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1.31.2011

Travis Toomey Suspended

I don't have details yet but I can see that this is listed under the WHL Discipline page.

- 1/31/11 Travis Toomey Seattle Tbd under supplemental discipline versus Everett on January 30

Everett must have sent something in and the league agreed. I honestly don't remember anything but I do noticed that Toomey got a charging call at the 20:00 mark of the game and I had already walked out at that point. Expect him to be out for the game tomorrow.

Frustrating Weekend

Another frustrating weekend to be a Tbirds fan.

I'm really not sure what to say at this point. The team is missing Travis Bobbee and Ryan Button and as a result they are asking Brenden Dillon to play nearly 30 minutes a night and that just isn't going to work. Not to mention the fact that Dillon took a pretty big shot from Ryan Harrison last night slamming his shoulder into the post. He did return to the game but also remarked on the post game interview that it was pretty banged up.

Quick note on the Harrison "hit". I did think it was a penalty and a pretty poor decision by Harrison but I also thought Dillon lost an edge and went down harder than expected and Dillon confirmed that in the post game interview as well. Kind of a tough break for Harrison but when you put a player in that position the possibilities exist that dangerous things can happen.

I don't really want to get into another debate about "what" or "who" the problem is with the Tbirds... I will just say that whatever is happening isn't working and something has got to give. Something needs to change in order to get things turned around.

Not much time for the Tbirds to feel sorry about themselves as they are back to work on home ice tomorrow night.

One final note...

Dear Rob,

Calvin needs a game off. He is a warrior... so of course he isn't going to "want" a night off. He needs a game off to watch the action and hit the refresh button. I know we need every single point possible right now but Salmon is capable and you aren't winning right now anyways. Rest him against Edmonton and he'll be ready to play another 19/20 the rest of the way. Carry on.

Regards,

Some stupid blogger

1.30.2011

Slide reaches 7 and Seattle reaches the bottom

The losing streak ran to 7 games last night as the Thunderbirds fell to the Winterhawks 5-2.

The effort by Seattle was much better than the 7-0 trouncing they suffered on Friday night in Everett but a Seattle team already short on talent and missing Travis Bobbee and Ryan Button just doesn't have the horses to compete with top teams like Portland.

I don't get the anger by fans... I really don't understand what the hell some fans expect. Yeah... these are dark days for the Tbirds. Games aren't really much fun to go to right now.... but for sake of rationality... look at the honest facts.

Everyone around me seems to be a bench jockey right now... blaming coach Rob Sumner for the team's failures. Give me a break... this team had 15 year old Shea Theodore as their 3rd PP defensemen last night. That isn't because Rob is throwing in the towel, it's because with Button and Bobbee out he is quite frankly your 3rd best option for offense from the blue line. That is a staggering reality people.

Speaking of Theodore. He has a good chance at a bright future but like all players that Seattle has now and in the past... hard work ethic and the desire to improve will determine how far Theodore goes.

Shocking to see no fights last night but from my vantage point it looked like a lot of talking and not a lot of glove dropping on the part of the Portland Winterhawks. They talk a big game but they don't seem too willing to drop gloves with the Seattle heavyweights. I could be way off base but that's what it looked like to me.

Seattle now finds themselves at the bottom of the Western Conference and without a pretty quick and miraculous turnaround they look determined to finish out of the playoff race for the second year in a row. Quite frankly... with the current state of this team and the level of talent on this roster I wouldn't mind missing the playoffs and getting a higher draft pick.

I'd also love to have Portland gain the #1 seed and have Seattle grab the #8 spot just to see another Portland-Seattle playoff series despite the fact that Seattle would be clear and large underdogs.

1.27.2011

Bantam Picks Part 2

Ok... Part 2.

The thesis of this whole project is... A lot of things are wrong with the Seattle Thunderbirds right now but the drafting and overall talent level appear to be the biggest issue.

