Seattle gets their 3rd straight win this afternoon in a special "nooner" game today at the Rose Garden.
Here are a few things I think can be pointed out from today's game.
- Probably not the best effort of the year from the Tbirds, but the Winterhawks are showing that, despite their 7 game losing streak, they are playing a much more competitive brand of hockey and a win in Portland is not the given it might have been the last two years.
- Calvin Pickard is really good already as a 16 year old. Pickard with another 28 saves today and gave the Tbirds a chance to win when they were down 1-0 and tied 2-2.
- Tbirds can really show their depth at times. 5 players scored the 5 goals today for the Tbirds with goals coming from Schappert (his first), LeBlanc, Silvester, Richard and Scott. When Seattle plays with that kind of balance (and gets 5 goals per game) they are going to be pretty tough to beat. Seattle is averaging about 3.85 goals per game in their last 7 which is an increase from their season average of about 3.14.
- The youngsters are giving Seattle a big boost. Chance Lund with 2 assists today, Silvester with another goal (his 4th), Lockhard an assist and Charles Wells grabbing 2 helpers and the first star of the game (in the building). Needless to say if the 3rd and 4th line young kids are going to give the Tbirds a boost when their top lines aren't getting a point or two a piece... maybe this team CAN get to 85 points or more by the end of the season, who knows.
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11.29.2008
11.28.2008
Tbirds dominate the Ice 4-1
Tbirds dominated every facet of the game tonight and still managed to send fans home disappointed! Actually, I think most fans were pretty happy with the action tonight but the Tbirds did fail to score the 5 goals necessary for the free Dairy Queen burgers. Seattle had scored at least 5 goals in their past 4 home games.
Other than the lack of free food the Tbirds did everything right tonight and improved to 6-1 at home with the victory. Jon Parker opened the scoring in the second period with a Power Play goal he banged home off a rebound from a Jim O'Brien shot. O'Brien rang the crossbar earlier in the game and deserved more than only his one assist on the night. I will say when O'Brien keeps things simple and doesn't try too hard, good things happen and this was another example of that happening.
Tbirds gave the lead right back as Erik Fleming, who I believe otherwise had a pretty good game playing along side Thomas Hickey, made a bad decision on an Ice rush and the result was Andrew Bailey zipping a wrister over the shoulder of goaltender Jake DeSerres.
But Hickey, the Tbird captain playing his third game in three nights after playing for Team WHL against the Russians up in Canada on Wednesday and Thursday, wired home a wrist shot from the point only 4 seconds after Dustin Sylvester was sent off for High Sticking. The goal, Hickey's 6th of the year, gave the Tbirds a lead they would not relinquish.
The insurance goal game a bout half way through the third with Charles Wells giving up his body to slip the puck over to Devon LeBlanc who fired home his 8th of the year giving the Tbirds a 3-1 lead. Chris Cloud added his 7th of the year later in the period off a shot from Sena Acolatse who celebrated his 18th birthday today with 2 assists in the win.
Moments after LeBlanc's goal gave Seattle a 2 goal cushion, DeSerres made a sprawling split leg save at the far post on Sylvester to keep the 2 goal lead intact. DeSerres, who's struggles have been repeatedly noted, was very solid in the win making a few big saves and seeing through screens effectively in the second period when Kootenay had 2 Power Plays.
Seattle dominated the 3rd period so much that at the 7 minute mark I noted how carved up the attacking zone ice had become and how fresh the ice in Seattle's end looked. Another 39 shots for the Tbirds who have been firing the puck at the net in the past two weeks and that is largely due to their attacking zone possession and not just from shots being fired from out deep.
As I type this the Tbirds are on the bus headed to Portland as they will play the Winterhawks in a special 12 (high) noon showdown to avoid conflict with the Civil War football game.
Let's Go Birds Three Stars of the Game.
1. Thomas Hickey. GWG for Hickey tonight and he was solid on defense and dangerous with the puck numerous times in the offensive zone... I thought he was by far the most complete player on the ice tonight despite actually being -1.
2. Jim O'Brien. Hit the crossbar in the first period and deserved more than the solo assist.
3. Sena Acolatse. Gets my nod for the 3rd star with 2 assists on his 18th birthday.
Honorable Mention...
