Sunday, Novmeber 30
That’s a pretty tough weekend; two games in less than 24 hours with one on home ice and the other on the road, but goods teams don’t wait to make alibis, they just go out and perform. That’s exactly what the T-Birds did. Very dominate in the home ice win Friday over Kootenay and while the Portland game had some sloppy moments the T-Birds took care of business.

 

The T-Birds had much to be thankful for in the month of November. In 13 games the ‘Birds compiled an 8-3-1-1 record and earned 18 of a possible 26 points.  They scored 48 goals in the month and averaged exactly five goals per win. In those eight victories their average margin of victory was nearly three goals (2.7) while in their losses, the average margin of defeat was just over one goal and that was skewed by a 3-0 loss in Moose Jaw.

 

Draw the blinds and turn off the phone. After playing four games in four nights in four different cities, let’s hope Thomas Hickey can catch a few z’s before he plays three games in three nights in three different cities this coming weekend. 

 

In Portland Saturday night Seattle’s top line of Rai-O’Brien-Parker were held off the score sheet so it was nice to see other lines pick up the pace. Very impressed by the fourth line as Brenden Silvester had a goal, Chance Lund chipped in two assists and Luke Lockhart also got a helper. 

 

Maybe Charles Wells can play cornerback for the Seahawks. At key times in each of the last two games he has stepped up to intercept a pass at the opposing team’s blue line and then set up a teammate for a turning-point goal. 

 

Congratulations to Jeremy Schappert on his first goal of the season. It came at the right time too, with the T-Birds trailing the Winter Hawks in the second period. It seemed to relax the team and get them on track for a win.

 

The T-Birds have six games left before the holiday break. Four of the five teams they play (they go up against Spokane twice) have winning percentages above .640. Three of those teams have winning percentages greater than .700. Two of those teams are winning games at better than a .830 clip and one team is at .900. It’s going to be quite the test for Seattle. The average record of the five teams they will play is 17-8-0-2. Remove Portland’s 7-21-0-0 and the average record of the remaining four teams is 19-5-0-2. Oh, and to top it off, five of those six games will be on the road. 

 

Bring on December!

 

Sunday, November 23
With all the free hamburgers the T-Birds and Dairy Queen are giving away at home games, maybe we need to change the name of KeyArena to the Grill. In case you didn’t know, each time the Thunderbirds score five or more goals at home each fan in attendance receives a coupon good for a free “Flame Thrower” grill burger from DQ. The T-Birds have now scored five goals or more in four straight home games after Saturday’s 6-2 win over rival Portland. Considering Seattle has only had six home games to date and will play 28 home games the second half of the season, Dairy Queen might be selling tofu burgers by seasons end. As this keeps up, I understand a lot of cattle are applying for the witness protection program.


What will DQ do if the T-Birds score 10 goals

 

The word must be getting out; I believe the crowds at the games have gotten bigger with each game. Now, do you think we could get them to toss in a milkshake if the team gets to ten goals or a side of onion rings if we get a shutout?

 

Memo to Portland’s Taylor Jordan, we think we’re number one too but thanks for the reminder.

 

Birthdays come and birthdays go but Prab Rai made his 19^th a memorable one with two goals and three assists. Rai, who didn’t get his first goal last season until December (and ended up with 20) already has 16 this season. 

 

I wonder if the coaches will leave Jon Parker up on that line with Rai and Jim O’Brien. For the second time this season an injury necessitated juggling the lines and Parker ended up on that top line. A month ago when it happened, he scored three goals and chipped in a few assists. Last night in his first game back on that line he gets three helpers. 

 

Seattle has speed throughout the line up, not just on that line and it was no more evident then when Brendan Silvester streaked down the left wing, flashed by a Portland defender and snapped a shot into the upper right corner of the Portland goal. Silvester now has three goals on the season, easily climbing past his goal total of last season: 2.

 

Seattle was clearly the better team on the ice last night but I think a busy recent schedule (7 games in 9 nights) had zapped Portland and they weren’t at their best. No way was that the team that beat Tri-City (twice) and Spokane on the road recently. I suspect next weekend when we see them down at the Rose Garden we’ll get a truer idea of the effects new coach Mike Johnston has had on that team.

