Maybe I should start taking a little credit for my predictions... That makes me 3/3 on the road trip now as the Tbirds win tonight 5-3 in Regina and now have 3 points in the first 3 games of the Eastern Swing (excluding the Chilliwack game). I should probably go back and read the post from before but I believe I said they would lose the first, get a point or two in the second game and get a point or two in the second for a total of three points after the first three games.... so that has worked out well so far.
Unfortunately... that would mean that the Tbirds will lose tomorrow in Brandon, which is what I have predicted. In reality, that wouldn't be much of a surprise to lose to a talented Brandon team on the road in the team's 4th game in 5 nights, so I will stick to that prediction. In my opinion if they get even a single point tomorrow night in Brandon that is a nice gain in the standings. I know there has been a lot of discussion lately on Alan Caldwell and Gregg Drinnan's blogs (the best in the WHL) about the merits of the current point system... where teams get a point just for getting the game to overtime, but the fact is that you might as well deal with the system you currently have. Any points tomorrow night will be huge.
Another 42 shots tonight for the Tbirds, but unlike the previous games, tonight the Birds cash in 5 times on their way to the 5-3 victory. Thomas Hickey scored twice in the win... when was the last time Thomas Hickey scored twice you might ask? You'l have to go back to February 16th of 2007 to find the last time Captain Hickey scored twice. With the 2 goal effort, Hickey earned the 1st star of the game for his effort but was also aided by a goal and an assist from Charles Wells who picked up his first goal of the season. Luke Lockhart and Prab Rai also scored in the win for the Tbirds... for Lockhart his 2nd and for Rai his team leading 13th.
Special added honorable mention to goaltender Jacob DeSerres. If you were to compare this game to some of the games of past seasons, his 27 saves seem somewhat ordinary in relation... but his 27 saves tonight were huge for the Tbirds and especially the 11 for 11 in the 3rd period when the game started tied going into the period. Jake has struggled this season but he appears to be gaining confidence and starting to look like the goaltender we have seen in the past 2 seasons. We all know that the talent Jake has shown did not disappear over night and it was simply a matter of confidence. I have said this before and I will say it again... I think Calvin Pickard is also a very talented goaltender but this team cannot rely upon a 16 year old goaltender to carry them for the entire season. They need Jake to become goaltender #1 with Pickard becoming a very good #2 and perhaps tonight is another step in that direction.
Tbirds improve to 8-11-3 good for 19 points in 22 games good for a .432 point percentage which is now tied for 7th in the Western Conference with Prince George.
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11.14.2008
Reason to be very excited
This might sort of fly under the radar of the casual fan... so let me shine as big of a spotlight on this as I possibly can.
Seattle yesterday signed 15 year old Colin Jacobs to a WHL contract. This is a HUGE signing for the Tbirds and a real score for Russ Farwell, Colin Alexander, Rob Sumner and the rest of the staff.
Jacobs... from Coppell, Texas was taken in the 4rd round of the WHL Bantam draft last year. Most said the only reason he was taken in the 4rd round was the natural uncertainty a player from Texas coming to the WHL.
The Tbirds official story can be found here.
I'll let you go over to the Tbirds website to read the rest of the details and skip right to the opinion portion of this.
This is really a huge score for the Tbirds... This will end up essentially giving the Tbirds two first round talents in the same draft without even factoring in whatever else they manage to get out of the 1993 draft class. While I will sit here and tell you that I have never actually seen Jacobs play with my own two eyes, if he is anything close to the hype he is going to be one heck of a player. All would say that he is among the best American hockey players born in 1993 and a lot have said that he is the best. This kid was even described by some scouts as one of the best skaters they saw in the 1993 age group including the Canadian players.
With Sanvido and Jacobs playing in Seattle together for several years beginning in 2009 the future looks incredibly bright for the Tbirds.
Jacobs, at 15, will not be able to join the team on a full time basis this year but will join the team for some practices and probably play in his allotted 5 games sometime around the new year. I'm excited to see how far along he is already at 15.
