Link to the schedule can be found here.
Counting very quickly...
Home games by day of the week:
Tuesday - 7
Wednesday - 2
Friday - 7
Saturday - 14
Sunday - 6
I'm going to take a good hard look at the schedule a little further and come back to break it down later.
Hockey Challenge 2014
Recent Articles
7.28.2010
6.29.2010
Second 1st Round Selection...
Thunderbirds select Dave Sutter from Switzerland.
6'4"
195 lbs
Defense
Sutter played last season for the Swiss National Team at the U-18 registering 2 assists in 6 games.
I will update as I find more.
6'4"
195 lbs
Defense
Sutter played last season for the Swiss National Team at the U-18 registering 2 assists in 6 games.
I will update as I find more.
The pick...
Is Marcel Noebels of Germany.
Noebels was a member of the Krefeld Juniors but also played for Krefeld's top club Krefeld Pinguine. As a member of Jungadler Mannheim he helped them to back to back DNL league titles in 07/08 and 08/09. Listed as a Center, Noebels is 6'2" and 192 lbs.
He also was a member of the German U18 team that won a Gold Medal last year in the 2nd Division of the U18 tournament, leading all players in goals, assists and points.
Here are a few links for your digestion.
Elite Prospects
Hockey's Future
USA Today
Noebels was a member of the Krefeld Juniors but also played for Krefeld's top club Krefeld Pinguine. As a member of Jungadler Mannheim he helped them to back to back DNL league titles in 07/08 and 08/09. Listed as a Center, Noebels is 6'2" and 192 lbs.
He also was a member of the German U18 team that won a Gold Medal last year in the 2nd Division of the U18 tournament, leading all players in goals, assists and points.
Here are a few links for your digestion.
Elite Prospects
Hockey's Future
USA Today
Import Draft News
Seattle is literally moments away from making their 1st selection in the 2010 CHL Import Draft but the Tbirds are already making quiet news this morning as they have somehow acquired another 1st round Import selection from the Red Deer Rebels, the 34th overall selection in the draft.
This most certainly means that Mikhail Sentyurin will not be back with the club next season.
No word yet on how Seattle acquired this pick, I'm sure we will hear soon.
Gotta run to the office, I'll be back with some information on the pick about to be made.
This most certainly means that Mikhail Sentyurin will not be back with the club next season.
No word yet on how Seattle acquired this pick, I'm sure we will hear soon.
Gotta run to the office, I'll be back with some information on the pick about to be made.
6.21.2010
Pickard makes the short list
Let's kick the tires on the blog a little bit here as we approach the NHL Entry Level draft on Friday and more importantly the CHL Import Draft on the 29th.
Calvin Pickard today was named to the short list of four goaltenders invited to compete for a spot on Canada's Junior National team.
Not much of a shock here as I think Calvin is likely the best Junior goaltender in Canada right now but I'm probably just a tad bit biased on that.
Jean-François Bérubé from Montreal and Olivier Roy from Acadie-Bathurst of the QMJHL join Pickard and Mark Visentin from Niagara of the OHL as the 4 goaltender that will compete for the final two spots.
Obviously I think Calvin should make the team but with two older goaltenders on the list you never know what might happen.
Link can be found here.
The most obvious story coming out of the NHL Entry Draft on Friday (as far as Tbird fans will be concerned) will be the where and to whom Calvin Pickard gets drafted... but there will be perhaps a more interesting story to watch for Tbird fans.
Brad Holland of nhl.com has a mock draft that places Seattle list player Jason Zucker being selected by the Anaheim Ducks with the 29th overall selection in the 1st round. If Zucker is drafted that high, might the Ducks send him to Seattle knowing he would get a ton of ice time? or would they allow Zucker to fulfill his commitment to Denver U. in the fall of 2010.
Calvin Pickard today was named to the short list of four goaltenders invited to compete for a spot on Canada's Junior National team.
Not much of a shock here as I think Calvin is likely the best Junior goaltender in Canada right now but I'm probably just a tad bit biased on that.
Jean-François Bérubé from Montreal and Olivier Roy from Acadie-Bathurst of the QMJHL join Pickard and Mark Visentin from Niagara of the OHL as the 4 goaltender that will compete for the final two spots.