 

Not that the schedule and travel should be an excuse because as you know, the T-Birds had just finished a stretch of 7 games in 12 days (and 6 in 9); all on the road.   What we saw last night was indicative of the way the team played on that road trip; fairly dominate and they controlled the play. The ‘Birds have now outshot their opponent in 11 straight games and 13 of their last 14. The last time Seattle was outshot was October 29^th in a 7-3 loss in Kelowna (shots were 28-27 Rockets). In those 14 games Seattle is averaging 35.4 shots. The reason their record isn’t better than 8-4-1-1 in that stretch is they were held to two or fewer goals in five of the games they lost. 

 

Saturday’s game was most likely the last time the T-Birds host Portland at KeyArena. Everyone is still optimistic the first game in the new arena will be December 27^th against the Winter Hawks. Portland’s broadcast crew of Andy Kemper and John Kirby took a detour and took a drive by the new building in Kent to get a peek at the progress of the construction. Kirby was surprised to see workers in the building late on a Saturday afternoon. Look for the first sheet of ice to be installed at the ShoWare Center the first week of December; just a week away. 

 

Friday, November 21
It’s time for a final thought or two on the just completed Eastern Swing. First, remember early on in the trip when a restaurant in Kindersley, Saskatchewan turned down the T-Birds business because making 33 sandwiches on such short notice was just too overwhelming? Well, kudos to the staff at the Moses Lake Perkin’s who didn’t bat an eye when 31 disheveled guys in tracks suits walked off a dusty and dirty bus and showed up at their door for breakfast Thursday morning at 10am 

 

As to the hockey, I’ve never seen a team work so hard yet get so little reward for that effort as the T-Birds did on the just completed 7-game road trip. With few exceptions, I really thought the T-Birds dictated the tempo of play in each and every game. Even in the 3-0 shutout loss to Moose Jaw Seattle was the better team by game’s end, outshooting the Warriors 14-3 in the third. Seven straight road games and they outshot the opposition in every one of them; from a high of 50 in Chilliwack to a low of 23 in Brandon. They averaged around 35 shots a game. In fact, go back three more games, starting with the overtime loss in Kennewick November 1^st and the T-Birds have now outshot their opponent in 10 straight games and in most cases by double digits. To top it off it seems just about every goaltender they faced on the trip had a career night. Friesen in Chilliwack, Stanford in Prince Albert, Holtby in Saskatoon, Bosch in Moose Jaw and Yonkman in Swift Current were all given one of the three stars and in most cases they were the number one star on the night. 

 

Yet Seattle’s record over that span is just 5-3-1-1.   How is that possible? Well, as you may have heard (or seen), Seattle got off to a very poor start this season and they had many issues to resolve and I just don’t think they can all be fixed over night, or in this case, one long road trip. What the T-Birds did on the road trip was put themselves on track to be more consistent game to game. But they still need to do a better job of burying more of those quality shots they’re getting and they need to do a better job of getting to those second chance opportunities. I really don’t remember too many goals on the trip that were off rebounds or loose pucks in and around the crease. 

 

The power play is certainly better than a season ago but can still improve and the penalty killing needs to be more consistent. 

 

And foremost the goaltending has to better night in and night out. The team has started too many games in a hole because of an early soft goal against.

 

Finally it’s just my opinion but the delay of game penalty for shooting the puck over the boards has got to go! I didn’t like it when it was instituted a few years ago and I still don’t like it today. I see why they would initiate this penalty; to stop teams under pressure in their own zone from just flipping the puck into the stands to alleviate that pressure. Knowing they are going to be penalized does any player today intentionally shoot the puck over the glass in their own end, especially when already down a man?  

 

I’m not sure what the criteria are for selecting the WHL Player of the Week. I hope it is not just raw numbers because that might exclude Seattle defenseman Thomas Hickey (3g, 1a, +2 on the swing). Win or lose, he was the best player on the ice most nights on the trip.

 

If you saw Sena Acolatse’s shot that apparently sailed the length of the ice and just over the glass into the net behind the Swift Current goal, you know he was not under any pressure from the Bronco’s. He actually had time to stop and set up for the clearing shot. It was just an unfortunate shot that sailed on him. The same for the Brenden Dillon penalty; there was no pressure from the Bronco’s power play that forced him to dump it over the glass. He just miss hit the puck. So the Bronco’s get two 5-on-3 power plays they didn’t earn and score on both and completely alter the outcome of that game. 