Bantam Draft 2008

1st - Connor Sanvido - Much tougher to make a call on these kids that are 17 and younger because they still have time to improve. However, at this point you would have to call Sanvido a bust. Sanvido couldn't crack the roster as a 16 year old and now has 35 career games and just 3 points. A player who possesses the ability to score but currently doesn't have the skating ability to get himself open to use that scoring touch. I think we have to be patient and give him more time before calling him a bust.. but the clock is ticking. Players they could have picked... Myles Bell, Mitch Holmberg, Zach Yuen, Tyler Wotherspoon, Daulton Siwak, Zach Franko.

2nd - Tanner Muth - Muth came to camp as a 16 and looked like he was going to be a solid player. But he struggled throuh his 16 year old season and had only 5 assists with a -38 rating before being traded in the offseason to Swift Current for one year of Travis Bobbee. Bobbee has been a nice player but you wound up with only 2 seasons out of this pick... one bad and one good from Bobbee. Muth is a little better in Swift where he has 2 assists and is -6 in 22 games. Players missed... not very much here. Lukas Sutter, Brady Brassart, Liam Liston.

3rd - Ryan Armbruster - Armbruster was a bruising, fighter type defender who was close to making the team as a 16 year old and now likely won't play in the WHL. Not a lot really missed here. The 2008 draft doesn't have a lot of breakout players yet.

4th - Colin Jacobs - Obviously a very good pick for Seattle. They took a gamble on Jacobs coming to Seattle and they hit a homerun getting him to sign and report. An A+ pick here by any measure. You got a 1st round talent in the 4th round and got a US born player to come play for you. It was a gamble that paid off big.

4th - Robbie Newton - Hasn't played a game for Seattle. Not much obviously missed at this point.

5th - Mitch Elliot - Elliot is an interesting project. He has only produced 13 points in 104 games but he has great size, crushes people in fights and definitely has some potential. For a 5th round selection you could do a lot worse.

5th - Zach Walker - Walker looked like he might have a WHL future and actually played 2 games for Seattle on their Eastern road trip last season. I believe he suffered an injury during his 2nd game and hasn't been back with the team.

6th - Tyler Alos - Pretty decent selection for the 6th round here. Alos has 30 points in 108 career games while playing with Colin Jacobs a lot. Alos still has areas in need of improvement but his WHL career is off to a solid start and I see no reason why he won't have a solid 4 or 5 year career with the Thunderbirds.

7th - Seth Ambroz - This could wind up being a pretty good selection. 7th round selections don't turn out very often and with their 7th round selection the Tbirds took a flyer on Minnesota product Seth Ambroz. Ambroz is supposed to go to the University of Minnesota but decided that college could wait another year and went back to the USHL. Should Ambroz be a 1st round NHL pick this summer... his NHL team might prefer him to head to Seattle instead of Minnesota. This pick is a gamble... but for a 7th round pick it isn't a bad gamble.

Bantam Draft 2009

1st - Branden Troock - In training camp Troock had the look of being the next big time Thunderbird when he was suddenly sidelined with an injury and we haven't seen him on the ice since. I doubt that we will see him this season and hopefully with a full year's worth of rest he will be good to go in 2011-12. At this point it would be very unfair to say that Seattle made a mistake on this selection but here are the players they could have taken that are doing things as 16 year olds... Hunter Shinkaruk (31 points... wow), Dalton Sward.

2nd - Justin Hickman - Hickman isn't quite ready to be a top 6 forward but I think as long as he can add just a little bit of scoring ability he will develop into one. He has shown no fear on the ice, flying around making big hits in his limited playing time.

3rd - Jetlan Houcher - Could wind up being a player but didn't make the team as a 16 year old.

5th - Jayson Ness - I honestly can't find much on Ness. I kind of doubt we see him in a Tbirds uniform... but what do I know.

6th - Evan Wardley - Wardley has actually played 1 game for Seattle this year. Kind of tough to say whether he sticks long term. Not a bad pick for the 6th round.