Obviously I think Calvin should make the team but with two older goaltenders on the list you never know what might happen.
Link can be found here.
The most obvious story coming out of the NHL Entry Draft on Friday (as far as Tbird fans will be concerned) will be the where and to whom Calvin Pickard gets drafted... but there will be perhaps a more interesting story to watch for Tbird fans.
Brad Holland of nhl.com has a mock draft that places Seattle list player Jason Zucker being selected by the Anaheim Ducks with the 29th overall selection in the 1st round. If Zucker is drafted that high, might the Ducks send him to Seattle knowing he would get a ton of ice time? or would they allow Zucker to fulfill his commitment to Denver U. in the fall of 2010.
5.03.2010
Farwell sticks to his guns for Bantam Draft selections
I'm not feeling creative at all, so we're just going to do this bullet point style.
- The big buzz heading into the draft was whether Seattle would use their #4 overall selection on American phenom Brian Williams. Obviously, Seattle and the rest of the U.S. Division teams (and WHL teams) were pretty scared that Williams would not report or may not report immediately and Williams fell all the way to Tri-City in the 8th round where the Americans took the gamble that Williams might eventually come to the WHL. In a perfect world, I would love to think that Seattle would have been able to convince Williams to report to the Tbirds next season (2011) and selected him with the 4th overall pick but it usually doesn't work that way. I'm totally fine with the Tbirds not taking him with the selection given he obvious risk involved.
- Instead of Williams, Seattle selects another defensemen out of Calgary and this year it is 6'4" Jared Hauf. I don't like the selection, here's why.... Just like every Bantam Draft that has come before this one, none of us really know how these kids will turn out. You're drafting 14 year old kids who haven't finished developing physically or mentally in any way, shape or form. By my estimation, drafting Bantam players is probably 25% skill and 75% luck. The 4th overall selection probably won't make or break your franchise for the next 5 seasons but it can go a long way towards building a solid foundation. Hauf was rated as the 18th best skater available by Hockeyprospect.com and 31st by ISS. The top 3 selections were Centers, so if Seattle went into the draft leaning towards taking a defensemen they literally had the pick of the litter and with that selection they selected a kid that was projected to possibly be a 2nd round pick.
Hauf might turn out to be the next Jared Cowen, I have no idea and neither does anyone else... and if Hauf does turn out to be a great player I'll be the first person to congratulate Russ Farwell for making an excellent selection. The problem is that Farwell has now left the door wide open for criticism if this kid doesn't succeed. Just like none of us know whether Hauf will be any good, we also don't know if Joshua Morrissey, Jesse Lees, Kayle Doetzel, Tyler King-Cunningham, Madison Bowey, Keegan Kanzig or Joel Topping will be any good. The problem is that all of those players were rated higher on one or both of the scouting lists going into the draft. So if Hauf doesn't become a very good player and any of these players becomes a star it will be easy for fans to second guess the selection.
- So how did this happen? How did Seattle select the 18th/31st rated skater with the 4th overall selection? Here is my guess... We heard all week that Seattle might have been shopping the 4th overall selection. Farwell must have decided that Hauf was the guy he wanted, the guy he liked and the guy Seattle was going to select no matter what. Knowing that, he knows that he can probably trade down as far as 15th and still have Hauf available to select. When Farwell doesn't get what he wants out of any of the teams below them he decides to just take the guy they like at #4 even if they would have also taken him later in the first round. The fact that Hauf wasn't the top rated defensemen didn't matter to him because that is the player they liked and they weren't going to change the selection just because they had the #4 pick instead of the #15 pick.
Based on this "best guess" I have to give a lot of credit to Farwell for sticking to his guns. They obviously targeted the guy they liked and the guy they wanted and they didn't care one bit whether he was ranked 18th, 31st or 150th. That takes guts... it takes a lot of guts. Let's all hope that it works out. You'll have to excuse me for being just a little bit skeptical given our past track record of draft selections.