DeSerres. Very solid tonight and only doesn't get a star from me because I'm not sure his 21 saves were a difference maker but "only" a very solid performance.
Schappert. +2 tonight
LeBlanc. Goal, +1 and a fight.
Other than the lack of free food the Tbirds did everything right tonight and improved to 6-1 at home with the victory. Jon Parker opened the scoring in the second period with a Power Play goal he banged home off a rebound from a Jim O'Brien shot. O'Brien rang the crossbar earlier in the game and deserved more than only his one assist on the night. I will say when O'Brien keeps things simple and doesn't try too hard, good things happen and this was another example of that happening.
Tbirds gave the lead right back as Erik Fleming, who I believe otherwise had a pretty good game playing along side Thomas Hickey, made a bad decision on an Ice rush and the result was Andrew Bailey zipping a wrister over the shoulder of goaltender Jake DeSerres.
But Hickey, the Tbird captain playing his third game in three nights after playing for Team WHL against the Russians up in Canada on Wednesday and Thursday, wired home a wrist shot from the point only 4 seconds after Dustin Sylvester was sent off for High Sticking. The goal, Hickey's 6th of the year, gave the Tbirds a lead they would not relinquish.
The insurance goal game a bout half way through the third with Charles Wells giving up his body to slip the puck over to Devon LeBlanc who fired home his 8th of the year giving the Tbirds a 3-1 lead. Chris Cloud added his 7th of the year later in the period off a shot from Sena Acolatse who celebrated his 18th birthday today with 2 assists in the win.
Moments after LeBlanc's goal gave Seattle a 2 goal cushion, DeSerres made a sprawling split leg save at the far post on Sylvester to keep the 2 goal lead intact. DeSerres, who's struggles have been repeatedly noted, was very solid in the win making a few big saves and seeing through screens effectively in the second period when Kootenay had 2 Power Plays.
Seattle dominated the 3rd period so much that at the 7 minute mark I noted how carved up the attacking zone ice had become and how fresh the ice in Seattle's end looked. Another 39 shots for the Tbirds who have been firing the puck at the net in the past two weeks and that is largely due to their attacking zone possession and not just from shots being fired from out deep.
As I type this the Tbirds are on the bus headed to Portland as they will play the Winterhawks in a special 12 (high) noon showdown to avoid conflict with the Civil War football game.
Let's Go Birds Three Stars of the Game.
1. Thomas Hickey. GWG for Hickey tonight and he was solid on defense and dangerous with the puck numerous times in the offensive zone... I thought he was by far the most complete player on the ice tonight despite actually being -1.
2. Jim O'Brien. Hit the crossbar in the first period and deserved more than the solo assist.
3. Sena Acolatse. Gets my nod for the 3rd star with 2 assists on his 18th birthday.
Honorable Mention...
DeSerres. Very solid tonight and only doesn't get a star from me because I'm not sure his 21 saves were a difference maker but "only" a very solid performance.
Schappert. +2 tonight
LeBlanc. Goal, +1 and a fight.
11.26.2008
A few notes...
Tayler Jordan was suspended two games by the league for hit "actions" during the Tbirds-Hawks game last Saturday night. Jordan earned a Gross Misconduct in addition to giving the fans the "bird" as he exited the ice.
Stefan Warg is listed as day to day with a back injury and Lindsay Nielsen is listed as being out 2-4 weeks with a shoulder sprain. I don't have any word on the severity of either one but you can assume that Nielsen will not play Saturday and may not for a while.
Want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.... the Tbirds are back in action Friday night at the Key against Kootenay before heading to Portland for a Saturday afternoon tilt with the Winterhawks.
Stefan Warg is listed as day to day with a back injury and Lindsay Nielsen is listed as being out 2-4 weeks with a shoulder sprain. I don't have any word on the severity of either one but you can assume that Nielsen will not play Saturday and may not for a while.
Want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.... the Tbirds are back in action Friday night at the Key against Kootenay before heading to Portland for a Saturday afternoon tilt with the Winterhawks.