 

The irony is, if the T-Birds were being pressured in their zone and having trouble clearing the puck while the team was at even strength, Sena’s shot would have just been another icing call (while in flight, the puck crossed the goal line at the other end before it went up over the glass…at least that was the explanation the referee gave to a Bronco’s assistant coach), but since you can’t be guilty of icing the puck when shorthanded, it ends up being a penalty.

 

I mean does shooting the puck over the glass really “delay” the game? The whistle stops play and the face off is in the offending team’s zone anyway, so why not treat it like icing and not allow the guilty team to make any player changes? 

 

What a way to come off the road; your first home game is against your long time rival, the suddenly re-energized Portland Winter Hawks. Let’s see if this rivalry, which has been a bit dormant the past two seasons because of Seattle’s dominance, is reborn. 

 

Tuesday, November 18
The T-Birds came out of the gate last night like the Canadian prairies…flat. They just didn’t have it, at least not the way they had it the first five games of this trip. I just got the sense after watching the first few shifts that no matter how hard they tried, this one was on those games they were destined to lose. I just think it is inevitable on a seven game, 12-day road trip you’re not going to be able to play lights out every game and there will be a hiccup along the way. Last night it was as though every player hit the wall at the same time.

 

View from the press box at the "Crushed Can" in Moose Jaw
 

And it wasn’t as though Moose Jaw skated them out of the building, despite the 3-0 score. By the end of the game the T-Birds had outshot the home team, 27-23, including 14-3 in the third period. Seattle had six power plays to the Warriors two. The Warriors played well and got an outstanding effort from their goaltender Jeff Bosch, but Seattle’s struggles were more of their own doing. They dug a hole in the first period they couldn’t get out of no matter how improved there play was by game’s end. But when all is said and done, it is still a loss to a team that has struggled to keep the puck out of their own net so give Moose Jaw the credit for earning the shutout win. 

 

Was this one of the final games the T-Birds will play at the Moose Jaw Civic Centre? Despite a smattering of vocal opposition, the city of Moose Jaw appears to be ready to move forward on building a new arena downtown. The league has already told the city they risk losing the franchise because the “Crushed Can” does not meet league requirements. Despite its “charm” the building is sorely outdated. 

 
Sign in Moose Jaw supporting a new arena for the Warriors

 

The team made it to Swift Current shortly after midnight and got a first look at the newly renovated arena here. There is a new visitor locker room and new seats and suites behind the east goal where once no seats existed; nothing but a wall in past years. There were to be new locker room facilities for the home team as well but that has been put on hold until more funds can be allocated.     


View of Swift Current I-Plex from newly installed seats

 

The team is spending the day at the Swift Current Best Western, which just might be the best hotel on the tip so far. At the very least, it’s the newest. One thing they have over the Heritage Inn in Moose Jaw? Internet in each room... bloggers rejoice!

 

The sun is shining which means with no cloud cover to hold in the heat, temperatures have fallen to the freezing level. Throw in the prairie wind and it is a bit chilly here in Swift Current. 

 

The Thunderbirds have already guaranteed a .500 record on this trip but a win over the Broncos would be the capper to a great eastern swing and a nice bounce back to last night’s setback. It won’t make the trip back to Kent any shorter, just a little more tolerable! 

 

After the game it’s on the bus and on back to Kent. The team will have a driver shift somewhere around the halfway point, possibly Cranbrook, B.C. There will probably be a breakfast stop in Ritzville, about an hour west of Spokane, and then a non-stop ride from there until they arrive at the Kent Valley Ice Center at some point Thursday afternoon. 

 

First things first though, focusing on getting back on their game and getting a win in Swift Current.

 

 
There are many things that go into planning a long road trip as an Equipment Manager. I was never a boy scout of any kind but I do remember several ‘words of wisdom’ that JW Aiken, Equipment Manager for the Providence Bruins, told me while I worked with him during the 2006-2007 American Hockey League season. He told me to always be prepared for every scenario possible. Whether is it a trade, free agent signing, call-up, or even a listed player showing up for a team practice.  

