After a nice night's rest... it is a little bit easier to keep things in perspective.
I know people are pretty frustrated and upset about last night's game... but it IS just one game. Yeah it was a pretty horrible game and it looked like most of the players were disinterested.... but let's see how this team responds tonight in Portland and tomorrow again at home against Everett.
Maybe... just maybe this was the wake up call that this team needed at exactly the right time just a week before the playoffs. Maybe this launches the Tbirds into 4-6 weeks of consistent hustle and effort and results.
All we can do is hope... but I don't think everyone should get quite so worked up about one loss at home.
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Recent Articles
3.14.2009
3.13.2009
Disgusting...
I know we're missing players... I know there are excuses... etc.
Someone please explain to me how THAT team makes it further than 5 games in the playoffs...
Someone please explain to me how THAT team makes it further than 5 games in the playoffs...
3.12.2009
Tbirds win...
I missed the game last night due to a game of my own...
Do not fear though... I am working on several posts that will lead up to the first puck drop of the playoffs.
was able to listen to most of the game and it sounded as though the Tbirds played well for the most part but also had some lapses.
I was told later that Coach Sumner said something similar to that after the game.
Pictures from the game by Mick White at Kent Valley Sports can be found here.
Do not fear though... I am working on several posts that will lead up to the first puck drop of the playoffs.
was able to listen to most of the game and it sounded as though the Tbirds played well for the most part but also had some lapses.
I was told later that Coach Sumner said something similar to that after the game.
Pictures from the game by Mick White at Kent Valley Sports can be found here.
3.11.2009
More numbers...
I need a whole new post to add some more numbers to this discussion about the Divisions and Conferences.
Overall...
Eastern Division
420-346-30-38, 908 points, win % of .544
Goals For - 2780 Goals Against - 2773
Western Division
339-297-17-31, 726 points, win % of .531
Goals For - 2155 Goals Against - 2162
That would also suggest that the East is slightly better...
Record by Divisions....
U.S. Division
167-150-10-14, 358 points, .525
Goals For - 1038 Goals Against - 1044
BC Division
172-147-7-17, 368 points, .536
Goals For - 1117 Goals Against - 1118
Eastern Division
208-183-13-12, 441 points, .530
Goals For - 1428 Goals Against - 1455
Central Division
212-163-17-26, 467 points, .559
Goals For - 1352 Goals Against - 1318
This would also support the Massey Ratings that the Central is overall the toughest Division and that the US Division is the weakest. What doesn't really mesh is the fact that the Eastern Division doesn't look better than the BC Division and only slightly better than the US Division, yet the Massey Ratings have the East as the 2nd toughest division.
Don't you just love this stuff!!!
Overall...
Eastern Division
420-346-30-38, 908 points, win % of .544
Goals For - 2780 Goals Against - 2773
Western Division
339-297-17-31, 726 points, win % of .531
Goals For - 2155 Goals Against - 2162
That would also suggest that the East is slightly better...
Record by Divisions....
U.S. Division
167-150-10-14, 358 points, .525
Goals For - 1038 Goals Against - 1044
BC Division
172-147-7-17, 368 points, .536
Goals For - 1117 Goals Against - 1118
Eastern Division
208-183-13-12, 441 points, .530
Goals For - 1428 Goals Against - 1455
Central Division
212-163-17-26, 467 points, .559
Goals For - 1352 Goals Against - 1318
This would also support the Massey Ratings that the Central is overall the toughest Division and that the US Division is the weakest. What doesn't really mesh is the fact that the Eastern Division doesn't look better than the BC Division and only slightly better than the US Division, yet the Massey Ratings have the East as the 2nd toughest division.
Don't you just love this stuff!!!
3.10.2009
Revisting the Massey Ratings
As many of you know... I tend to be a bit of a stat head and that is difficult to be in the WHL because there just aren't nearly as many statistical resources as there are in other sports such as Major League Baseball.
The Massey Ratings is one of the few exceptions.
