In The Corners - T-Birds Hitting Their Stride
02/23/2009 11:21 AM - Thom Beuning
Monday, February 23
Isn’t the view much better when you can see over the fence? It took 63 games but Seattle is finally over the .500 mark for the season. With nine games left they’ll need to go 5-4 at a minimum to finish the 2008-09 campaign with a winning record. Considering they are going to play eight of those final nine games at home, where they are 13 games over .500, I like their odds of finishing on the plus side. Additionally, the combined record of their final nine opponents is just barely over .500 (146-140-9-12) and that is skewed because the two teams remaining on the schedule with winning records happen to be Tri-City and Spokane.
Apparently the T-Birds say their prayers and spend Sunday mornings at mass since moving into their new accommodations. Seattle is a perfect 6-for-6 on Sundays at ShoWare Center including wins over playoff bound Vancouver (twice), Tri-City and Kamloops. The T-Birds have two Sunday home games remaining, both against Everett. Seattle’s home record at KeyArena on Sundays this season? They were 0-2 losing to Calgary and Spokane back in December.
By combining to score all three of Seattle’s goals Sunday against Vancouver, Jeremy Boyer and Jim O’Brien set career highs for goals in a season. Boyer now has 17; he had 16 a year ago, while O’Brien is up to 23 after potting 21 in the 2007-08 season. At times Sunday against the Giants O’Brien looked like a man amongst boys. He really is starting to look smooth and comfortable and his skating looks so effortless.
Meanwhile, I was really happy for Boyer because I thought the goaltender interference penalty was rather ticky-tack. Of course, if the penalty is not called, then he’s not coming out of the box to go in on the breakaway, he doesn’t get hooked and he doesn’t get awarded the penalty shot. I like karma. And Boyer didn’t waste a lot of energy with a lot of deking on that penalty shot. He went right in on Giants goaltender Jamie Tucker, had an idea of where to shoot and snapped it into the back of the net.
That’s two straight games where the T-Birds used their last power play to get their only power-play goal and it turns out to be the game winner. Saturday in Portland it was Jonathon Parker, Sunday it was O’Brien. I know the Giants are loaded with young forwards but do you think they might regret sending Parker to the T-Birds? At the very least he’s shown he’s worth more than a 10th round bantam pick which is what Seattle sent to Vancouver to get him.
Speaking of Portland, since the holiday break the teams have played five times and Seattle is 3-2 in those contests. The first half of the season the ‘Birds went 4-0 against Portland. If the second half of the season is any indication, the long time rivalry is just that again, a rivalry.
Calvin Pickard is one win away from the 20-victory plateau. Who would have thunk it? I mean we knew with his blood line he was going to be a good one, but this soon? How many 16-year-old goalies at this level get this much playing time let alone earn a shot at 20-plus wins?
Looking for a couple of players who aren’t ending up on the score sheet but are playing hard-nosed hockey? Take a look at Charles Wells and Brenden Silvester. Both are skating well and throwing the body around.
Finally, there has been debate by many about the merits of overtime and the shootout and awarding points to a team that loses a game. I know Gregg Drinnan on his blog often comments on what he terms, “loser points”, that is a team getting a point because of the tie at the end of regulation even if they lose in the overtime or the shootout. One proposal is to only award points to the team that wins the overtime or shootout.
I’ve thought about this and have come up with a more drastic solution. I say eliminate the overtime and the shootout altogether, but instead of going back to the old system where each team gets a point when the game ends in a tie, my plan is that neither team gets a point. I mean currently if you don’t outscore your opponent in regulation (say you lose, 4-2) you don’t get a point. So, logically if neither team outscores the other, neither gets a point. The only points awarded are two for a win. I think this would open up the game in the third period. Teams would be more apt to go for it rather than do what I think many teams do now, which is settle for a tie and take their chances earning an extra point in the overtime/shootout format.
I did some math, which by the way isn’t my strong point, and figured out how many points each team in the league has earned under the OT/SO/point-for-a-tie-at-the-end-of- regulation format that is currently in use. Taking away all those ties and so-called “loser points” doesn’t alter the standings too drastically but it would make for some great battles down to the finish for playoff spots. The biggest loser would be Kootenay which would drop from sixth in the Eastern Conference to ninth (four points behind Regina). Swift Current would jump over Medicine Hat for fourth place in the east and be in line to earn home ice for the first round of the playoffs.
In the Western Conference Spokane and Kelowna would be currently tied for third place but just four points behind second place Tri-City. Meanwhile Portland would be just two points out of a playoff spot behind Prince George but would have three games in hand on the Cougars. It just seems to me like it would keep more teams in the playoff race in March rather than have them eliminated in February.
