One of the most unique seasons in Seattle Thunderbirds history came to an end Saturday night in Spokane with the 5-3 loss to the Chiefs. The win earns Spokane the series, 4-games-to-1, and they now advance to round two to face the Vancouver Giants. Save for one game (Game #3) it was a tightly contested series. The bottom line is that the team that played the more consistent game over the course of the series is advancing.

 

I say unique because it is not often (if ever) you play most of the first half of a season (26 games) on the road and the majority of the second half of the season at home. But that’s what happened to the T-Birds as they awaited completion of the ShoWare Center in Kent. Obviously though, it was worth the wait and any minor hardship the team had to endure was dealt with in stride. Seriously, without that new arena this franchise was destined for a re-location outside the Pacific Northwest. Instead they form a partnership with the City of Kent that will benefit both sides for many years to come.

 

The T-Birds knew over a year ago what was in store this season with the road heavy first half. Still, that didn’t make it any easier. To understand the situation fully you have to realize the team actually made its move to Kent last summer, not just the front office but the players too. That meant new billets and a new school system. It meant a new location for training camp. It meant practicing the first half of the season out of the Kent Valley Ice Center while using make shift locker rooms. Let’s give Kent Valley a thank you for allowing this to happen. It meant for five months the training staff had no permanent place to treat players or store gear. It meant when they had that rare home game at KeyArena the first half of the season they traveled new routes to get to the game; up I-5 rather than across I-90. 

 

My guess is the change affected those T-Birds player in school more than those that weren’t. Not just because they were in a new school district and attending a different high school, but because they were missing school days at that new school while being on the road, although the front office worked a schedule that minimized that as much as possible. How understanding were the teachers and staff at Kent-Meridian who were also new to the ways of a junior hockey player in the WHL? My impression is that they were very cooperative but it was a new experience for them too. There were just a lot of adjustments going on at both ends. 

 

There’s no way to quantify how much the adjustments affected the on-ice product. I don’t think it had an overt affect but I’m sure there was some residual affect. Still, after getting off to an 0-5 start and being eight games under .500 at one point early in the season, the team played winning hockey and were 11 games over .500 the last 3/4ths of the year. In the end it just seemed like the T-Birds played two seasons in the span of one; the road season followed by the “Sho” season.

 

Of course the seasons of Greg Scott, Thomas Hickey and Jim O’Brien are not over. I fully expect to see them playing shortly in the minor league systems of the teams they are under contract to.   In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if the L.A. Kings brought Thomas Hickey up to the NHL, even if it is just to sit and watch a game or two, although it is most likely he heads east to Manchester of the AHL. Don’t be surprised if Prab Rai is in Winnipeg with the Manitoba Moose or somewhere in the ECHL on an amateur status. It may not happen but the Vancouver Canucks may want to get a better look see at their 5^th round draft choice.   

 

We know for certain three players will not be back next season; Scott, Devon LeBlanc and Chris Cloud. Scott had a great four-year run with the club and it earned him a free agent deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He ended his T-Birds career with a gritty; three assist effort in the Game 5 loss to Spokane. 

 

Cloud and LeBlanc were only T-Birds for one season but they added needed leadership to the club both on and off the ice, even if Devon’s DVD movie collection didn’t always go over with the coaching staff on those long bus rides. Devon, that only means that the staff is getting old. 

 

The bags are most likely packed for Hickey and O’Brien as well. While both are eligible to return for one more season, they are signed players so the chance that either will be a T-Bird next season are two; slim and none. Meanwhile Rai could sign sometime this off-season putting his status up in the air.

 

In addition, the coaches will have to sort out the 20-year-old situation. As mentioned, Hickey, O’Brien and Rai could all conceivably return for another season and David Richard, Lindsay Nielsen and Jeremy Schappert will all be 20-year-olds as well. As you know, the club can only carry three. With Hickey and O’Brien most likely not returning, one of the remaining four will not wear a T-Birds jersey next year either.  Add to that the fact general manager Russ Farwell is always using the off-season to improve the team through trade and it is hard to know the make-up for this team in 2009-10. Seattle will probably also add a player through the Import Draft so you’re looking at a minimum of seven new faces on this team next year. 