I won't go into the details of how the calculations are done... just trust the fact that it is ONE form of scientific calculations. Thus... this isn't the gospel but it does contain some pretty strong opinions.
You can check for yourself here...
http://www.masseyratings.com/rate.php?lg=whl
Some interesting things to note about Seattle first.
- Seattle currently is rated as the 13th best team in the 22 team league (sounds about right). Seattle is slightly behind Lethbridge and Medicine Hat while slightly ahead of Edmonton and Prince Albert.
- Seattle has the 16th rated offense and the 12th rated defense. For those who have watched this team that defensive rating is a bit of a mystery as 12th is basically league average. I suppose Hickey's numbers are so good that he helps balance out the rest.
- Seattle is rated #1 in the league in Home Ice... but hold on... let's define what it is actually talking about. The #1 Home Ice Advantage rating actually just means that Seattle has the biggest difference in performance between Home and Road games. Basically... this team is great at home and horrible on the road. Again no shocker there...
- Another bad sign for the Tbirds is they have played so far the 21st ranked toughest schedule and if you factor in the remaining 4 home games they will actually "overtake" Tri-City for the easiest schedule played this season. This of course doesn't take into account whether playing a ton of road games at the start of the year is somehow tougher than having a balanced schedule. Remember... no matter what... we always knew the Birds would play 36 away and 36 at home. The toughest schedule in the league belongs to Chilliwack. Another thing to keep in mind with strength of schedule... it will be tilted mostly based on two things... how tough your division is and how good you are. Seattle, Spokane and Tri-City all have had easier schedules than Portland because they have played Portland a bunch of times and won most of those games and Portland hasn't had a good record. Conversely... Portland has had a "tougher" schedule because they have played those three teams a bunch of times and they all have .500 records or better. That make any sense?
- Which leads me into divisions. The U.S. Division is rated the worst in the WHL and the Western Conference is rated the worse of the two conferences. The Central is the toughest with the Eastern Division the 2nd toughest. Does this help us explain how Calgary has defeated Vancouver twice? Maybe just slightly... Does this mean trouble for the Western Conference in the WHL Finals, no matter who makes it? perhaps... Does this mean that teams like Tri-City and Spokane are potential paper tigers and will get exposed by teams that have played tougher schedules? Kamloops and Everett both have played stronger schedules... are they upset potential teams? All interesting questions...
- 750 games have been played and the average score of games is 4.53 - 1.95. Home teams have scored 3.48 goals per game and home teams are 485-243 (66.62% win percentage).
- Most unlikely result based on the power rankings? January 18th, Chilliwack beat Calgary IN Calgary 5-1. Yeah I would call that unlikely. The ratings system said there was a 6.5% chance of that happening.
So there you go... some of you might hate this... some might love it.
While we are here... what does the Massey Ratings predict for tomorrow night? Seattle 4.3 Prince George 2.2. With Seattle having an 81% chance of winning.
The Massey Ratings is one of the few exceptions.
I won't go into the details of how the calculations are done... just trust the fact that it is ONE form of scientific calculations. Thus... this isn't the gospel but it does contain some pretty strong opinions.
You can check for yourself here...
http://www.masseyratings.com/rate.php?lg=whl
Some interesting things to note about Seattle first.
- Seattle currently is rated as the 13th best team in the 22 team league (sounds about right). Seattle is slightly behind Lethbridge and Medicine Hat while slightly ahead of Edmonton and Prince Albert.
- Seattle has the 16th rated offense and the 12th rated defense. For those who have watched this team that defensive rating is a bit of a mystery as 12th is basically league average. I suppose Hickey's numbers are so good that he helps balance out the rest.
- Seattle is rated #1 in the league in Home Ice... but hold on... let's define what it is actually talking about. The #1 Home Ice Advantage rating actually just means that Seattle has the biggest difference in performance between Home and Road games. Basically... this team is great at home and horrible on the road. Again no shocker there...