Seattle yesterday signed 15 year old Colin Jacobs to a WHL contract. This is a HUGE signing for the Tbirds and a real score for Russ Farwell, Colin Alexander, Rob Sumner and the rest of the staff.
Jacobs... from Coppell, Texas was taken in the 4rd round of the WHL Bantam draft last year. Most said the only reason he was taken in the 4rd round was the natural uncertainty a player from Texas coming to the WHL.
The Tbirds official story can be found here.
I'll let you go over to the Tbirds website to read the rest of the details and skip right to the opinion portion of this.
This is really a huge score for the Tbirds... This will end up essentially giving the Tbirds two first round talents in the same draft without even factoring in whatever else they manage to get out of the 1993 draft class. While I will sit here and tell you that I have never actually seen Jacobs play with my own two eyes, if he is anything close to the hype he is going to be one heck of a player. All would say that he is among the best American hockey players born in 1993 and a lot have said that he is the best. This kid was even described by some scouts as one of the best skaters they saw in the 1993 age group including the Canadian players.
With Sanvido and Jacobs playing in Seattle together for several years beginning in 2009 the future looks incredibly bright for the Tbirds.
Jacobs, at 15, will not be able to join the team on a full time basis this year but will join the team for some practices and probably play in his allotted 5 games sometime around the new year. I'm excited to see how far along he is already at 15.
11.12.2008
Another frustrating (somewhat) night for the Tbirds
Tbirds lose in a shootout tonight to Saskatoon 2-1. Seattle had handfuls of opportunities to earn the second point tonight including a penalty shot by Lindsey Nielsen in Overtime that was denied by Blades goaltender Braden Holtby.
Holtby was as good as advertised tonight stopping 34 of 35 Tbird shots and got the win despite allowing 3 goals on 6 shots in the shootout. Jon Parker was the 6th shooter for the Tbirds and failed to extend the shootout to a 7th round. O'Brien, Scott and Rai all converted in the shootout and Boyer, Hickey and Parker failed in their attempts. Seattle now has 127 shots in their last 3 games and only 4 goals to show for it.
That said.... If we can get past the disappointment of nearly being 2-0 Seattle is precisely on track for my projection of this road trip and despite getting only 1 point in 2 games, their play has been excellent and if they can manage to keep the same game and intensity throughout the trip, you can expect good things to happen.
Earlier in the game Jim O'Brien gave the Tbirds a 1-0 lead in the 1st period with his 8th goal of the season coming on assists from Prab Rai and Jon Parker.
Tbirds are off tomorrow night before heading to Regina Friday and a battle with Brandon on Saturday.
Holtby was as good as advertised tonight stopping 34 of 35 Tbird shots and got the win despite allowing 3 goals on 6 shots in the shootout. Jon Parker was the 6th shooter for the Tbirds and failed to extend the shootout to a 7th round. O'Brien, Scott and Rai all converted in the shootout and Boyer, Hickey and Parker failed in their attempts. Seattle now has 127 shots in their last 3 games and only 4 goals to show for it.
That said.... If we can get past the disappointment of nearly being 2-0 Seattle is precisely on track for my projection of this road trip and despite getting only 1 point in 2 games, their play has been excellent and if they can manage to keep the same game and intensity throughout the trip, you can expect good things to happen.
Earlier in the game Jim O'Brien gave the Tbirds a 1-0 lead in the 1st period with his 8th goal of the season coming on assists from Prab Rai and Jon Parker.
Tbirds are off tomorrow night before heading to Regina Friday and a battle with Brandon on Saturday.
Really tough start to the trip...
Tbirds basically dominate the Prince Albert Raiders last night and yet lose 2-1 at the Art Hauser Centre. This was a game I did not expect the team to win or get a point but I also expected them to play poorly after the long trip and that was simply not the case.
Tbirds end up with a 42-20 advantage on shots but only manage the one goal by Chris Cloud after falling behind by 2 only 35 seconds into the 2nd period.
