The T-Birds weren't at full effort in either of their games this past weekend, not even in the 3-1 win Friday over Kamloops. Still, it shows you that this team has made progress from the early part of the year. Similar lack of full effort earlier in the season probably would have netted them a pair of losses rather than a split. 

It's nice to talk about the special teams in a positive light. After struggling the past couple of seasons, the power play is showing results on almost a nightly basis. Having two good power-play units is a big reason why and the improved accuracy of Sena Acolatse's dangerous shot has been key to that unit's resurgence. The T-Birds rank 14th in the league with the man advantage and in a 22 team field, that may not seem much more than middle of the pack. But look at the percentage of the time Seattle is scoring on the power play; they are now at 19.8 percent and steadily climbing. Add another 1.5 percent success and the 'Birds are top ten. More importantly though, it is a far cry better than the 15 to 16 percent success they've had on the power play the past two years and for much of both of the past two seasons they hovered closer to 12 percent for big stretches of the schedule. 

The penalty kill has been very good all year.  Yes, there have been games when the team has allowed a couple of power-play goals to beat them but that happens to even the best penalty killers now and then. When it happens to Seattle it is usually when they take far too many penalties in a game. As Rob Sumner has repeatedly said, four to five penalties should be the maximum you take in a game. The last two seasons the Thunderbirds have been, on average, the 10th best penalty killing club in the WHL. This season they are currently ranked 4th, have not been lower than fifth and have been as high as number one.

While special team have been a very pleasant surprise to this point of the season the real reason behind the T-Birds recent resurgence has been their improved scoring while skating 5-on-5. In their last eight games the T-Birds have scored 18 even strength goals (and 12 power-play goals). In the first eight games of the season Seattle tallied just nine even strength goals.  

For most of the first month of the season the team was barely averaging over a goal per game. After this weekend the 'Birds are averaging 2.44 goals per game, basically improving their goals per game average by slightly over one full goal. Now, 2.44 goals per game might not seem like much but break it down further and the T-Birds are averaging nearly four goals a game (3.74) over their last eight games.

Has anyone generated as many scoring chances without scoring a goal as Chance Lund has the past two weeks? It reminds me of a few years ago when Nate Thompson was constantly snake bit and couldn't buy a goal. Eventually though, Nate potted one and it opened up the floodgates and he started lighting the lamp on a consistent basis. I have a feeling Chance is on that same doorstep and the puck is going to start going in for him soon. 

One of Nate Thompson's old teammates, Ryan Gibbons, was in the house for Saturday's game against Everett. Gibby marveled at the ShoWare Center and wished he was still WHL eligible so he could have a chance to play there. It's hard to believe it's been three seasons since Ryan wore a T-Birds jersey.   My lasting memory of Ryan will always be him crashing the crease and knocking a loose puck, and usually the opposing goalie, into the net.   Gibbons was drafted in the 6th round of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the Phoenix Coyotes but injuries have curtailed his pro career. He is currently doing real estate work in his native Vancouver.

T-Birds Director of Public and Media Relations Ian Henry and I are working on better utilizing different/non-main stream forms of electronic media to publicize the team. Specifically we're trying to take advantage of the popularity of Facebook and Twitter.  We're posting lots of pictures on both sites and this past week I started adding video clips to the team's Facebook page. This is the age of the internet and it's a great resource to the team. The last two games I've been able to upload both pre and postgame player interviews. Any feedback is appreciated so check it out and drop me a line at thomb@seattlethunderbirds.com with suggestions for future interviews.

Also, we are looking for a name for these pre and post game interviews. We thought we would open it up to all the fans on Facebook to try and come up with a name for the video interviews. So from now until noon on Wednesday, November 25, we will keep track of your suggestions. Then around 2pm on Wednesday we will post a Note on Facebook with all the suggestions we think might work and ask you to vote on them. The name that receives the most votes will be the name of the new video feature on the T-Birds Facebook page. The fan that submits the winning name will win 2 tickets to a future T-Birds game of their choice at ShoWare Center.

Some things to consider when coming up with a possible name for the new video feature:

Don't forget to look for Calvin Pickard in the Subway Super Series this week as he plays with Team WHL against a team from Russia. Pickard will miss this week's home game against Regina on Wednesday. 

Finally, everyone have a Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The team held practice at the Memorial Arena. This was the home of the Blazers before the Interior Savings Centre was built. 

Memorial Coliseum in Kamloops

T-Birds G.M. Russ Farwell recounted a few games between the two teams in this old barn.  The benches are side by side with nothing but a four foot walk way separating them; no walls, nothing but maybe one security guy. That must have made for some pretty interesting situations. 

Russ Farwell stands between the benches at Memorial Coliseum

 Another unique aspect is the approximately 16 inch drop from bench level to ice level.  Like they say, the first step is a doozy.

The drop from the bench to the ice at Memorial Coliseum