- Another bad sign for the Tbirds is they have played so far the 21st ranked toughest schedule and if you factor in the remaining 4 home games they will actually "overtake" Tri-City for the easiest schedule played this season. This of course doesn't take into account whether playing a ton of road games at the start of the year is somehow tougher than having a balanced schedule. Remember... no matter what... we always knew the Birds would play 36 away and 36 at home. The toughest schedule in the league belongs to Chilliwack. Another thing to keep in mind with strength of schedule... it will be tilted mostly based on two things... how tough your division is and how good you are. Seattle, Spokane and Tri-City all have had easier schedules than Portland because they have played Portland a bunch of times and won most of those games and Portland hasn't had a good record. Conversely... Portland has had a "tougher" schedule because they have played those three teams a bunch of times and they all have .500 records or better. That make any sense?
- Which leads me into divisions. The U.S. Division is rated the worst in the WHL and the Western Conference is rated the worse of the two conferences. The Central is the toughest with the Eastern Division the 2nd toughest. Does this help us explain how Calgary has defeated Vancouver twice? Maybe just slightly... Does this mean trouble for the Western Conference in the WHL Finals, no matter who makes it? perhaps... Does this mean that teams like Tri-City and Spokane are potential paper tigers and will get exposed by teams that have played tougher schedules? Kamloops and Everett both have played stronger schedules... are they upset potential teams? All interesting questions...
- 750 games have been played and the average score of games is 4.53 - 1.95. Home teams have scored 3.48 goals per game and home teams are 485-243 (66.62% win percentage).
- Most unlikely result based on the power rankings? January 18th, Chilliwack beat Calgary IN Calgary 5-1. Yeah I would call that unlikely. The ratings system said there was a 6.5% chance of that happening.
So there you go... some of you might hate this... some might love it.
While we are here... what does the Massey Ratings predict for tomorrow night? Seattle 4.3 Prince George 2.2. With Seattle having an 81% chance of winning.
3.07.2009
Post #400, Win #32
400 posts later.....
Seattle picks up win number 32 tonight 6-0 over the Americans.
Tonight I took some running notes about the game and that will be tonight's format.
- Prab Rai is in the building... walking on crutches... not good.
- Schappert turnover leads to a Fadden-Lazo 2 on 1... Fadden with a nice saucer pass over to Lazo but Pickard is sharp on the backside and kicks the shot out with his foot.
- Bad slashing penalty by Leblanc after Parker had been leveled by a shoulder a minute earlier. Penalty comes right as Cloud was bringing the puck over the blue line and into the American zone.
- Fleming sticking up for Hickey after a hard hit by an American player... good for him.'
- Scott with a Power Play goal to the get the Tbirds on the board just seconds after the Power Play began. Scott beat Martyniuk over the glove hand from a similar location as several of his other Power Play goals this season... but this one was a bit deeper coming from closer to the blue line.
- LeBlanc slipped a shot past Martyniuk about a minute later off a pass from Acolatse to give the Tbirds a 2-0 lead.
Shots at the end of the first period were 9-5 in favor of Tri-City as Seattle went nearly half the period before being credited with a shot on goal.
- Parker back out for the second period (after getting stitches we would learn later) and is literally on the ice for about a minute before taking another shot to the face, this time from Lazo and "earning" a 4 minute Power Play for the Birds. Parker leaves the game shortly after.
- Acolatse converts a wicked one timer from the right circle that smacks the inside of the post and into the net for a 3-0 Tbirds lead. The first 2 minutes of the PP were regrettable but the second half was good and Acolatse cashes in for Seattle. I know I have mentioned this previously but I have to point out to Tbirds fans that merely shooting the puck does not always result in goals and that a team on the Power Play should be looking for "good" shots... A team on the Power Play can always get shots from the outside... but its the quality shots in close that often result in goals.
- Some really good minutes from Erik Fleming tonight.
- Nice 2 on 1 by Scott to Richard that is saved by Owsley who came on in relief after Boyer tipped in a pass by Scott to give Seattle a 4-0 lead.