 

With those ‘words of wisdom,’ the night before leaving for Chilliwack, British Columbia, I packed up two sets of Thunderbirds gear (helmet, pants, and gloves) along with spare protective gear (shin, shoulder and elbow pads). Even though on every road game we travel with a bag designated as the ‘extra gear bag,’ due to the length of this trip another bag is necessary and the boys are not happy because those bags are usually heavier than their own bags.

 

Being prepared for another player or piece of equipment, that I am no longer to repair, is just a part of what I have prepared for this journey. I also travel with a large three-level trunk and one smaller trunk with supplies that the players may need and use before or during games and practices.

 

Inside the three-level trunk you will find the essentials. Tape (black, white, grip and friction for their hockey sticks), skate laces, wax, markers, scissors, helmet stickers and other miscellaneous items that relate to their hockey needs and wants. The smaller trunk hauls my sewing machine and glove dryer (PVC pipes and a hair dryer) and other smaller items that do not have places in the larger trunk.

 

If any fans have traveled to road games (which many have that I know of) and have seen the loading of the gear they may notice a lengthy bag which carries all of the players sticks along with batches of brand new sticks in case of breakage during games or practices. On a long trip like this one, I have to make sure that I pack plenty of replacement sticks (more than a normal road game) in case of more broken sticks than usual.

 

This morning (Monday, November, 17), the Thunderbirds practiced at 10:00AM. On a normal practice day at home I would arrive at the rink approximately 9:30AM to make sure that the room is prepared for the players to arrive and get ready for practice. That is what this morning was like, minus sleeping in my own bed and driving to the rink. Instead, I walked, briskly might I add, down the road to the “Crushed Can” to find the doors locked and the parking lot empty at 8:20AM. Thankfully, a rink employee arrived shortly after which allowed me to get to work a little earlier than normal.


Jason and Stefan Warg examine one his Stefan's sticks

 

Being on the road is a little easier for practice and game days. Although the room was left a little messy after we arrived on Sunday so I had my hands full getting things ready for the players to arrive around 9:30AM. As a visitor, the home team supplies and sets the bench for practice which saves me or Phil 10 minutes and they also clean the players hockey laundry, which saves me several hours and allows me to sharpen skates, clean, sew socks and set up the locker room.


Jason sewing socks

 

During practice today I spent my time with the game socks checking for holes and repairing them while the boys cheer and yell on the ice. While practice was taking place this also gave me an opportunity to set up the skate sharpener and prepare myself for a long afternoon of sharpening skates. 

 
Jason sharpening skates

Once practice ended I started to see the parade of soaked jerseys, which was my signal to get ready for a lineup of skates to be sharpened. If it were not for Phil hanging around with me and helping setup the locker room and help clean and organize a lot of things, there is a good chance I’d still be there until game time.  


Jason and Phil get the locker room ready for a road game

 

That’s all that really goes on besides watching TV or multiple movies in the hotel while eating take-out and junk food.   

Monday, November 17
After another good practice session Monday at the Moose Jaw Civic Centre, most of the team boarded the bus and headed back to Regina for a field trip to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Heritage Centre. The visit was set up by Steve Sumner, brother of T-Birds head coach Rob Sumner and an RCMP corporal assigned to the Centre. The players were given the option to stay back in Moose Jaw and rest but the majority of the players opted for the tour. I guess the six or seven who chose to stay back in Moose Jaw have outstanding parking tickets and didn’t want to risk a records check.


RCMP Corporal Paul Watson with the T-Birds

 

Since the late 1800's the Heritage Centre has been the one place in Canada where all RCMP cadets come for basic training. The players got a look at the driving course, where cadets learn to handle a squad car at high speeds, the self-defense gym, where cadets learn to subdue suspected criminals and learn self-defense tactics, and the firing range where cadets become proficient shooting pistols, rifles and shotguns. The only thing that could have made the tour better was the opportunity to fire some of the weapons but that option was, alas, not available...unless you were willing to enlist. 


T-Bird Devon LeBlanc tries out an RCMP holding tank

 

I did find it a bit odd that the outdoor firing range was right under the flight path into the nearby Regina Airport.