Greg Scott and Jim O'Brien were the 2nd and 3rd stars in the game, illustrating the effort.
Hopefully the TBirds can forget about missing a point or two in Prince Albert and come out with the same effort and intensity tonight in Saskatoon to earn their first win of the road trip.
Seattle, after the 42 shots last night have now fired 92 shots in their last two games but have only scored 3 goals on those 92 shots... a 3.26% shooting percentage.
Tbirds end up with a 42-20 advantage on shots but only manage the one goal by Chris Cloud after falling behind by 2 only 35 seconds into the 2nd period.
Greg Scott and Jim O'Brien were the 2nd and 3rd stars in the game, illustrating the effort.
Hopefully the TBirds can forget about missing a point or two in Prince Albert and come out with the same effort and intensity tonight in Saskatoon to earn their first win of the road trip.
Seattle, after the 42 shots last night have now fired 92 shots in their last two games but have only scored 3 goals on those 92 shots... a 3.26% shooting percentage.
11.10.2008
Putting me out of business???
Only kidding of course... but most of you probably heard today that the Tbirds have announced a new Blog on the website. Tbirds announcer Thom Beuning will be blogging about some observations he has while on the team's 7 game road trip and he already has his first entry posted about the game on Saturday. This should be a nice way to get some up close and personal perspective during the trip.
http://www.seattlethunderbirds.com/blog/
EDIT - btw... Kindersley, Saskatchewan? I guess I learn a new small Canadian town every year. Kindersley, by the way, population 4412 (as of 2006)
http://www.seattlethunderbirds.com/blog/
EDIT - btw... Kindersley, Saskatchewan? I guess I learn a new small Canadian town every year. Kindersley, by the way, population 4412 (as of 2006)
11.09.2008
Great start to the road trip
I'm thinking the same thing I'm sure several of you are thinking... I'm slacking... I know it...
Tbirds get another win last night in Chilliwack to start the 7 game road trip. Considering how much the Bruins had been struggling coming into this game, it didn't sound like the Tbirds really played their best game of the season but they did put a season high 50 shots on Bruin goaltender Mark Friesen. So perhaps the chances were there and the finish was not.... either way the game had the potential to be quite disappointing after taking a 1-0 lead in the first, giving up the lead in the 2nd and having the 50 shots on goal.
Thanks to the shootout and the finish of Jim O'Brien the Tbirds get the trip off to a 2 point start and the fact is, it really doesn't matter what it looked like... its a 2 point road game. Now starts the real challenge as the Tbirds travel to Prince Albert to face the Raiders on Tuesday before driving back down the 11 to Saskatoon for the Blades on Wednesday.
For perspective.... the drive from Chilliwack to Prince Albert is 1060 miles. Not sure if the team is going all the way to PA or if they are staying somewhere in between. Either way... it's a long trip in the bus which is why these road trips are so difficult regardless of the teams you are playing. I would expect Tuesday to be really tough due to the travel, Saskatoon is a good team but has been totally average at home at 5-5-1 so that could be a place to earn a point or two. After a day off you might find a point or two in Regina who have only won in regulation 7 times in 13 games... but at Brandon the next day is a talented team and after 4 games in 5 days I would expect the Birds to run out of gas for that game on Saturday. After a few days off they should certainly get a point or two in Moose Jaw before facing a tough Swift Current team who is 9-3 at home.
Based on that... I'm looking at 5 points in 6 games as being a pretty decent road trip.
Tbirds get another win last night in Chilliwack to start the 7 game road trip. Considering how much the Bruins had been struggling coming into this game, it didn't sound like the Tbirds really played their best game of the season but they did put a season high 50 shots on Bruin goaltender Mark Friesen. So perhaps the chances were there and the finish was not.... either way the game had the potential to be quite disappointing after taking a 1-0 lead in the first, giving up the lead in the 2nd and having the 50 shots on goal.