Shots on goal after 2 periods of play were 20-13 in favor of Tri-City as Calvin Pickard was really good in net.
- Cloud, 15 seconds into the 3rd period gives Seattle a 5-0 lead after a Hickey shot was blocked.
- Parker back AGAIN, this time with a full face shield (later we learned he received a second set of stitches).
- Silvester completes the scoring with a slap shot that beats Owsley 5 hole to give Seattle the 6-0 margin. Good slapper by Silvester... but Owsley should have stopped the shot.
So there you have it... Seattle trails Kamloops for the #5 seed by one point with 4 home games to play. Tbirds are back to the Sho on Wednesday night to face Prince George.
Don't forget to hit up the Fan Bus to Portland for the final regular season road game on Saturday.
Seattle picks up win number 32 tonight 6-0 over the Americans.
Tonight I took some running notes about the game and that will be tonight's format.
- Prab Rai is in the building... walking on crutches... not good.
- Schappert turnover leads to a Fadden-Lazo 2 on 1... Fadden with a nice saucer pass over to Lazo but Pickard is sharp on the backside and kicks the shot out with his foot.
- Bad slashing penalty by Leblanc after Parker had been leveled by a shoulder a minute earlier. Penalty comes right as Cloud was bringing the puck over the blue line and into the American zone.
- Fleming sticking up for Hickey after a hard hit by an American player... good for him.'
- Scott with a Power Play goal to the get the Tbirds on the board just seconds after the Power Play began. Scott beat Martyniuk over the glove hand from a similar location as several of his other Power Play goals this season... but this one was a bit deeper coming from closer to the blue line.
- LeBlanc slipped a shot past Martyniuk about a minute later off a pass from Acolatse to give the Tbirds a 2-0 lead.
Shots at the end of the first period were 9-5 in favor of Tri-City as Seattle went nearly half the period before being credited with a shot on goal.
- Parker back out for the second period (after getting stitches we would learn later) and is literally on the ice for about a minute before taking another shot to the face, this time from Lazo and "earning" a 4 minute Power Play for the Birds. Parker leaves the game shortly after.
- Acolatse converts a wicked one timer from the right circle that smacks the inside of the post and into the net for a 3-0 Tbirds lead. The first 2 minutes of the PP were regrettable but the second half was good and Acolatse cashes in for Seattle. I know I have mentioned this previously but I have to point out to Tbirds fans that merely shooting the puck does not always result in goals and that a team on the Power Play should be looking for "good" shots... A team on the Power Play can always get shots from the outside... but its the quality shots in close that often result in goals.
- Some really good minutes from Erik Fleming tonight.
- Nice 2 on 1 by Scott to Richard that is saved by Owsley who came on in relief after Boyer tipped in a pass by Scott to give Seattle a 4-0 lead.
Shots on goal after 2 periods of play were 20-13 in favor of Tri-City as Calvin Pickard was really good in net.
- Cloud, 15 seconds into the 3rd period gives Seattle a 5-0 lead after a Hickey shot was blocked.
- Parker back AGAIN, this time with a full face shield (later we learned he received a second set of stitches).
- Silvester completes the scoring with a slap shot that beats Owsley 5 hole to give Seattle the 6-0 margin. Good slapper by Silvester... but Owsley should have stopped the shot.
So there you have it... Seattle trails Kamloops for the #5 seed by one point with 4 home games to play. Tbirds are back to the Sho on Wednesday night to face Prince George.
Don't forget to hit up the Fan Bus to Portland for the final regular season road game on Saturday.
3.06.2009
Seattle falls to Americans...
Good 1st Period
Horrible 2nd Period
Good 3rd Period
Equals... a 4-2 loss for Seattle to the Americans.
Tip of the cap to the Americans who clinched their second straight U.S. Division title tonight in the win. No tip of the cap to the obnoxious American fans sitting behind me in section 105 who made good American fans look like complete idiots.
Seattle was inconsistent tonight like they have been all season and once again tonight proved that the defense behind Hickey and Warg just isn't good enough right now.