 

Another movie on the ride to and from Regina. With no Turner Stevenson on the trip the boys slipped in “Zoolander”, the Ben Stiller male-modeling farce. To me this is one of those it’s-so-bad-it’s-good movies. Well, it had its moments. 

 

Tuesday is game day but the morning skate was optional. Still, 10 players took advantage of the opportunity to get in some ice time. 

 

After the game tonight the team will board the bus and head to Swift Current. 

 

Thunderbirds equipment manager Jason Berger is in his second year with the organization, so this is his second trip out to the prairies but first into the Eastern Division. Berger’s nickname is “Cheese” which is ironic since he is lactose intolerant. Jason is today’s guest blogger and later this afternoon I will post his blog as he explains what a typical day on this trip has been like for him. Jason had decided to go into full detail so I thought it best to give him a full blog.

 

Sunday, November 16
The team has now moved its headquarters to the Heritage Inn in Moose Jaw through Tuesday night.

 

Plea to the folks who run this place; join the new millennium and put an Internet connection in each hotel room. I mean, what hotel these days doesn’t offer that service?

After unloading the bus at the Civic Centre, more affectionately known as the “Crushed Can”, the players were on their own for lunch. Sunday afternoon the players went over to the nearby movie theater and took in a late matinee showing of the new James Bond film (yours truly fell asleep while watching the Seahawks game in my hotel room). Later in the evening they had a team meal featuring some kind of meat (was it veal?) at the hotel then the players were on their own for the rest of the evening.


The "Crushed Can" in Moose Jaw

 

Jon Parker is in his first season seasons with Seattle. He came over from the Vancouver Giants in a trade late in the exhibition seasons in exchange for a late round bantam pick. I remember Vancouver head coach Don Hay asking me how Parker was doing with the team when the T-Birds were in Vancouver to face the Giants back on October 3^rd. Hay, like T-Birds head coach Rob Sumner, believes Parker has a good offensive upside and he’s off to a decent start to his WHL career. Vancouver just didn’t have a spot for another forward on their roster this season.

 

As you may know, Parker is from the San Diego, California area; Solana Beach to be exact. So, a trip through the Canadian prairies in November is probably a bit of a culture shock. So I asked him to be a guest blogger and put down a few of his impressions of this road trip.  Here’s what he came up with along with some of my comments tossed in:

 

So far on the road swing there’s been many ups and downs (is he talking about the mercury in the thermometer?). When the team was in Prince Albert it was quite cold (and that was just inside the arena!). It was probably the coldest place I’ve ever been. I asked Jeff Caso (T-birds Hockey Operations Assistant) if it was going to get any colder on this trip. He said, while laughing of course, why yes it will (Jeff was right). That’s when it dawned on me I should have brought a jacket (and gloves and a toque and a scarf and pocket warmers...).

 

Throughout the trip we have passed a lot of half frozen ponds and lakes and the occasional patches of snow. Being from California I get “chirped” at quite a bit from the guys (all in good fun Jon, all in good fun). Things like “Hey Parks, you know what that white stuff is?” or “Parks, can you surf in snow?”

 

Well, that’s it. Unfortunately frostbite set in and Parker couldn’t type anymore. Not really. Actually, as one of players in high school he had a study session to attend.


The interior of the "Crushed Can" in Moose Jaw

 

Going back to the subject of “chirping”, Devon LeBlanc might be the best player on the team in that department but overall no one can come close to assistant coach Turner Stevenson. 

 

You know it’s been a long road trip when players start debating who manufactures the best hockey socks and the consistency of granola bars.


Colin Haas getting his wrist taped by Trainer Phil Varney before practice

 

Brad Haber has missed the past two games in order to attend a family wedding back home in British Columbia. He rejoined the team Sunday night in Moose Jaw. In his absence Eric Fleming stepped up and played two solid games. The game in Regina may have been his best as a T-Bird.

 

Monday morning breakfast is at nine then practice runs from 10:00 to 11:30. I believe there is a team function in the afternoon that will take them back into to Regina. Four years ago the team took the underground tour of Moose Jaw. The tour shows you where gangster Al Capone stashed his bootleg alcohol during the Prohibition Era in the states.