11.22.2008
Tbirds thump the road weary Winterhawks
Before a nice crowd of 5637 tonight at the Key, the Tbirds jumped out early and often on the Winterhawks on their way to the 6-2 victory. The Winterhawks were playing their 7th game in 9 nights and will return home but have to return to Everett next Friday before they finally play another home game.
Taking a second away from the Tbirds... how weird of a schedule is this for the Winterhawks. After Sunday in Vancouver they played Tuesday in Chilliwack, no big deal there. But then they faced Everett at their place Wednesday, with a day off Thursday before playing them AGAIN at Comcast Arena before seeing the Tbirds at the Key tonight and then back to Everett next Friday.
Anyways... Prab Rai had an incredible night with 2 goals and 3 assists. With the 5 point night, Rai now has 16 goals and 13 assists and leads the team in points with 29. Jim O'Brien also had a very good night, getting 2 goals and 2 assists while Parker picked up 3 assists and the 3rd star of the game.
This game was never really in doubt from the beginning as O'Brien scored just 57 seconds into the game.
The Tbirds built a 3-1 lead on the 3rd goal of the season by Silvester and Winterhawks goaltender Keith Hamilton was yanked in favor of Kurtis Mucha.
Interesting scrap in the 2nd period as the two teams combined for 94 penalty minutes at the 15:32 mark. I have to be honest and tell you that I didn't get a really good look at the whole thing from where I was sitting tonight. I will say that I think Ehrhardt started a lot of the mess by getting involved in the initial scrap between Dillon and the Winterhawk player. Interestingly he ended up without any PIM's after the whole thing was sorted out. I'm going to have to get another look at the scrap on video to see exactly what happened. I do know that Cloud came to the defence of Thomas Hickey and that was why he got the 3rd man in Misconduct.
Jordan took home 46 PIM's for his work and Cloud 37 for his.
Lindsay Nielsen was a scratch tonight... I didn't hear why, maybe someone did.
Seattle improves to 10-13-3 which is good for 23 points in 26 games and moves them into 7th place in the Western Conference.
Taking a second away from the Tbirds... how weird of a schedule is this for the Winterhawks. After Sunday in Vancouver they played Tuesday in Chilliwack, no big deal there. But then they faced Everett at their place Wednesday, with a day off Thursday before playing them AGAIN at Comcast Arena before seeing the Tbirds at the Key tonight and then back to Everett next Friday.
Anyways... Prab Rai had an incredible night with 2 goals and 3 assists. With the 5 point night, Rai now has 16 goals and 13 assists and leads the team in points with 29. Jim O'Brien also had a very good night, getting 2 goals and 2 assists while Parker picked up 3 assists and the 3rd star of the game.
This game was never really in doubt from the beginning as O'Brien scored just 57 seconds into the game.
The Tbirds built a 3-1 lead on the 3rd goal of the season by Silvester and Winterhawks goaltender Keith Hamilton was yanked in favor of Kurtis Mucha.
Interesting scrap in the 2nd period as the two teams combined for 94 penalty minutes at the 15:32 mark. I have to be honest and tell you that I didn't get a really good look at the whole thing from where I was sitting tonight. I will say that I think Ehrhardt started a lot of the mess by getting involved in the initial scrap between Dillon and the Winterhawk player. Interestingly he ended up without any PIM's after the whole thing was sorted out. I'm going to have to get another look at the scrap on video to see exactly what happened. I do know that Cloud came to the defence of Thomas Hickey and that was why he got the 3rd man in Misconduct.
Jordan took home 46 PIM's for his work and Cloud 37 for his.
Lindsay Nielsen was a scratch tonight... I didn't hear why, maybe someone did.
Seattle improves to 10-13-3 which is good for 23 points in 26 games and moves them into 7th place in the Western Conference.
11.21.2008
Welcome Home...
The TBirds don't play until tomorrow night, but they do return home where I can actually see a game in person and give you my thoughts.
Couple of news dumps just to keep everyone up to date.
The Showare Center at Kent is now officially the name of our new home. Kent Reporter.
Coach Sumner on Paul Silvi's show tonight. Seattle Thunderbirds.
The Arena groundbreaking won an award. Seattle Thunderbirds.
Chance Lund was named to Team Pacific. WHL.