In The Corners - Moving up the playoff standings
02/16/2009 2:09 PM - Thom Beuning
Monday, February 16
The T-Birds take two of three games on the weekend and earn four of a possible six points. That’s pretty good considering the weekend didn’t start well, what with the lackluster effort in the 4-0 loss in Everett. Its one thing to lose when you give it your best and are just done in by a better team but to lose because you didn’t give it your best, especially to team you are trying to catch in the standings, and a team that didn’t play much better than you did, is disheartening. All Seattle needed to do in that game is what Everett did; show some passion and capitalize on your chances.
The weekend can be best described as a roller coaster ride. It actually goes back to last week’s games that started with an exciting win on TV over Lethbridge. The ‘Birds followed that up with the 7-1 road loss to the Americans in Kennewick yet bounce back less than 24 hours later to up end Vancouver. I guess this year’s version of the Thunderbirds is like getting an E Ticket ride at Disneyland.
Now, I’ve heard some say, what does it matter whether the T-Birds finish fifth, sixth or seventh in the standings? The top four teams in the Western Conference are just too good to beat in a best-of-seven first round series. Well, if that were the team’s attitude, I’d agree with the sentiment and you might as well pack the bags and head off to an early vacation. But the team believes they can compete and beat any team on any given night. We’ve seen that with recent wins over Vancouver and Kelowna. Certainly they’ll have to be at their best to win a seven game series, but the wins over the Giants and Rockets, plus wins earlier this season over Tri-City and Spokane, also show that those teams better be playing their best to beat Seattle.
Secondly, if the Thunderbirds finish fifth in the conference it also means they are playing their best hockey going into the post season. They’ve been sitting at or near the seventh spot in the conference most of the season. To finish fifth means they will be winning games as the regular season ends.
Seattle has just three road games left. Two of those away games come in the next five days. First, the ‘Birds are in Spokane to face the Chiefs on Wednesday. This is a Spokane team that is starting to hit its stride just as they did at this time last season on their way to the league and Memorial Cup titles. They’ve also made up some ground on Tri-City for the top spot in the U.S. Division and the number two seed in the Western Conference. In fact it should be an exciting race down the stretch for that #2 seed. While the U.S. Division winner is the #2 seed for the first round of the playoffs, the seeding goes by conference standings once teams reach the second round. So, if Kelowna can pass both Spokane and Tri-City in the standings, they would get home-ice advantage should they advance to the second round.
So, it will be a good test for the T-birds who have actually won twice previously this season at the Spokane Arena. The game Wednesday is the first leg of a home-and-home series between the two U.S. Division rivals as Spokane is at the ShoWare Center on Friday. The road game is important because the T-Birds know if they are to get out of the first round of the playoffs this year they are going to have to win on the road against a team the caliber of the Chiefs.
Saturday Seattle is in Portland to take on the Winter Hawks. I do believe it will be “Dash-for-Cash” night in the Rose City as a dozen or so lucky fans get to go out on the ice and see how many dollar coins they can stuff into their pockets and shirts. It may sound easy but if you’ve witnessed this promotion you know picking up coins from the ice can be difficult.
Don’t forget Sunday the Western Conference leading Giants are back in town for their last regular season appearance. The T-birds were shorthanded but full marks for beating the Giants just over a week ago.
It was another successful Parent’s Weekend. And thanks again to Laura Hunt (Erik Fleming’s mother) and Steve Parker (the dad of Jonathan Parker) for coming up to the radio booth for interviews. As they say, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and these two parents, like all the T-Birds parents, are wonderful role models for their offspring. What was really great was Fleming scoring that goal in the second period, just minutes before mom went on the air. And Parker’s dad is definitely a stand up guy, hailing as he does originally from Chicago. I spent three years of my youth growing up in the Chicago land area, still have a couple brothers back there, and became a lifelong Blackhawks fan. Chicago and the surrounding area is, for me, the best sports town around. Unfortunately now that I work for the T-Birds and their biggest rival is Portland, the only place I can wear my Blackhawks jersey is around the house with the blinds shut and curtains drawn.
After surrendering three power-play goals and scoring none Friday in Everett, the T-Birds special teams buckled down against Portland and Chilliwack. In the two games against the Winter Hawks and Bruins the ‘Birds killed off 11 penalties while scoring four times on the power play and getting one shorthanded goal.
In The Corners - Big Win Over Vancouver
02/09/2009 11:19 AM - Thom Beuning
Monday, February 9
Hats off to the players for the 4-3 win over Vancouver. That was the very definition of digging deep and finding that extra something that puts you over the top against arguably the best team in the league. Seattle has done some pretty good things lately with a depleted roster and they’ll need to keep doing good things if they want to climb the standings in the Western Conference because the walking wounded are forming a long line out the door of trainer Phil Varney’s office.