 

Two known factors for next year though are goalie Calvin Pickard and forward Colin Jacobs. These are two cornerstones to build a solid team around. We saw over the course of this season what Pickard can do at this level at such a young age. We also caught a glimpse of the talent that Jacobs holds. The one X-factor for Jacobs is how, at age 16, he will handle the rigors of a full 72-game WHL season with all the bus travel and other distractions that come along with it. So far all he has had is a cup of coffee, although he turned that cup of coffee from a Folgers instant brew into a Starbuck’s specialty roast. 

 

I was asked if I thought the T-Birds underachieved or overachieved this season. My response is every team that fails to win the championship underachieves because isn’t that every team’s goal, to be the last team standing? 

 

 

Wednesday, March 25
For the first 14 minutes last night in Game 3, the T-Birds were the better team. They got the game’s first goal, continued to attack and carried the play for most of the first period while forcing the Chiefs to take penalties. The problem was they couldn’t take advantage of those two early power plays and they couldn’t get a second goal past Spokane goalie Dustin Tokarski. Tokarski really was the difference, even though he struggled a bit with his puck control. He made crucial saves under early pressure and kept Seattle from adding to that lead. A second goal before Spokane got their first would have changed the complexion of that game. Tokarski kept his team in the game until they got their offense going and that’s why goalies are usually playoff MVPs. 

 

So a great start for the T-Birds but then, in a span of four minutes it was over. Spokane scored three times on just four shots between 14:10 and 18:22 of the first period and went from a goal down into a 3-1 lead. First they got an even strength goal from Tyler Johnson, then it was Stefan Ulmer on the power play and finally, the shorthanded breakaway goal by Levko Koper. They added two more in the second period to complete the 5-1 win but it was that four-minute span late in the first that turned the tide. 

 

By the way wouldn’t Levko Koper be a great name for a villain in a James Bond movie? Well, with his four point effort last night, the T-Birds must have thought they were in a James Bond movie and Koper was working for Spectre. 

 

The Koper shorthanded goal was probably the backbreaker but the one I think T-Bird goalie Calvin Pickard would like to have back is the power-play goal from Ulmer. Pickard seemed to be in position, squared to the shot and ready to make the save. Unfortunately he didn’t get down quick enough to close the five-hole and the puck snuck through his pads. Still, how many teams rely on a 16-year old goaltender in the playoffs? He played so remarkably well in the first two games; I’m not going to hang him for one goal. Besides, I believe he’s going to bounce back but it is a reminder that he is still developing his game. 

 

Strange game isn’t it? The Chiefs Drayson Bowman, their leading goal scorer, pots three in the first two games of the series, yet that is all the scoring Spokane manages in splitting a pair on home ice. Bowman’s then held off the score sheet in Game 3 and the Chiefs put up a five spot. 

 

Colin Jacobs is the real deal, ‘nuf said. I don’t want to jump too far ahead but the building blocks are in place for a good run in the next 2-3 years with five quality 16-year-olds; Jacobs (he just turned 16 two months ago), Pickard, Lockhart, Lund and Fleming. 

 

The first two games of the playoffs are history and what a tremendous effort by both the T-birds and Spokane Chiefs through these first two games. Both sides played well enough to win both games and either could be up 2-0 in the series, so the fact the series is 1-1 sounds about right. 

 

It has definitely been a defensive series so far, highlighted by outstanding play in net by both goalies. Dustin Tokarski is the seasoned vet who led his team to the Memorial Cup. He is playing as such for the Chiefs again but Seattle’s Calvin Pickard is matching him save for save and then some as he has faced more shots. As a result both enter Game 3 with a 1.51 GAA but Pickard’s save percentage is a tad higher (.958 to .950).

 

The T-Birds have really committed to defensive zone coverage. The key here is the forwards back checking and players selling out to block shots. On a couple of occasions Thomas Hickey has put his body between a shot and his goal. Two players who the T-Birds need to be at their best, and so far have been; d-men Jeremy Schappert and Stefan Warg. Getting a few more minutes per game the two have responded with solid play inside their own blue line. 