Calvin Pickard made it to Team West. WHL.
Couple of news dumps just to keep everyone up to date.
The Showare Center at Kent is now officially the name of our new home. Kent Reporter.
Coach Sumner on Paul Silvi's show tonight. Seattle Thunderbirds.
The Arena groundbreaking won an award. Seattle Thunderbirds.
Chance Lund was named to Team Pacific. WHL.
Calvin Pickard made it to Team West. WHL.
11.19.2008
Trip ends on a loss... and a little math
I wasn't there, I didn't see it, I didn't even hear it... I had physical therapy and a run tonight.
Tbirds lose 3-2 tonight in Swift Current ending the Eastern Swing with 5 points in 6 games and ending the whole trip with 7 points in 7 games.
The way the team played on the trip they probably deserved better... but it was still a good trip. Not a great trip, but a good trip, which isn't a great trip but isn't a bad trip.
The Birds have now played 5 games at home and 20 on the road. Think about that people... anyone who wants to be a hater needs to look at that balance (or imbalance).
That means of course... the rest of the way the Tbirds have 31 home games and 16 road games. There is no way they can play .800 at home the rest of the season but let's say they play .650 or .700 and make some projections.
If they play .650 at home (slightly worse) and .400 on the road (slightly better) they finish with 40 more home points and roughly 13 more road points for 53 total added to their current 21 and you get 74. Last year... 74 points got you 7th in the conference.
If they play .700 at home (still slightly worse) and .400 on the road (again slightly better) they finish with 44 points (rounded up) and 13 road points for 57 plus 21 and you get 77 which is still around 6th or 7th.
You begin to see why digging yourself a hole at the start of the season becomes problematic because the Tbirds could play pretty solid hockey the rest of the way and still only finish 6th or 7th in the West.
If we take the 91 points the Tbirds had last year as a rough benchmark for finishing 4th in the conference... let's see what it might take in order to get there.
First off... with a majority of the rest of the games at home, their play at home becomes more important... obviously.
In order to finish around 91 points they will probably need to play .500 on the road the rest of the way, which doesn't seem impossible given the play of late and the number of road games that are relatively close to home but offset by the fact that they still play a number of games in Everett, Spokane and Tri not to mention the suddenly feisty Winterhawks..... but let's say .500 meaning they get 16 points in the 16 games left on the road.
16 plus 21 is 37 points... 91 minus 37 is 54. So 54 is the number of points they would need to get at home. 54 points at home the rest of the way is .870.... which again illustrates why digging yourself a hole at the start of the season makes it tough (but not impossible)to finish around the 90 point mark).
Ok so that seems a bit unrealistic... so let's try it with a slightly better road record. If they play .550 on the road the rest of the way is 18 points. I'll save you the verbal calculations and tell you that it means they would need to play .839 the rest of the way at home to make it.
What is my point to all of this?
The Tbirds need to play like the Vancouver Giants at home in order to get to just 91 points. I like the way the team is playing but I think its impossible to expect them to play at that clip the rest of the way. My prediction... I will go with 83 points and 5th in the conference.
Tbirds lose 3-2 tonight in Swift Current ending the Eastern Swing with 5 points in 6 games and ending the whole trip with 7 points in 7 games.
The way the team played on the trip they probably deserved better... but it was still a good trip. Not a great trip, but a good trip, which isn't a great trip but isn't a bad trip.
The Birds have now played 5 games at home and 20 on the road. Think about that people... anyone who wants to be a hater needs to look at that balance (or imbalance).
That means of course... the rest of the way the Tbirds have 31 home games and 16 road games. There is no way they can play .800 at home the rest of the season but let's say they play .650 or .700 and make some projections.
If they play .650 at home (slightly worse) and .400 on the road (slightly better) they finish with 40 more home points and roughly 13 more road points for 53 total added to their current 21 and you get 74. Last year... 74 points got you 7th in the conference.
If they play .700 at home (still slightly worse) and .400 on the road (again slightly better) they finish with 44 points (rounded up) and 13 road points for 57 plus 21 and you get 77 which is still around 6th or 7th.
You begin to see why digging yourself a hole at the start of the season becomes problematic because the Tbirds could play pretty solid hockey the rest of the way and still only finish 6th or 7th in the West.