7th-14th - Seattle took a boat load of players in these rounds and probably the only one worth noting is Alex Kerfoot. Kerfoot didn't exactly blow me away in training camp but his numbers in the BCMML are definitely worth taking note. Kerfoot now has 28 goals and 83 points in just 30 games playing for the Vancouver NW Giants. Kerfoot stands only 5'8" and 150 lbs. but I don't care what size you are if you are putting up nearly 3 points per game in the BCMML. I would love to see Seattle bring this kid in for a look and I have to think there is another reason why he hasn't come in yet (perhaps he hasn't signed?).

So there you have it.

It isn't fair or appropriate to judge the 2010 draft... heck it's hardly fair to judge the 2009 draft.

This "study" just confirms for me what I have previously thought. The coaching staff needs to do a better job getting more out of the players that they have... But... it's pretty clear that Seattle hasn't done a very good job drafting in the 4 classes leading up to this year and that is probably the biggest reason for the struggles of the team.

1.26.2011

Wednesday Morning Update

I started getting sick on Friday night at the game and was not feeling well all weekend and then was slammed with real work here at the office the past two days, keeping me from posting much of anything.

I was asked on Friday night why I was so "positive" about the Tbirds.

Couple of thoughts on that and some thoughts on the game I did see Friday night. I'm not really sure how "positive" I am.

Let me say this as clearly as I can. This team is not very good right now... this team was bad last year and something has got to change. There really isn't a whole lot to be positive about right now. We can look for a few rays of sunshine here and there but I wouldn't exactly call that being "positive".

Let's get something pretty clear here... I don't have any agenda with this blog. I write what I see and what I think about the current state of the Seattle Thunderbirds. I want to see them win as much as any of you do, but I didn't create this blog to try to have some kind of influence over the front office. Quite honestly I don't think the front office cares what I think and quite frankly I'm not sure they care what fans think either. I know that is a sobering thought... but I think the front office believes that what they are doing is the best job they can. Russ hasn't tried to hide from the fact that the team was awful last year and that this year would be part of a rebuilding process, not a "Phoenix" raising from the ashes to win the Western Conference.

I know that what some people want me to do is start running the coach and the GM out of town but I just don't believe in the notion that firing coach Rob Sumner will suddenly cure all of the problems that this team currently has.

Is Rob Sumner doing a good job? Well quite frankly no... This team doesn't appear to be getting better, they rarely play a full 60 minutes and whatever he is doing just isn't working.

I don't think this means that Sumner is a bad coach, it just means that the buttons he is currently pushing aren't working.

Changing coaches makes everyone temporarily happy but I truly do not believe that Rob Sumner is the biggest problem with this team.

What do I think IS the biggest problem??? T-A-L-E-N-T or lack thereof.

I feel like I have to repeat myself every single year when Seattle struggles. I believe very strongly that the lack of success in Seattle has been caused by poor drafting in combination with an inability to develop players.

Look at the leading point totals on the team.

Gallimore - Acquired via trade
Dillon - Undrafted, listed
Lockhart - Bantam Draft, 7th round
Noebels - Import Draft
Jacobs - Bantam Draft, 4th round
Toomey - Acquired via trade
Wells (traded) - Bantam Draft, 5th round
Button - Acquired via trade
Rouse - Acquired via trade
Alos - Bantam Draft, 6th round
Bobbee - Acquired via trade
Bonsor - Acquired via trade
Lund - Bantam Draft, 4th round

I could go on and on and on and on... but I think I have proven my point. Not a single 1st, 2nd or 3rd round bantam selection is anywhere near our point leaders. So let's look at what actually happened to those players once again.

2006 Bantam Draft

1st - Steve Chaffin - Retired due to concussions. Who knows whether Chaffin would have eventually turned into a solid player. Last season he had 5 assists in 17 games and was +1 before being forced to retire. Chaffin was a very well liked player but this has to be considered a miss for the Tbirds. Players Seattle did NOT select that came after Chaffin... Stefan Elliot, Kellan Tochkin, Nathan Lieuwen, Justin Maylan, Evander Kane, Tyson Barrie, Chase Schaber. Wow.