It’s that time of year when every club is dealing with injuries and the teams that play through those injuries are the ones that rise to the top. The T-Birds now have four key players on the shelf in Richard, Nielsen, DeSerres and LeBlanc. I’m looking forward to watching how they play next weekend because like Sunday’s game against the Giants, it will say a lot about the character of this team.
When I saw LeBlanc leave the ice late in the first period and then not return for the start of the second, I thought, this could be the difference between beating this talented Vancouver team and having them skate us out of the building. DL has been playing some real inspired hockey lately and his loss could have been a back breaker. Instead, what an enormous gut check by the ‘Birds as every player in a Seattle uniform gave 100 percent over the last two periods. Rewards for playing well don’t have to come in goals and assists but rather in the satisfaction of knowing you left it out on the ice and the team won. To see an Erik Fleming, normally a defenseman, winning a face-off in the Giants zone or a Chance Lund knocking down pucks at the Vancouver blue line and keeping the Giants pinned in their own end are just a few of the things I appreciate from players who don’t see a lot of ice time or end up on the score sheet.
I have a feeling Calvin Pickard had a good talking to himself after letting in a couple of those first period goals. You could see from his own reaction he wasn’t happy with his early effort. I just got the impression he was telling himself, “Okay, just settle down and keep your head and we can get this turned around”. Sure enough, over the last two periods he had it working. You want to be a goalie? How do you go from shaking off the affects of allowing seven goals in half a game the night before to backstopping your team to a win over one of the most potent offenses in the league all in less than 24 hours, and at the age of 16 no less? Goalies and guys who work on the bomb squad must have the same DNA.
Can we keep Shaw TV/FSN at the ShoWare Center for the rest of the season? Two televised games and the T-Birds pick up wins in both and also treat the viewers to two entertaining hockey games.
Thomas Hickey has been good from the moment he stepped onto the ice at KeyArena four years ago as a 15-year-old, but since coming back from captaining Team Canada to a gold medal at the World Juniors in early January; he has upped his game to another level. Hickey has always been (and I’m sure he will continue to be) a very humble young man but I think he realizes where his game is going to take him and his confidence has jumped to a higher plateau recently.
Who would have thought a line that featured Jim O’Brien and Sena Acolatse would work so well together? Those two have found some chemistry. Is it just me or does OB make Sena a faster skater? Look, I’m no NHL scout but if I was and I had seen Acolatse playing as a forward the past month I’d be writing a report and sending it to the head office; something to the affect of “Put this guy on your radar come June”.
Seattle has once again crawled to within two games of .500. The T-Birds haven’t seen the break even mark since their record was 0-0-0-0. If they are going to finish above .500 this season then I think this weekend is huge in that regard. They have three games in three nights against Everett, on the road, and Portland and Chilliwack at home. If they can have another 2 win 1 loss weekend with their injury riddled lineup, then I think they’ll get to .500 eventually because sooner or later they are going to return to health.
In The Corners - Blowing Past Hurricanes
02/07/2009 10:57 AM - Thom Beuning
Saturday, February 7
Just another incredible, down-to-the-final-minute-to-decide-it game at ShoWare Center last night. Has Seattle, or for that matter their opponent, been out of any game yet in the new rink? I think entertaining games like that will create a buzz and get the crowds coming night after night. The sales staff has told me they already have over four thousand seats sold for Sunday’s game against Vancouver, and that was before they even dropped the puck on last night’s game against Lethbridge. You’re looking at over 9,000 fans for two games being televised locally.
Believe it when you hear Greg Scott or Rob Sumner say how much the crowd is a factor. This is why this building was designed the way it is; steep seating with every fan right on top of the action.
Lost in the point fest put up by that Scott-Rai-Parker line, was the play of Jim O’Brien. His speed through the neutral zone was giving the Hurricanes fits all night so it was nice to see him get rewarded with a big assist on the Sena Acolatse goal. And how about Sena going hard to the net on that rush. That was a huge goal. In a game that was so back and forth, it gave the T-Birds the first multi-goal lead, putting them up 6-4. One other thing on OB, he really has started to adapt to the physical style as he delivered some big time hits.
Prab Rai has found the touch again. His offensive game seemed to desert him coming off the lengthy layoff due to injury back in December. Now though, it seems he’s rediscovered that fifth gear and his deft passing touch is back too.
Admit it, you miss having Kyle Beach in the U.S. division. He sure knows how to ignite the crowd. And igniting the T-Birds faithful helped spark the T-Birds 4-goal spree to turn a 4-3 deficit into a 7-4 win.