Thanks to the shootout and the finish of Jim O'Brien the Tbirds get the trip off to a 2 point start and the fact is, it really doesn't matter what it looked like... its a 2 point road game. Now starts the real challenge as the Tbirds travel to Prince Albert to face the Raiders on Tuesday before driving back down the 11 to Saskatoon for the Blades on Wednesday.
For perspective.... the drive from Chilliwack to Prince Albert is 1060 miles. Not sure if the team is going all the way to PA or if they are staying somewhere in between. Either way... it's a long trip in the bus which is why these road trips are so difficult regardless of the teams you are playing. I would expect Tuesday to be really tough due to the travel, Saskatoon is a good team but has been totally average at home at 5-5-1 so that could be a place to earn a point or two. After a day off you might find a point or two in Regina who have only won in regulation 7 times in 13 games... but at Brandon the next day is a talented team and after 4 games in 5 days I would expect the Birds to run out of gas for that game on Saturday. After a few days off they should certainly get a point or two in Moose Jaw before facing a tough Swift Current team who is 9-3 at home.
Based on that... I'm looking at 5 points in 6 games as being a pretty decent road trip.
11.08.2008
Tbirds make it two in a row over Red Deer
Tbirds defeat the Red Deer Rebels last night 5-2 in 4327 people in attendance at Key Arena. Seattle is now 4-1 at home... maybe they want to re-think this whole moving thing... only kidding of course.
The game had a very eventful start as Devon LeBlanc scored just 90 seconds into the game stuffing a rebound past Rebel goaltender Morgan Clark for the 1-0 lead... but Red Deer answered quickly as they scored twice, 40 seconds apart only 3 minutes into the game and Seattle found themselves down 2-1.
Calvin Pickard looked horrible early on but Sumner called for his timeout and decided to stick with the young goaltender and the move paid off. Pickard was much better the rest of the way in front of a solid defensive effort an was not beaten again.
Seattle began their comeback with a goal by Brenden Silvester, who continues to look increasingly comfortable with his expanded role.
Another youngster looking more comfortable is Jonathan Parker who scored his 3rd goal of the season to give the Tbirds a lead they would not give up in the second period. Parker has scored in two straight now and has 4 points since joining the Rai/O'Brien line.
Following the trend... 16 year old Luke Lockhart poked home a rebound past Clark to give the Tbirds a 4-2 lead short of the midway mark in the 3rd period. The goal by Lockhart was the first of his WHL career and was assisted by Colin Haas and Chance Lund who picked up his first WHL point on Lockhart's goal.
Prab Rai finished the scoring with just over a minute left by scoring into the open net and sending Tbird fans home with a free burger from Dairy Queen for the 3rd home game in a row.
Tbirds get right back at it tonight in Chilliwack as they embark on their 7 game road trip that will move through the Eastern Division.
At 6-10-2 and 14 points in 18 games are getting closer and closer to that .500 mark I've been talking about for the first half of the season.... but this Eastern road swing is certain to test them immensely and I would have to think that 3-4 (lets say 6 or 7 points) could be considered a great success. Chilliwack is really struggling, having lost 9 of their last 10, making tonight's game critical to having a successful road trip.
I have to say that I was very surprised to see Calvin Pickard in there again last night and I have to wonder to myself how long it takes Sumner to get DeSerres back to playing a majority of the games. I think Pickard has a really bright future, but I'm not convinced this team can ultimately be successful with a 16 year old goaltender playing a majority of the games... but perhaps he can prove me wrong. I would expect to see DeSerres in there tonight on the road, but at this point nothing would surprise me.
I think if the Tbirds can continue to get contributions from guys like Silvester, Parker and to a lesser extent Lockhart they have a great chance to get back to .500 sooner than later.
One last note... I didn't listen to the pregame show... I know David Richard is hurt but I don't know where Jeremy Boyer was. Does anyone know if he got hurt as well?