2nd - Zac Ashdown - Ashdown never played a game in the WHL. That is a huge fail on a 2nd round pick. Players they could have drafted... Curtis Hamilton, Brayden McNabb, Kevin Smith, Collin Bowman, Matt McKenzie and Linden Vey.

3rd - Steve Oursov - Oursov IS in the WHL this year with Chilliwack but including this year he has only played 50 WHL games and has 9 points. Not many 3rd round players that Seattle missed on badly.

4th - Jeff Beattie - I can't find any record of Jeff Beattie... so yeah that's a miss.

5th - Josh Lazowski - Lazowski has eventually turned into a decent player with 28 points in 32 games this season for Edmonton. He played 13 games with Seattle as a 16 year old before being sent home and eventually traded or released (I can't remember which and I'm not looking it up because this is turning into a novel).

5th - Charles Wells - Wells is the only real useful player that Seattle got from this draft. That isn't saying very much considering that Wells has only 106 points in 217 career WHL games and never seemed happy to be here in Seattle.

6th - 10th rounds - Trumbley, Ritchie, Johnson, Hamburg. I don't believe any of these 4 ever played in the WHL although that isn't uncommon for these late rounds.

2007 Bantam Draft

1st - Erik Fleming - Fleming has, at times, shown signs of possible breakout... however you would have to call him a complete bust after having 144 WHL games, 14 points and a career -37. Players we missed... Seattle picked 16th so not too many to pick from here but... Drew Czerwonka, Tyler Bunz, Kent Simpson, Spencer Main and Joe Morrow.

2nd - Calvin Pickard - Grand Slam Home Run. Nothing to say here. They need more solid singles and doubles to go with these homerun picks.

3rd - Brandon Carlson - Carlson came close to making the team as a 16 year old and a 17 year old but ultimately has never played a game in the WHL. Missed here... Jordan DePape, Joey Leach and Jordan Weal.

4th - Chance Lund and Jason Zucker - Lund has, until the last month, done absolutely nothing and Jason Zucker may still wind up in Seattle and was a gamble pick on a US born player that to this point has not worked out. Players they missed... Max Reinhart.

7th to 10th - Luke Lockhart, Justin Lachance, Dan Gibb, Connor Cleverley - Lockhart is a solid doubles pick for the front office as he has turned into a solid player. I don't believe Lachance and Cleverley have ever played in the WHL and Gibb has played 114 games in the WHL with Prince George and has 7 points and a -39.

This has become much longer than expected... so I will cut it off here and do part 2 with 2008 and 2009 tomorrow.

Here is my point. Before we go running around trying to run Rob Sumner out of town you should strongly consider the players that Seattle has drafted over the past 4 seasons.

1.20.2011

Awesome Post by Alan Caldwell

Every year Caldwell does a post that estimates what a team has to do down the stretch to make the playoffs. Here is this year's version. The playoffs are still within reach for Seattle but they need to start playing better.

Link here.

1.18.2011

Home vs. Kamloops Game Thread

Open Game Thread tonight as I have my own game and will be missing the game.

Sound off after the game about what you saw... good, bad or indifferent.

Go Birds!

1.17.2011

Frustrating Weekend

I'm going to label that a frustrating weekend for the Tbirds. They started the weekend on a solid note playing 40 good minutes against Everett at home and more or less coasting to the finish line for a 3-1 win. In some ways I felt like this was the most complete victory the Tbirds have had in a while. They played solid defense, got some solid goaltending and just enough offense to get the job done.

Saturday night was a completely different story from the reports that I got and while they battled back after falling behind 3-0 they just couldn't quite get the tying goal and dropped a 6-5 game.

Last night, Seattle had the good fortune of a "best possible start" when they scored just 12 seconds into the game but weren't able to sustain that effort. Vancouver scored 3 unanswered goals covering the 2nd and 3rd periods and the Tbirds fell 4-3.

A rough start to this critical stretch of the season. Getting only 2 out of 6 possible points over the weekend was a bad start and may just be an indication of what we're going to see down the stretch.

I tried to focus on some individuals over the weekend... here are my thoughts.