Poster for Underground Moose Jaw tours  

 

T-Birds equipment manager Jason Berger will take his turn as guest blogger tomorrow. 

 
 

Lindsay Nielsen wins the openign faceoff in the game against Brandon
 

Who tracks shots on goal in that building? I counted three early in the third period for Seattle (including a Charles Wells goal that the goal judge and referee missed) and the shot board never budged.

 

One tradition at the rink in Brandon is the demonstration of radio controlled aircraft. I don’t think I’ve been to a game in Brandon when these guys haven’t been their before the game flying their planes inside the rink. They have amazing control and can do some crazy stunts with these planes. Although on this night I did see one mid-air collision.


Remote controlled airplanes are a Brandon tradition

 

The team made its traditional stop at the Red Barn restaurant in Moosimin, Saskatchewan, for their pregame meal prior to the Brandon game. Only, it’s not the same Red Barn. Oh, it’s the same owners and same menu, but since the highway was moved north of town the owners got smart and built a brand new restaurant out next to the new highway. By the way, how good is the pregame meal at the Red Barn? This is the only pregame meal bus driver Eli Johnson joins the team for. (Note to English teachers; sorry I ended a sentence with a preposition).


Red Barn Restuarant in Moosimin, Saskatchewan

 

After the win over the Wheat Kings we took another shot at a movie on the bus to help kill time on the four hour ride back to Regina. This time David Richard made the selection and it was “Death Race”. If you like a movie with a lot of (violent) death and a lot of (violent) racing, then “Death Race” was the movie for you. I don’t even know who the stars of this movie was (Jason Statham?). Basic plot (was there one?): sadistic female prison warden has car races among prisoners and sells them to viewers over pay-per-view. Sort of an apocalyptic NASCAR. Of course the hero is in prison on a trumped up murder charge. Anyway, the players enjoyed it and Turner Stevenson fell asleep. 

 

Thanks again to James Prekeges for his assistance on the last four broadcasts. I’ll especially miss him as I haul the gear up and down the stairs at the “Crushed Can” in Moose Jaws. I miss elevators! Prekeges did leave his lucky toony (Canadian two dollar piece). He found it on the ground just before the Regina game and team is 2-0 since he scooped it up.

Jon Parker, the Souther California, is going to be the first guest blogger. I thought I would be a godo idea to get the perspective from someone making his first eastern swing. Especially someone who probably hasn't seen the other side of 60-degrees. Prior to this week the coldest place Parker has been is in front of the fridge with the door open.

 
 

Thursday, November 13
Well the big news late yesterday was the Thunderbirds inking Colin Jacobs to a WHL education and player contract. Seattle selected Jacobs in the fourth round of the most recent WHL Bantam Draft but the consensus is he would have gone very high, possibly in the top five, had he declared before the draft that he was committed to coming to the WHL. 

I know his quotes didn’t mention it but I wonder if the new arena in Kent factored into his decision. I really believe when the new building opens the amenities offered to the players in the Kent Events Center will become a great recruiting tool, if they haven’t already.

 

Time to settle a debate between the coaches; which Saskatchewan city is bigger, Saskatoon or Regina? Well through the magic of Google and Wikipedia we can tell you the answer. As of the 2007 census Saskatoon was larger, even though Regina is the provincial capital. Wikipedia lists the population of the Saskatoon metro area as 233, 923 compared to a metro area population of 194,971 in Regina. 

 

Regina, of course, is named after a queen while Saskatoon is the loose translation for a Cree word that refers to a violet colored (or is that coloured?) berry that grows in the area. 

 

One distinction Regina would probably like to rid itself of; one publication listed it as Canada’s most dangerous city. 

 

After a day of sunshine the weather turned and a cold drizzle fell through much of the evening. Almost feels like home...almost.

 

The team had a nice roast beef dinner Thursday night at Luigi’s, a popular eatery for visiting WHL teams here in Regina. Then it was back to the hotel for a team meeting and then up to their rooms to rest up for Friday’s game against the Pats. 

 

Over the next week I’m going to enlist some of the players and staff on the trip to be guest bloggers. I’ll give them the opportunity to share a paragraph or two of their thoughts about this long road trip. Stay tuned.