If we take the 91 points the Tbirds had last year as a rough benchmark for finishing 4th in the conference... let's see what it might take in order to get there.
First off... with a majority of the rest of the games at home, their play at home becomes more important... obviously.
In order to finish around 91 points they will probably need to play .500 on the road the rest of the way, which doesn't seem impossible given the play of late and the number of road games that are relatively close to home but offset by the fact that they still play a number of games in Everett, Spokane and Tri not to mention the suddenly feisty Winterhawks..... but let's say .500 meaning they get 16 points in the 16 games left on the road.
16 plus 21 is 37 points... 91 minus 37 is 54. So 54 is the number of points they would need to get at home. 54 points at home the rest of the way is .870.... which again illustrates why digging yourself a hole at the start of the season makes it tough (but not impossible)to finish around the 90 point mark).
Ok so that seems a bit unrealistic... so let's try it with a slightly better road record. If they play .550 on the road the rest of the way is 18 points. I'll save you the verbal calculations and tell you that it means they would need to play .839 the rest of the way at home to make it.
What is my point to all of this?
The Tbirds need to play like the Vancouver Giants at home in order to get to just 91 points. I like the way the team is playing but I think its impossible to expect them to play at that clip the rest of the way. My prediction... I will go with 83 points and 5th in the conference.
Dear Brian...
In case everyone misses the comment from below I will set this up here first. Commented last night...
"How can you write a blog about the T-birds and their road trip when you are on the sofa? Don't you need to be present to have some insight.... You making statements with NO facts because you are not present. Then you mention half heartly the T-bird radio announcer is having a daily diary about the eastern trip on his blog, and is taking your job. His not taking your job, he is doing your job. Brian"
Dear Brian...
Thank you for reading Let's Go Birds...
Look... let me remind you of a few things here. First off, I congratulate you on at least posting with a name rather than simply remaining anonymous (sort of). At least you have the guts to throw your name out there.
Second... you aren't wrong about what you are saying. I'm not on the road trip, I don't plan on travelling to Swift Current tonight to see the game and quite frankly if you have watched the games on WHL TV you will know that you aren't getting a whole lot from watching those either.... I'm very happy that the Tbirds and Thom decided to do a blog from the road to give YOU guys (and me), the fans, some insight into what is going on behind the scenes on the road. The fact of the matter is... I started this blog a year and a half ago because as most fans know the Tbirds get NO coverage locally here in Seattle. The Times and the PI ignore the TBirds and post only the small game reports. I started the blog because I was tired of fans not having a place where they could look to find out about transactions, stats and opinions that you are NOT going to find anywhere else.
Third... Thom has a job with the team, he is paid to travel with the team and broadcast the games and quite frankly I enjoy the job that he does for the most part. I think you could do a lot worse for a broadcaster. I also think that if Thom decided to "blog" about every game and every practice the way people like Regan Bartel does in Kelowna, I would be hard pressed to imagine a world in which the blog would need to continue. I have a REAL day job... I don't write this blog for money, I'm not paid by the team or anyone else and I certainly don't get paid to travel the Eastern Swing for 12 days just to cover the team for the blog... I'm sorry. If you are looking for that you should email the Thunderbirds and demand that Thom start keeping a blog for every game and practice home and away and when that happens I will gladly go away and be thankful for some additional coverage and insights.
Have you not noticed that we aren't even getting an "In The Corners" weekly update from Thom this year?
So in conclusion Brian... Yes you are right, it would be great if I was at the games and not sitting at home on my "sofa" but until you or the team want to start paying me to do that... what you see is what you get and quite frankly I am completely undeterred by some guy chirping at me from his own "sofa" who is doing nothing but reading my blog (gee I wonder why, maybe because it is the only place to find information?). Again... thanks for reading. If you don't like it... change the channel.
"How can you write a blog about the T-birds and their road trip when you are on the sofa? Don't you need to be present to have some insight.... You making statements with NO facts because you are not present. Then you mention half heartly the T-bird radio announcer is having a daily diary about the eastern trip on his blog, and is taking your job. His not taking your job, he is doing your job. Brian"
Dear Brian...