- Ryan Button: Button came over in the Charles Wells trade and quickly impressed during his first few games. He is extremely calm with the puck, has a very good and hard shot and isn't afraid to play the body and mix it up with disrespecting opponents. I love his addition to the team... but I fear he won't be around for next season. He is a much better fit than Wells and even if he doesn't return you've opened up a spot for another 20 year old that you likely would have needed from moving Wells anyways.

- Mitch Spooner: Honestly, I don't think he has made much of an impact in the games I have seen. So far I'm going to have to give this a TBD.

- Erik Fleming: Fleming has played better recently after being used as a Forward and as a Defensemen. He appears to be playing with a tad more confidence and he is a player the Tbirds simply must be able to turn around if they want to take a step forward next season.

- Burke Gallimore: Gallimore had a better game last night against Vancouver... but Friday he looked tired, disinterested, frustrated or sick... or something. I'm not sure but he looked off.

- Travis Toomey: Speaking of sick... what a solider Toomey is. Friday night he was clearly sick as he came back to the bench at one point and preceded to puke at least once and probably a couple of times before grabbing a bit of water and heading back out for his next shift. Meanwhile, he has 12 points in his last 8 games and that includes 5 multi-point games.

- Dave Sutter: Sutter had what I thought was one of his best games of the season on Friday night followed by what I thought was one of his worst games on Sunday. I've said this before and I'll say this again... he is very raw and unfinished so these up and down games are what you're going to get until he gets some more experience under his belt. I'm still very optimistic.

- Chance Lund: Lund has suddenly become useful. What a difference a little bit of confidence can do for a player. A month ago I was ready to write him off and now he is legitimately decent. He has 3 goals, 5 points and is +7 in 9 games this month. He is still a little bit up and down at times but he seems to have turned the corner.

- Justin Hickman and Connor Sanvido: I'm lumping these two together because I thought they had the same meaningful impact on the game on Friday night. They didn't have the same impact on Sunday but that kind of inconsistency is to be expected from young players. Find that consistency and the increase in playing time will happen. Hickman picked up his first WHL point on a nice assist to Lund on Friday.

- Jacob Doty: Doty had another nice fight on Friday night but he also drew a penalty and was a factor. The same consistency issues are true with Doty as well.

- Brenden Dillon: Still hasn't been signed to a pro contract and I'm still a little bit surprised that he hasn't. His points are down a little bit this month but he is also +6. Solid.

Tbirds are back in action tomorrow night against Kamloops. For Seattle... time is starting to run out. That might sound a bit dramatic as there are 27 games left but the margin of error is getting smaller and smaller with each loss.

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Remember to click on the link above to donate to the Ronald McDonald House. Be sure to select the Hockey Challenge Program and in the comment section put "Tyler Hunnex, Hockey Challenge, IEB Team" so that I get credit for your generous donation. Thank you very much.

1.14.2011

Critical Stretch of Games

A critical stretch of games for the Thunderbirds begins tonight with Everett visiting ShoWare Center. Seattle sits only 2 points ahead of Everett, who currently sits in 10th in the Western Conference.

In the next 11 games, Seattle is going to see Everett 5 times, Vancouver, Kelowna and Kamloops once each and Portland twice.

If Seattle has any visions of making the playoffs, these are the teams they are going to have to get points from.

I'm very interested to see what Ryan Button and Mitch Spooner look like tonight.



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Remember to click on the link above to donate to the Ronald McDonald House. Be sure to select the Hockey Challenge Program and in the comment section put "Tyler Hunnex, Hockey Challenge, IEB Team" so that I get credit for your generous donation. Thank you very much.

1.12.2011

Hockey Challenge 2011

Oh and the Tbirds lost 7-1 last night. I really don't have any idea why Pickard stays in these games. Your guess is as good as mine. My educated guess is that Pickard doesn't want to come out of any game no matter what and because he is your leader and best player you respect that and just leave him in most of the time.