Warg +2
Hickey +1
Schappert +1
Dillon -3 (where has his game gone???)
Haber -3
Tri-City had only 3 even strength goals... meaning that Dillon and Haber were out for all 3 of them.
Seattle did manage to get some decent efforts out of a couple of guys. Jeremy Boyer had a nice game, setting up the Chris Cloud goal and earning the 2nd star.
A big concern for the Tbirds has to be the health of Prab Rai... Perhaps I shouldn't be saying this, but I don't think it was a huge secret to notice that Rai had an ice pack on his back for most of the time he spent on the bench before limping off the ice with a brace around his ankle later in the game. Was the brace theatrics? or does Rai have both a back and an ankle problem now? Without a healthy Prab Rai I think this team is in some serious trouble and with Spokane losing tonight and Kamloops and Kelowna winning... the Tbirds appear to be setting themselves up for a date with the Rockets in the first round with a 3/6 match-up. Seattle could still earn the 5th seed and Spokane could still earn the 3rd but if the playoffs started today it would be Seattle-Kelowna in the first round.
Seattle could be facing tomorrow with the reality of no Nielsen, no Rai and still no DeSerres who I've been told is still not taking shots in warm-ups. (Can someone else confirm that?) Ouch...
Important to see how this team bounces back tomorrow against the same club who really won't have anything to play for outside of pride.
Horrible 2nd Period
Good 3rd Period
Equals... a 4-2 loss for Seattle to the Americans.
Tip of the cap to the Americans who clinched their second straight U.S. Division title tonight in the win. No tip of the cap to the obnoxious American fans sitting behind me in section 105 who made good American fans look like complete idiots.
Seattle was inconsistent tonight like they have been all season and once again tonight proved that the defense behind Hickey and Warg just isn't good enough right now.
Warg +2
Hickey +1
Schappert +1
Dillon -3 (where has his game gone???)
Haber -3
Tri-City had only 3 even strength goals... meaning that Dillon and Haber were out for all 3 of them.
Seattle did manage to get some decent efforts out of a couple of guys. Jeremy Boyer had a nice game, setting up the Chris Cloud goal and earning the 2nd star.
A big concern for the Tbirds has to be the health of Prab Rai... Perhaps I shouldn't be saying this, but I don't think it was a huge secret to notice that Rai had an ice pack on his back for most of the time he spent on the bench before limping off the ice with a brace around his ankle later in the game. Was the brace theatrics? or does Rai have both a back and an ankle problem now? Without a healthy Prab Rai I think this team is in some serious trouble and with Spokane losing tonight and Kamloops and Kelowna winning... the Tbirds appear to be setting themselves up for a date with the Rockets in the first round with a 3/6 match-up. Seattle could still earn the 5th seed and Spokane could still earn the 3rd but if the playoffs started today it would be Seattle-Kelowna in the first round.
Seattle could be facing tomorrow with the reality of no Nielsen, no Rai and still no DeSerres who I've been told is still not taking shots in warm-ups. (Can someone else confirm that?) Ouch...
Important to see how this team bounces back tomorrow against the same club who really won't have anything to play for outside of pride.
3.04.2009
Tbirds suffer 2nd straight loss at Sho
I've missed the last two games because of some obligations and Seattle has now dropped those last 2 games at home. Maybe I am a good luck charm this season...
Game Photos can be found here by Mick White.
I will say again that the results of these games aren't terrible important but the effort and how the team plays is what we should be watching. By all indications in the last three games I don't see many reasons why this team can pull off a first round upset. They are capable of pulling off a first round upset but they sure don't act like a team that believes it themselves or cares enough to make it happen. Having said that... I only heard the second half of the game last night on the radio so it wouldn't really be fair for me to comment much further.
Tbirds are back to the ShoWare Center on Friday and Saturday against Tri-City.
Quick mention that the Tbirds have their last road game coming up a week from Saturday in Portland and the fan bus will be going down to the game. I wish I could go but my coaching commitments will likely keep me from being able to head down. The link to the promotion doesn't appear to be working for me this morning but you can find it pretty easily on the front of the website.