Getting ready to hop on the bus for the middle game of the three game weekend. Should be interesting in Kennewick tonight as the Tri-City Americans are coming off a 3-1 loss last night in Portland. Let’s see if the T-Birds can put a dent in that gaudy Ams home record.
In The Corners - Two Big Wins On Weekend
02/02/2009 11:59 AM - Thom Beuning
Monday, February 2
Not a bad week of hockey for the T-Birds. Tough one goal loss in Kamloops Wednesday but still a well played game. Then a very good job gaining a rare road win in Everett Friday followed by a solid overtime home win against a loaded Kelowna team Saturday night. What’s the old axiom? Split your road games and win the ones at home? Well, that’s what the T-Birds just did.
Seattle has really stepped up the team defense, allowing just five goals over the past three games and just two goals in 120-plus minutes over the weekend. For the most part, the Thunderbirds are doing a good job recently in keeping the goals against low the second half of the season. That’s a byproduct of good team defense but additionally, the goaltending has really improved, especially late in games. Only one of the five goals given up by Seattle in the past three games has been scored in the third period. That’s a testament to the play of Jacob DeSerres and Calvin Pickard.
I was really looking forward to seeing Kelowna Saturday night. It was the first (and last regular season) look at the Rockets since the trade deadline deals brought them four new players. They certainly have a dangerous group of forwards, so full marks for Seattle shutting them down, save the Jamie Benn goal. In previous games against Kelowna the T-Birds have been pretty good at limiting the Rockets top scoring threats (Benn, Colin Long) but have been beaten by second, third and fourth line guys. Saturday night they did a good job against all four Rocket lines.
Were the Rockets moves at the deadline enough to put them up there with the likes of Vancouver, Spokane and Tri-City in the Western Conference? Early returns would suggest not (they are just 4-4-0-2 since the trade deadline) but this just might be a group that takes a little while to gel and come playoff time they could be tough to beat. Certainly, like most teams not currently sitting in first place (including the T-Birds), they’ll have to play better on the road. Since the deadline deals, the Rockets have played five games on the road and lost four and all four losses were to teams with sub .500 records. The key to Kelowna just might be the return of the injured Kyle St. Denis who has missed much of the season with a wrist injury.
While Kelowna was busy at the trade deadline, the T-Birds pretty much stood pat. They did secure the rights to Oscar Moller from Chilliwack but there’s no guarantee he’ll ever don a Seattle sweater. For the moment, he’s still with the NHL’s L.A. Kings. But let’s not forget a deal Seattle general manager Russ Farwell made just prior to the start of the regular season when he sent a 10th round bantam pick to Vancouver for Jon Parker. Parker now has 11 goals on the season, two in the past two games, including the game winner on the power play against Everett and a power-play goal against the Rockets as well. He’s shown a feisty side as well, getting tangled up with Kelowna’s Lucas Bloodoff Saturday. Parker is showing he has a pretty nice scoring touch and could be a solid 20-30 goal scorer in this league the next 2-3 seasons. Heck, he could still reach the 20-goal plateau this season.
Meanwhile, young defenseman Erik Fleming’s game continues to impress. He spent the first two games this past week playing either center or left wing and looking like he’d been playing up top all season long. He just missed scoring what would have been a highlight reel goal Friday in Everett. Then, Saturday, he’s back on defense and playing solid hockey against some very skilled Rockets forwards but he still got in at least one shift as a forward. And what is it about Seattle defensemen who can play forward like it was their first love? Sena Acolatse seems to have found a home playing the wing, Steve Chaffin never looked out of place when he was moved up for a number of games the first half of the season and now Fleming. Stefan Warg are you ready for your turn up top? In this era of multi-tasking it never hurts to be multi-dimensional on the ice.
Remember too, the T-Birds garnered a pair of big wins this past weekend without David Richard and Lindsay Nielsen, both out of the lineup until later this month due to injury. Nielsen nearly gave head coach Rob Sumner a coronary when he attempted to hop up the steps on one good leg Friday at Comcast Arena in Everett. It reminded me a little of Rowan Atkinson’s Mr. Bean character. Or maybe more like Laurel and Hardy with the one-handed David Richard by his side trying to lend a good hand.
Think it gets any easier for Seattle? Just look at the upcoming weekend’s schedule. The defending Eastern Conference champion Lethbridge Hurricanes and Zach Boychuk are at ShoWare Center Friday. The T-Birds travel to Kennewick Saturday for a game against the U.S. Division leading Tri-City Americans and their gold medal winning goalie Chet Pickard. They put the capper on the weekend back at home Sunday evening against Evander Kane and the Western Conference leading Vancouver Giants.
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