Outside of that... I'm really not sure. You don't yank him because of his play, you just get him out of there because the game is clearly out of hand and you want to get him some rest and give Salmon some playing time.

Another shameless plug for the Hockey Challenge. Please Donate.

I am personally donating my ad revenue for the months of January, February and March to help the push.

Remember... when you click on the link above be sure to select the Hockey Challenge Program and in the comment section put "Tyler Hunnex, Hockey Challenge, IEB Team" so that I get credit for your generous donation.

I'd love to show the RMH the power of our little group of Tbird fans.

1.10.2011

Wells Traded



Just announced. Charles Wells and Seattle's 1st round Bantam selection in the 2011 draft to Prince Albert for defenseman Ryan Button.

Button is a great addition... but I have to seriously question whether trading Wells AND a 1st round pick was worth it.

Button is a 19 year old and is not a sure bet to return to Seattle next season. As best as I can tell he has not been signed by Boston so maybe Russ has been given some assurance that even if Boston were to sign him they would likely send him back to Seattle.

Wow... seems like a high price but at least we got a very good player in return.



Whoops... I'm an idiot as usual. Seattle trades Wells and their 1st round IMPORT selection to Prince Albert for Button.

That deal makes a lot more sense and Seattle was not going to draft any Imports next season. Thanks to Kodi for pointing out my mistake.

Deadline Day

Tbirds had some interesting results over the weekend. A nice win over Kelowna... a nice battle but close loss to Portland and a not so great 2 periods with a nice comeback in Chilliwack to earn a point with an Overtime loser 21 seconds into the OT session.

Today's action will be a lot more exciting (potentially). Cody Eakin was traded for 8 players yesterday but I'm sure Mike Caccioppoli still wants the Tbirds to be buyers of a big time sniper and defensemen.

I expect Seattle to be modest sellers here and it will be interesting to see what happens.

1.07.2011

Let the games begin

Medicine Hat has announced the addition of Scott Ramsay in exchange for a conditional draft pick. Link here.

Deadline Weekend

Tonight starts a very interesting weekend for the Thunderbirds and every other team in the WHL because the trade deadline will pass at 2pm Seattle time.

Rumors are flying and I have several different sets of "sources" throwing me some interesting rumors.

Let's take a look at the roster and see if we can break down the likelihood of a trade going down.

Might as well get the big one out of the way off the bat...

Goaltenders:

Calvin Pickard - 25%

At the start of the season I would have put this at zero but I think we all have to admit that there is a non-zero chance that Pickard will get traded. He deserves to play for a winner and his value will never be higher than it is right now. Seattle is still recovering from several disappointing drafts and selling Pickard to the highest bidder might make sense if it helped you completely re-build your talent pool. Having said that... I think GM Russ Farwell would have to be absolutely knocked over with an offer to trade Pickard because the risk of angering your fanbase further is pretty high with a trade like that.

Michael Salmon - 60%

Salmon should probably be getting more playing time and he probably deserves a chance to prove whether he could be a reasonable option at starter for a WHL team. Whether Farwell can get a team to take him and give us something reasonable back for him... I'm not sure.

Defense:

Brenden Dillon - 50%

Dillon is a true 50/50 here. There are teams (cough, cough Portland) who still have the ability to add an impact 20 year old. The question again is whether the offer from a team like Portland is worth losing a guy who has been with you his entire career and is currently splitting Captain duties.

Travis Bobbee - 10%

I can't really see Bobbee getting traded unless the price is too high for Dillon and the other team (cough, Portland... again) decides that Bobbee represents a better option for the smaller price. Having said that, Portland traded Bobbee once and they may or may not want him back. Other teams are options as well.

Scott Ramsay - 60%

Seattle has four 1991 born players on their roster and with an eye on next season will not be able to keep all of them, making it logical to start trading the ones you aren't sure are going to be around next season. Ramsay was much better last season and was slowed this year by a concussion that he suffered in Ducks training camp. Don't be surprised if Ramsay is moved.

Erik Bonsor - 40%

Bonsor's 40% represents the rest of Ramsay's 60%. If Ramsay is traded... Bonsor probably isn't.