- Seattle continued their emphasis on defense by selecting two more defensemen in the 2nd and 3rd rounds to go with a forward in the 3rd round as well. I talked a lot on draft day about the size of the players that Seattle selected and there has been a lot of "fan talk" about how Seattle must be trying to "copy" the Portland model after getting pushed around by the Winterhawks this past season. I wouldn't look too much into the draft selections and think they are trying to "copy" Portland. The fact of the matter is, it really doesn't matter whether you draft tall players or short, fast skaters... they just need to be good hockey players and the size of the player is only one factor in evaluation. I would probably lean more towards the theory that when you draft guys that have already grown into their bodies a little bit you don't have to worry about whether they will grow additionally over the next 3-4 years. So instead of looking at it like Seattle is drafting "size" I would look at it more like they are drafting "established size". Either way... we have to hope they turn into good hockey players. Portland isn't good because they are big, they are good because they are good and they are a tough matchup for Seattle because they are good AND they are big.
- Farwell makes a nice little trade at the end of the draft, giving up their 8th, 9th and 10th round selections to Brandon for their 7th round selection next season. 7th round selections can often come in handy where Seattle really didn't have room on their list for any more draft picks this season and your 8th-10th round picks are less valuable. Brandon needed extra selections this year. Nice trade by Russ.
- Nice to see the Tbirds take a local kid with their second selection in the 7th round, taking Brad LeLievre from Mill Creek. Seattle hasn't had a 7th rounder make the team since Yashar Farmanara, who was drafted in 2002. Wouldn't it be nice to see a local kid playing for the 'Birds. In case you forgot, Tyler Alos was a 6th round selection... so sleep on the possibility that this kid might be pretty darn good.
That's all for now. It will probably get pretty quiet around here for the next few months. Hope everyone has a great summer... Rookie Camp is less than 4 months away.
- The big buzz heading into the draft was whether Seattle would use their #4 overall selection on American phenom Brian Williams. Obviously, Seattle and the rest of the U.S. Division teams (and WHL teams) were pretty scared that Williams would not report or may not report immediately and Williams fell all the way to Tri-City in the 8th round where the Americans took the gamble that Williams might eventually come to the WHL. In a perfect world, I would love to think that Seattle would have been able to convince Williams to report to the Tbirds next season (2011) and selected him with the 4th overall pick but it usually doesn't work that way. I'm totally fine with the Tbirds not taking him with the selection given he obvious risk involved.
- Instead of Williams, Seattle selects another defensemen out of Calgary and this year it is 6'4" Jared Hauf. I don't like the selection, here's why.... Just like every Bantam Draft that has come before this one, none of us really know how these kids will turn out. You're drafting 14 year old kids who haven't finished developing physically or mentally in any way, shape or form. By my estimation, drafting Bantam players is probably 25% skill and 75% luck. The 4th overall selection probably won't make or break your franchise for the next 5 seasons but it can go a long way towards building a solid foundation. Hauf was rated as the 18th best skater available by Hockeyprospect.com and 31st by ISS. The top 3 selections were Centers, so if Seattle went into the draft leaning towards taking a defensemen they literally had the pick of the litter and with that selection they selected a kid that was projected to possibly be a 2nd round pick.
Hauf might turn out to be the next Jared Cowen, I have no idea and neither does anyone else... and if Hauf does turn out to be a great player I'll be the first person to congratulate Russ Farwell for making an excellent selection. The problem is that Farwell has now left the door wide open for criticism if this kid doesn't succeed. Just like none of us know whether Hauf will be any good, we also don't know if Joshua Morrissey, Jesse Lees, Kayle Doetzel, Tyler King-Cunningham, Madison Bowey, Keegan Kanzig or Joel Topping will be any good. The problem is that all of those players were rated higher on one or both of the scouting lists going into the draft. So if Hauf doesn't become a very good player and any of these players becomes a star it will be easy for fans to second guess the selection.