Thank you for reading Let's Go Birds...
Look... let me remind you of a few things here. First off, I congratulate you on at least posting with a name rather than simply remaining anonymous (sort of). At least you have the guts to throw your name out there.
Second... you aren't wrong about what you are saying. I'm not on the road trip, I don't plan on travelling to Swift Current tonight to see the game and quite frankly if you have watched the games on WHL TV you will know that you aren't getting a whole lot from watching those either.... I'm very happy that the Tbirds and Thom decided to do a blog from the road to give YOU guys (and me), the fans, some insight into what is going on behind the scenes on the road. The fact of the matter is... I started this blog a year and a half ago because as most fans know the Tbirds get NO coverage locally here in Seattle. The Times and the PI ignore the TBirds and post only the small game reports. I started the blog because I was tired of fans not having a place where they could look to find out about transactions, stats and opinions that you are NOT going to find anywhere else.
Third... Thom has a job with the team, he is paid to travel with the team and broadcast the games and quite frankly I enjoy the job that he does for the most part. I think you could do a lot worse for a broadcaster. I also think that if Thom decided to "blog" about every game and every practice the way people like Regan Bartel does in Kelowna, I would be hard pressed to imagine a world in which the blog would need to continue. I have a REAL day job... I don't write this blog for money, I'm not paid by the team or anyone else and I certainly don't get paid to travel the Eastern Swing for 12 days just to cover the team for the blog... I'm sorry. If you are looking for that you should email the Thunderbirds and demand that Thom start keeping a blog for every game and practice home and away and when that happens I will gladly go away and be thankful for some additional coverage and insights.
Have you not noticed that we aren't even getting an "In The Corners" weekly update from Thom this year?
So in conclusion Brian... Yes you are right, it would be great if I was at the games and not sitting at home on my "sofa" but until you or the team want to start paying me to do that... what you see is what you get and quite frankly I am completely undeterred by some guy chirping at me from his own "sofa" who is doing nothing but reading my blog (gee I wonder why, maybe because it is the only place to find information?). Again... thanks for reading. If you don't like it... change the channel.
11.18.2008
Bleh... whatever...
That is how you are supposed to play on the road in the middle of a long road trip. I'm giving the Tbirds a free pass on the loss tonight.
The only thing I think is worth noting is DeSerres making only 4 saves on 6 shots in the first period and then getting yanked in favor of Calvin Pickard the rest of the way. I didn't see the game with my own eyes but I have to assume Rob Sumner did not like what he saw and opted for the young 16 year old the rest of the way.
One game over the course of the season isn't going to make or break anyone... but I will say that at some point the Tbirds need DeSerres to fully regain his confidence and take back the #1 spot we all thought he would have going into the season. I think Pickard is great... I keep saying that and will keep saying that... but I also still believe at some point in a big game he will let you down because at 16 he is being put in a really tough spot.
Let's hope tonight was just one bad game and Jake rebounds quickly... whether it be tomorrow or Saturday at home.
The only thing I think is worth noting is DeSerres making only 4 saves on 6 shots in the first period and then getting yanked in favor of Calvin Pickard the rest of the way. I didn't see the game with my own eyes but I have to assume Rob Sumner did not like what he saw and opted for the young 16 year old the rest of the way.
One game over the course of the season isn't going to make or break anyone... but I will say that at some point the Tbirds need DeSerres to fully regain his confidence and take back the #1 spot we all thought he would have going into the season. I think Pickard is great... I keep saying that and will keep saying that... but I also still believe at some point in a big game he will let you down because at 16 he is being put in a really tough spot.
Let's hope tonight was just one bad game and Jake rebounds quickly... whether it be tomorrow or Saturday at home.
Uh oh...
Teams that get 5 power plays to the other team's 1 and...
don't score...
give up two goals...
including a short handed goal...
and only get 5 shots on goal....
on the road....
are well on their way to a loss... The Tbirds would be showing me a lot of character if they came back and won this game.
don't score...
give up two goals...
including a short handed goal...
and only get 5 shots on goal....
on the road....
are well on their way to a loss... The Tbirds would be showing me a lot of character if they came back and won this game.
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