Dave Sutter - 1%

I doubt he is going anywhere.

Austin Frank - 5%

Hasn't played and has battled injuries and that makes it pretty unlikely he would be going anywhere. Plus... not much reason to trade a 17 year old unless you are giving up on him.

Erik Fleming - 25%

Wow... no idea on Fleming. Last week he was playing forward for the Birds and he has failed to live up to his 1st round draft status. If someone wants him I suppose he could be moved.

Austin Baecker - 5%

Baecker and Frank are in the same boat. Haven't played much and they are both projects so they would probably only be traded as part of package deal where some team wanted a big D-man included.

Forwards:

Mitch Elliot - 5%

Mitch has shown some interesting potential this year, I doubt Seattle is ready to give up on him.

Connor Sanvido - 30%

The question is whether anyone wants Sanvido. Seattle clearly isn't high on him as he didn't make the team as a 16 year old and is seeing very limited playing time as a 17 year old. If another team wants him... he can probably be acquired.

Justin Hickman - 1%

Never say never but...

Branden Troock - 5%

He gets a 5% instead of a 1% because there has to be some concern in the front office about his health. Having said that... I have no reason to believe Troock won't be playing again eventually so why trade him when his value is lowest.

Tyler Alos - 5%

Not much reason to trade a 17 year old who has shown some promise.

Charles Wells - 70%

Wells is probably the Seattle player most likely to be traded by Monday. He looks unhappy to be in Seattle and his numbers have been excellent with 24 points and a +8 rating. If Wells isn't begging to stay in here as a 20 year old, there is no reason why you shouldn't move him to a better team and see if you can't improve in the long run.

Marcel Noebels - 1%

The German has arguably been the Tbirds best player and will return as a 19 year old, no reason to trade him.

Brendan Rouse - 10%

Early in the season Rouse appeared to be in the "dog house" but has seen his minutes steadily increase as the season has gone along. Rouse will likely never be a star but every team needs responsible players who work hard... I can't see why Seattle would trade him.

Colin Jacobs - 1%

I doubt Seattle is ready to move on from Jacobs.

Luke Lockhart - 5%

Lockhart is likely your captain next season and has flourished this season. Unlikely that he would be traded unless Farwell got an offer he couldn't refuse.

Burke Gallimore - 50%

Gallimore has had an excellent season and he is a very good Power Play weapon. I think it is likely that he returns to Seattle for his 20 year old season but I have to imagine that teams are at least asking Farwell what it would take to get him.

Chance Lund - 10%

A month ago I would have said that it was time to move on from Lund and then suddenly he seemed to figure something out and has been playing much better. After waiting for two years, you can't trade Lund weeks after he seems to have finally made a breakthrough.

Jacob Doty - 5%

Doubtful that the Tbirds would trade a 17 year old who is showing some promise as an enforcer and possibly more.

Travis Toomey - 5%

Toomey probably doesn't have as much trade value as Bobbee and certainly not as much as Dillon and from what I understand he has been an incredible influence in the locker room as a leader.

So there you go... obviously the biggest one to watch for is Pickard but it is likely you'll see a couple of other moves made by Seattle in the next couple of days.

1.03.2011

Quick Note and shameless HC plug

Already hearing some "grumblings" of some impending moves by the Thunderbirds. Keep your eyes open for things to happen in the next week.

Tbirds got a nice win down in Portland and a tough loss at home. This team is basically treading water right now.

Here is another of the many reminders. Please donate to the Hockey Challenge on my behalf. Last year my friends, family and fellow Tbird fans helped me personally raise over $1000 and I would love to push that over $1500. I know times are still tough for a lot of people so please do not feel obligated... but even if you can only pitch in $5 it will go to a very worthy cause.

Once again... click on the banner at the top of the blog and make sure you make reference to the Hockey Challenge, Tyler Hunnex, Team IEB.

As of this moment, I don't have any idea whether I will be playing in the "Celebrity Game". I will keep everyone updated on that as it develops.

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