 

I actually think through the first two games Seattle’s forwards have been a little more threatening than the Chiefs forwards and the fact only one Spokane player has scored so far in the series helps bear that theory out.   Meanwhile Seattle has gotten scoring from what I’ll term “secondary scoring options”, with goals from Charles Wells and Sena Acolatse, while their top end scorers, like Greg Scott, Prab Rai and Jim O’Brien, remain dangerous with the puck.    Mind you there hasn’t been much scoring through the first two games so the degree of separation between the top scorers for the two teams is minute. 

 

Of course that one Spokane player who has scored all three of their goals is Drayson Bowman. Seattle has actually done a good job of putting the clamps on him but give him the slightest opening and he’s going to make you pay. He’s picked his spot on all three goals and buried the shot. He certainly has a scorer’s touch. Remember too, each of Bowman’s goals in Game 1 was set up by Brady Calla and the T-Birds did a good job of keeping Calla off the puck as much as possible in Game 2.

 

Spokane is expecting a couple of their injured defenseman back for Game 3. Trevor Glass has been skating at morning practices and all signs point to him being on the ice Tuesday, or Wednesday at the latest. Mike Reddington should return as well from the flu. In their absence converted forward Dustin Donaghy has been more than a capable blue liner for head coach Hardy Sauter. In addition, forward Ryan Letts has finished serving his 10-game suspension and will be back for Tuesday’s game. As for Seattle’s Lindsay Nielsen; he’s still listed as day-to-day.

 

Meanwhile the T-Birds went with just five defensemen in both games as Erik Fleming has been sidelined by illness. Fleming was on the bench in Game 1 but didn’t take a shift and was a scratch in Game 2. Instead of activating defenseman Mitch Berg for Game 2 head coach Rob Sumner opted for the just-turned-16-year-old forward Colin Jacobs. How did the young Texan respond? He played like he belonged, and I don’t just mean like he belonged in the WHL, I mean he played like he belonged on the ice in a tight playoff game against the defending champions. He was on the doorstep twice ready to knock in loose pucks including being out on the ice when Thomas Hickey scored his power play goal Saturday night.   He stole the puck from Bowman once and turned it into a 3-on-2 rush the other way. On his way to the ‘Birds bench after one particularly good shift he got shoulder bumped twice by Spokane players. In other words; you’ve opened up ours eyes and we’ve got those eyes on you now, you’re no longer anonymous. 

 

I’m not sure how significant home ice is going to be in this series since both teams copped a couple of road wins during the regular season, but now that Seattle has wrested home ice from the Chiefs they know they only need to hold serve on home ice to advance. Still, the way the first two games were played you get the feeling this series might go the distance.

 

And now that the series has shifted back to the ShoWare Center, let’s hope the building is full or close to it for Games 3 and 4. The new arena is built to give the T-Birds a home-ice advantage but only if there are bodies in the seats. This is what the organization’s fans have been craving since the Mercer Arena days; a loud, rocking building for the postseason games, let’s put it to the test. 

 

Tuesday, March 17
Just a couple of quick notes; first, we now know that the Thunderbirds first round playoff opponent will be the Spokane Chiefs. The Chiefs did not go quietly into the night in their battle for the Western Conference’s third seed. Coming off the food poisoning episode, and with a number of players still out of their line up, they allowed just one first period goal (and just 22 shots) Monday to the high powered Kelowna offense. Still, that one goal was enough and the Rockets won the game, 1-0, sending Seattle to Spokane this Friday and Saturday for games one and two of the best of seven first round series. Don’t forget Games 3 and 4 are next Tuesday and Wednesday at ShoWare Center.

 

During the regular season the T-birds were 4-5 against the Chiefs. Two of those Seattle wins were at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. Of course, Spokane also won a pair of road games; winning both at KeyArena and at ShoWare Center.

 

As for the playoff roster? Add goalie Kyle Jahraus to the list as well as Colin Jacobs. Jahraus will continue to wear #30 while Jacobs will don #26.    

 

Monday, March 16
 

The Thunderbirds have been a bit like a box of Crackerjacks this season; you know there is a prize inside the box but you just don’t know what you’re going to get. This weekend was a prime example of that. No way would I have expected a 9-1 drubbing Friday night at the hands of Portland, at home no less, before a near sellout in a game they targeted as almost a must win. Seattle’s play on the ShoWare Center ice has been so good; the result was a definite shock to the system.

