are maturing and are going to be a very dangerous team come playoffs. Hopefully they can keep it up.
Lockhart is fast and covers the ice well. He blocks shots and has good agility and quickness on the penalty kill. Usually first in on the forecheck and always responsible on the backcheck. Strong on his skates and gritty along the boards and in the corners. I agree he's doing an excellent job on the power play creating traffic in front of the net. Smart player, doesn't make huge mistakes and busts his ass every shift. There are a few players that could use some constructive criticism but Lockhart is not one of them.
I hope we come out with a solid 60min effort tonight.
GO BIRDS!!!
I don't know which team or which lockhart you are watching, I haven't seen him even play on the pk, the top 3 forwards playing the pk all year have been neilsen and wells, and rai with a mixture of different players playing with rai until recently when rouse has taken over that position. Lockhart might fill in, but isn't a regular on the pk. Please don't get me wrong, obviously he has some skill, he's playing in the whl, but please do not tell me he's not a player that doesn't need critisism. Yeah, he skates fast, but he isn't a good skater, yeah, he can forecheck, but he isn't strong and he is always being pushed off the play and off the puck, and he is gritty, but that is way down because he doesn't have someone protecting him this year. If you watched the game last night, he was infront of the net a lot, but also blocked two of there own shots, and atleast 3 times was completly pushed out of the play. So how can you tell me that's a distraction??? He was not even in the play, too me, there needs to be someone there who is strong enough not to get pushed out of the play and set screens. I hope he gets stronger, he would be a better player in my eyes. Much like fleming, he looked a lot better last night than he has in the past, a lot stronger, and a lot bigger.
Tough night tonight. They started the game pretty good but then their play really dropped off. The guys didn't play physical or have enough energy. Too bad we had a game like this agaist Everett. Let's hope they regroup and are ready to play on Wed.
Lockhart just turned 17 3 weeks ago, so he will get stronger. I think he's a good skater, finishes his checks and looks good on the PP and PK. Not worried about him at all, it'll be fun watching him develope.
Sorry Chris, but your critisism of Lockhart is odd. We'll have to agree to disagree but I have little faith in your ability to judge a player after that rant. Does he need to be stronger, yes, but Lockhart wins a lot of pucks and is excellent both in front of and behind the net on the PP. He's on a line with Parker and Haber and Lockhart does most of the dirty work. Not every player is a super star. You need role players on the 2nd and 3rd line to be grinders and Lockhart fills that role perfectly.
So you are telling me that if you had a choice of a second or third line center, it would be lockhart? I never said he wasn't a hard work, hell, I even said he has obvious talent. What I said was he doesn't have the strength, and he doesn't have the skill to play on the powerplay. Last year, he filled everyones head, including mine he was going to be a in your face, wreckless, hard working center. And this year, I don't think he's progressed and even lost some of that grittyness. Take the kamloops game for example, he was getting pushed out of the front of the net, the whole time, just completely out of the play. But when neilsen was out there, he scored a goal because he didn't allow himself to get pushed out. In my opinion, that's not what I would want in someone centering a powerplay line. He isn't a second line center, rouse has been,and frankly, he shouldn't be a third line center, I think alos should be. He's a bigger, more skillful player and in the everett game last night, was one of the better players. Just my opinion, but I would rather have lockhart playing with lund and elliot or tutt, then him playing with haber, and parker.
Last nights game versus Everatt was a game the Birds needed to win, Chiefs lost and that would have given us 24 points, very disapointing effort last night, home game, they have won 5 out of 6 and a decnet crowd, hopefully they play better versus Regina.The birds have played poorly at home this year, lets hope they pick things up a bit.
Its misleading to say they've played poorly at home this year. The birds haven't looked good anywhere up until a couple of weeks ago and they've split their 2 home games since then. Too early to tell if they have issues at home or not.
It is too early to say they havent played well at home BUT I wouldnt be the least bit surprised if they end up with a better road record than home record this season. They seem to get up more for road games (I've been to 8 of the last 12) as they feed off of a crowd that thinks they suck and enjoy proving them wrong.
Also lets face it, its easier to get going in Everett with that crowd and energy than at our place where there are a few spurts of energy here and there but not much else from our fans, that is when they decide to show up.
Alos is bigger than Lochhart? Really? They're basically the same size. Alos is an inch taller, according to the roster but Lockhart is 5 lbs heavier. If Silvester wasn't out injured, Alos would probably be a healthy scratch most nights. Lockhart is centering the 3rd line right now and my guess is he'll be the 4th line center when Silvester returns.
I meant body wise not height, I never looked at the roster but to me alos looks bigger, that's my opinion. He also seems stronger than lockhart in and around the net. But alos also played when silvester was playing, so I think there's more of a chance tutt and elliot will be healthy scratches before alos. But I agree, lockhart is a 4th line center.
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