The game had a very eventful start as Devon LeBlanc scored just 90 seconds into the game stuffing a rebound past Rebel goaltender Morgan Clark for the 1-0 lead... but Red Deer answered quickly as they scored twice, 40 seconds apart only 3 minutes into the game and Seattle found themselves down 2-1.
Calvin Pickard looked horrible early on but Sumner called for his timeout and decided to stick with the young goaltender and the move paid off. Pickard was much better the rest of the way in front of a solid defensive effort an was not beaten again.
Seattle began their comeback with a goal by Brenden Silvester, who continues to look increasingly comfortable with his expanded role.
Another youngster looking more comfortable is Jonathan Parker who scored his 3rd goal of the season to give the Tbirds a lead they would not give up in the second period. Parker has scored in two straight now and has 4 points since joining the Rai/O'Brien line.
Following the trend... 16 year old Luke Lockhart poked home a rebound past Clark to give the Tbirds a 4-2 lead short of the midway mark in the 3rd period. The goal by Lockhart was the first of his WHL career and was assisted by Colin Haas and Chance Lund who picked up his first WHL point on Lockhart's goal.
Prab Rai finished the scoring with just over a minute left by scoring into the open net and sending Tbird fans home with a free burger from Dairy Queen for the 3rd home game in a row.
Tbirds get right back at it tonight in Chilliwack as they embark on their 7 game road trip that will move through the Eastern Division.
At 6-10-2 and 14 points in 18 games are getting closer and closer to that .500 mark I've been talking about for the first half of the season.... but this Eastern road swing is certain to test them immensely and I would have to think that 3-4 (lets say 6 or 7 points) could be considered a great success. Chilliwack is really struggling, having lost 9 of their last 10, making tonight's game critical to having a successful road trip.
I have to say that I was very surprised to see Calvin Pickard in there again last night and I have to wonder to myself how long it takes Sumner to get DeSerres back to playing a majority of the games. I think Pickard has a really bright future, but I'm not convinced this team can ultimately be successful with a 16 year old goaltender playing a majority of the games... but perhaps he can prove me wrong. I would expect to see DeSerres in there tonight on the road, but at this point nothing would surprise me.
I think if the Tbirds can continue to get contributions from guys like Silvester, Parker and to a lesser extent Lockhart they have a great chance to get back to .500 sooner than later.
One last note... I didn't listen to the pregame show... I know David Richard is hurt but I don't know where Jeremy Boyer was. Does anyone know if he got hurt as well?
11.04.2008
Tbirds start strong and finish stronger
Tbirds blow out Edmonton tonight in a very entertaining game at Key Arena.
Attendance was listed at 2791... ummm yeah right. Looked a little closer to maybe 1500 hundred tonight although the 2800 number was probably paid attendance. Pretty tough on any Tuesday night but especially on an election night.
Tbirds started fast and strong and were finally rewarded with just over a minute to go in the first period with a nice finish by Jim O'Brien from Prab Rai and Jonathan Parker.
That line had a fabulous night finishing with 3 points a piece and all with +3 ratings.
Tbirds got a little sloppy in the second period but still managed to finish the period with the second goal by Jim O'Brien to give the Birds a 3-1 lead going into the third period.
Greg Scott then took over in the 3rd period... and while he did not finish as one of the 3 stars of the game, it was only because the issue had already been decided. While Scott will not officially get credited with a Short Handed Goal... he was awarded a Penalty Shot while being dragged down during a penalty kill and converted on to the short side on Oil Kings starter Torrie Jung that gave the Tbirds a 5-1 lead and send Jung to the bench. Later... Scott scored again while short handed with a nifty move around the defense and finish past Dalyn Flette who relieved Jung.
Leblanc and Acolatse finished the scoring and sent the fans home with an 8 goal game and some free burgers from Dairy Queen.
Tbirds now 5-10-2, 12 points and 5 points away from getting back to the .500 mark with another home game coming up on Friday against Red Deer.