One last night... and hopefully this is truly the last note. Today is the final day that Oscar Moller could be sent back to Seattle. Last night he was slotted on the 2nd line and scored a goal in the Kings game in Columbus... I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for him to come back.
Game Photos can be found here by Mick White.
I will say again that the results of these games aren't terrible important but the effort and how the team plays is what we should be watching. By all indications in the last three games I don't see many reasons why this team can pull off a first round upset. They are capable of pulling off a first round upset but they sure don't act like a team that believes it themselves or cares enough to make it happen. Having said that... I only heard the second half of the game last night on the radio so it wouldn't really be fair for me to comment much further.
Tbirds are back to the ShoWare Center on Friday and Saturday against Tri-City.
Quick mention that the Tbirds have their last road game coming up a week from Saturday in Portland and the fan bus will be going down to the game. I wish I could go but my coaching commitments will likely keep me from being able to head down. The link to the promotion doesn't appear to be working for me this morning but you can find it pretty easily on the front of the website.
One last night... and hopefully this is truly the last note. Today is the final day that Oscar Moller could be sent back to Seattle. Last night he was slotted on the 2nd line and scored a goal in the Kings game in Columbus... I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for him to come back.
3.02.2009
Moller to Kings
Just updated that Moller is being sent back to the Kings. Hopefully we can stop talking about this finally... but I suppose there is still a chance they might send him to Seattle... but I doubt it.
3.01.2009
Seattle snoozes past Portland 5-3
I had a great experience playing in the Hockey Challenge yesterday morning as my E&D team defeated the Mobile Services team 5-0. I can't say I played a great game but the team win was great. With a record crowd of 6,138 the night was a success all around and I know the fans enjoyed the Tbirds game... with 5 goals, free burgers and a couple of fights... I think you would be hard pressed to find too many fans that weren't happy about last night.
Well... I'm one of those fans. Seattle did not have their best game and allowed the plucky Winterhawks (who lost 8-0 in Spokane the night before) to pull within 1 goal with 5 minutes to play in the game before Prab Rai sent the hungry fans home happy with the empty net goal in the closing minutes.
Seattle was sloppy for the most part... There must have been around 10 offside calls and where their protection of the net was the key to the victory over Vancouver last week, tonight their lack of protection was the reason why the game was even close.
This team continues to frustrate me... If anybody thinks this team has the ability to beat Spokane in the first round of the playoffs, I would immediately point to the 8-o win by Spokane over Portland and the 5-3 win by Seattle over Portland the next night. I just can't see any reason to believe that Seattle can win a game in Spokane in a playoff atmosphere without first seeing them play an excellent game on the road against a quality team... and based on Spokane's record and talent I can definitely see them coming into the Sho and stealing one game in the series.
Hopefully they will prove me wrong... I would love to be proved wrong, but until I see a more consistent high level of play, I'm just not seeing it.
Well... I'm one of those fans. Seattle did not have their best game and allowed the plucky Winterhawks (who lost 8-0 in Spokane the night before) to pull within 1 goal with 5 minutes to play in the game before Prab Rai sent the hungry fans home happy with the empty net goal in the closing minutes.
Seattle was sloppy for the most part... There must have been around 10 offside calls and where their protection of the net was the key to the victory over Vancouver last week, tonight their lack of protection was the reason why the game was even close.
This team continues to frustrate me... If anybody thinks this team has the ability to beat Spokane in the first round of the playoffs, I would immediately point to the 8-o win by Spokane over Portland and the 5-3 win by Seattle over Portland the next night. I just can't see any reason to believe that Seattle can win a game in Spokane in a playoff atmosphere without first seeing them play an excellent game on the road against a quality team... and based on Spokane's record and talent I can definitely see them coming into the Sho and stealing one game in the series.
Hopefully they will prove me wrong... I would love to be proved wrong, but until I see a more consistent high level of play, I'm just not seeing it.
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