- So how did this happen? How did Seattle select the 18th/31st rated skater with the 4th overall selection? Here is my guess... We heard all week that Seattle might have been shopping the 4th overall selection. Farwell must have decided that Hauf was the guy he wanted, the guy he liked and the guy Seattle was going to select no matter what. Knowing that, he knows that he can probably trade down as far as 15th and still have Hauf available to select. When Farwell doesn't get what he wants out of any of the teams below them he decides to just take the guy they like at #4 even if they would have also taken him later in the first round. The fact that Hauf wasn't the top rated defensemen didn't matter to him because that is the player they liked and they weren't going to change the selection just because they had the #4 pick instead of the #15 pick.
Based on this "best guess" I have to give a lot of credit to Farwell for sticking to his guns. They obviously targeted the guy they liked and the guy they wanted and they didn't care one bit whether he was ranked 18th, 31st or 150th. That takes guts... it takes a lot of guts. Let's all hope that it works out. You'll have to excuse me for being just a little bit skeptical given our past track record of draft selections.
- Seattle continued their emphasis on defense by selecting two more defensemen in the 2nd and 3rd rounds to go with a forward in the 3rd round as well. I talked a lot on draft day about the size of the players that Seattle selected and there has been a lot of "fan talk" about how Seattle must be trying to "copy" the Portland model after getting pushed around by the Winterhawks this past season. I wouldn't look too much into the draft selections and think they are trying to "copy" Portland. The fact of the matter is, it really doesn't matter whether you draft tall players or short, fast skaters... they just need to be good hockey players and the size of the player is only one factor in evaluation. I would probably lean more towards the theory that when you draft guys that have already grown into their bodies a little bit you don't have to worry about whether they will grow additionally over the next 3-4 years. So instead of looking at it like Seattle is drafting "size" I would look at it more like they are drafting "established size". Either way... we have to hope they turn into good hockey players. Portland isn't good because they are big, they are good because they are good and they are a tough matchup for Seattle because they are good AND they are big.
- Farwell makes a nice little trade at the end of the draft, giving up their 8th, 9th and 10th round selections to Brandon for their 7th round selection next season. 7th round selections can often come in handy where Seattle really didn't have room on their list for any more draft picks this season and your 8th-10th round picks are less valuable. Brandon needed extra selections this year. Nice trade by Russ.
- Nice to see the Tbirds take a local kid with their second selection in the 7th round, taking Brad LeLievre from Mill Creek. Seattle hasn't had a 7th rounder make the team since Yashar Farmanara, who was drafted in 2002. Wouldn't it be nice to see a local kid playing for the 'Birds. In case you forgot, Tyler Alos was a 6th round selection... so sleep on the possibility that this kid might be pretty darn good.
That's all for now. It will probably get pretty quiet around here for the next few months. Hope everyone has a great summer... Rookie Camp is less than 4 months away.
4.29.2010
Break
Seattle has traded their 8th, 9th and 10th Round selections to Brandon. So I'll probably come back with a complete list after they make their final selections.
7th Round Selection
With their second selection in the 7th Round, Seattle selects Forward Brad LeLievre from Mill Creek, WA. Listed at 5'9" and 150 lbs it looks like he played for the Seattle Junior Admirals Bantam AA.
There have been some very vocal fans in the past couple of seasons that have been upset about the Tbirds not bringing in local kids to have a crack at the team. This selection should satisfy them a little bit.
Two picks later, Medicine Hat has selected Damon Hanson who played last season for Kent Valley.
There have been some very vocal fans in the past couple of seasons that have been upset about the Tbirds not bringing in local kids to have a crack at the team. This selection should satisfy them a little bit.
Two picks later, Medicine Hat has selected Damon Hanson who played last season for Kent Valley.
7th Round Selection
Seattle has two 7th Round selections... with their first of those they select John Edwardh, Forward from Calgary, AB. Edwardh played for the Bisons last season and checks in at 5'8" and 135 lbs.
In 33 games last season he accumulated 46 points, including 32 goals.
In 33 games last season he accumulated 46 points, including 32 goals.
6th Round Selection
After a short break for lunch, the draft has started again with the 6th Round and Seattle has selected Daniel Wray, Forward from Edmonton, AB. Wray is 6'1" and 187 lbs and played last season for CAC.
Wray becomes the 2nd forward selected this morning by Seattle.
Wray becomes the 2nd forward selected this morning by Seattle.
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