One last interesting note from tonight's game... Chris Cloud fought the one handed bandit in the 2nd as Jesse Pearson dropped the gloves with Cloud.... but at first appeared to forget to drop one of his gloves. After it appeared that Cloud asked Pearson "what the heck are you doing" and probably not exactly in those words the two proceed to exchange a few punches.
Now later... we noticed the reason why Pearson didn't drop his second glove and that was because his right hand had been taped up. I'm not going to bother to look up the exact rule but I know a player received either another penalty or misconduct from having their hand taped and getting into a scrap. What I didn't know was that apparently if you have your hand wrapped and you don't drop the glove(s) you don't get an additional penalty or misconduct for that. It appeared that Coach Rob Sumner had some kind of conversation with the Referee about this and nothing else became of it.
Box Score here
Game Story here
PS- This one was for Tuba Man..... everyone will miss him.
Attendance was listed at 2791... ummm yeah right. Looked a little closer to maybe 1500 hundred tonight although the 2800 number was probably paid attendance. Pretty tough on any Tuesday night but especially on an election night.
Tbirds started fast and strong and were finally rewarded with just over a minute to go in the first period with a nice finish by Jim O'Brien from Prab Rai and Jonathan Parker.
That line had a fabulous night finishing with 3 points a piece and all with +3 ratings.
Tbirds got a little sloppy in the second period but still managed to finish the period with the second goal by Jim O'Brien to give the Birds a 3-1 lead going into the third period.
Greg Scott then took over in the 3rd period... and while he did not finish as one of the 3 stars of the game, it was only because the issue had already been decided. While Scott will not officially get credited with a Short Handed Goal... he was awarded a Penalty Shot while being dragged down during a penalty kill and converted on to the short side on Oil Kings starter Torrie Jung that gave the Tbirds a 5-1 lead and send Jung to the bench. Later... Scott scored again while short handed with a nifty move around the defense and finish past Dalyn Flette who relieved Jung.
Leblanc and Acolatse finished the scoring and sent the fans home with an 8 goal game and some free burgers from Dairy Queen.
Tbirds now 5-10-2, 12 points and 5 points away from getting back to the .500 mark with another home game coming up on Friday against Red Deer.
One last interesting note from tonight's game... Chris Cloud fought the one handed bandit in the 2nd as Jesse Pearson dropped the gloves with Cloud.... but at first appeared to forget to drop one of his gloves. After it appeared that Cloud asked Pearson "what the heck are you doing" and probably not exactly in those words the two proceed to exchange a few punches.
Now later... we noticed the reason why Pearson didn't drop his second glove and that was because his right hand had been taped up. I'm not going to bother to look up the exact rule but I know a player received either another penalty or misconduct from having their hand taped and getting into a scrap. What I didn't know was that apparently if you have your hand wrapped and you don't drop the glove(s) you don't get an additional penalty or misconduct for that. It appeared that Coach Rob Sumner had some kind of conversation with the Referee about this and nothing else became of it.
Box Score here
Game Story here
PS- This one was for Tuba Man..... everyone will miss him.
RIP Tuba Man
Seriously... what is the deal with this black cloud hanging over Seattle sports? Can something be done about this?
Just a tragic story... We all knew Tuba Man and we all loved his "Go T-birds.....".
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/jamieson/386267_robert04xx.html
Just a tragic story... We all knew Tuba Man and we all loved his "Go T-birds.....".
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/jamieson/386267_robert04xx.html
11.02.2008
Quick update...
No time to write this morning as I am on my way to the Seahawks game...
Huge point for the Tbirds last night in Tri-City. Fall behind 4-0 in the first period and battle all the way back to get the game to overtime. To eventually lose in OT is obviously disappointing but to earn a point on the road after that hole is something the team can be very happy about.
Home game Tuesday...
Huge point for the Tbirds last night in Tri-City. Fall behind 4-0 in the first period and battle all the way back to get the game to overtime. To eventually lose in OT is obviously disappointing but to earn a point on the road after that hole is something the team can be very happy about.
Home game Tuesday...
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