 

But that result then gave me concern for Saturday and the rematch in Portland. The Winter Hawks were going to be full of confidence coming off their lopsided road win the night before plus they’d be playing before a full house. And when the ‘Birds fell into the quick 2-0 hole I got that déjà vu feeling. Fortunately Rob Sumner wasn’t going to let that happen. He rightfully called a timeout. I’m not sure what words he used, some I’m sure that can’t be printed, but from that point on the T-Birds rediscovered their game and Portland’s scoring chances dwindled. Their only goal after that was a great individual play by Oliver Gabriel that tied the score at 3-3 in the third. In between the ‘Birds got a nice, go-hard-to-the net, goal and a flukeish, you-can’t-score-if-you-don’t-shoot, goal from Jim O’Brien and a pretty shorthanded 3-on-1 score from Thomas Hickey.

 

Hickey then helped end the suspense early in overtime when his shot was tipped in by Jeremy Boyer in overtime with the T-Birds on the power play. 

 

Then there was Sunday. Technically there was nothing for either the T-Birds or Everett to play for as both had already sewn up their respective playoff spots. The Silvertips did rest a few regulars but Seattle was still without Prab Rai and Lindsay Nielsen and was starting their emergency goalie. Everett looked as lethargic as Seattle did two nights earlier. The T-Birds meanwhile skated with the purpose and energy Portland displayed Friday night. The 10-0 score was actually flattering to Everett as Seattle put a lot of rubber at the ‘Tips goal. There were a lot of pucks ricocheting here, there and everywhere that came close to going into the goal. 

 

I guess it only fitting that a regular season that has been such a roller coaster ride gives us one last up and down before the playoffs start. 

 

Stefan Warg told me a few weeks ago he was saving all his goals for the playoffs. I guess he needed to warm up first as he got his first ever WHL goal Sunday. In a 10-0 win he scored first so that first goal becomes a game winner. At the other end of the spectrum is Devon Leblanc who registered the 50^th goal of his WHL career in his final regular season game. I’ve enjoyed having Devon on the team this season. He always has a smile on and never fails to greet me with a “hello and how are you today” salutation. It was another solid pick up by Russ Farwell; getting this 20-year-old who contributes in so many areas. When the T-Birds became a much more consistent physical team in the second half of the season it was Leblanc and Chris Cloud, another 20-year-old, who led the way. 

 

Congrats to Jeremy Boyer too and not just for the hat trick but for reaching the 20-goal plateau. Boyer has been a bit of a streaky scorer in his first couple of seasons with the team but his goal total has gone up each year. What I’ve liked recently is that most of his goals have been coming from within 2-3 feet of the net. That means he’s going hard to the crease and getting the greasy goals. If he continues that he’ll become a more consistent goal scorer. With Greg Scott graduating and the likelihood that Jim O’Brien and Prab Rai may not be back next season either, Boyer is your leading goal scorer coming back for 2009-10.

 

With injuries robbing him of lots of ice time it was nice to see David Richard still reach double digits in goals with his 10^th coming in Sunday’s rout of Everett. Richard got off to such a good start too, it’s a shame we didn’t get to see what he could do with a full 72 games. Hopefully he can make up for it with a solid playoff run. Speaking of players who’ve missed way too much time to injury, let’s hope Lindsay Nielsen and Prab Rai are back for round one. 

 

We’d love to have Jacob DeSerres back too. In speaking with Jake Sunday he reminded me how well he was playing when the injury occurred. Indeed, I think he was the first star in three or four of the first games played at ShoWare Center. His best game may have been the one in which he was injured. He left midway through the second period at Tri-City back on February 7^th with the T-birds up, 1-0, having made 14 saves. After he left Seattle went on to lose, 7-1. 

 

Does anybody else think of the Chumbawamba song “Tubthumping” when watching Luke Lockhart play? He gets knocked down, but he gets up again, ain’t no one gonna keep him down. Of course Lockhart probably has no idea what I’m referring to as he was probably five or six years old when that song was getting plenty of air play in the mid to late 90’s. 

 

As I watched Greg Scott standing out on the ice after the game Sunday, getting his picture taken with the other “graduating” players, I remembered back to his first regular season game with the T-Birds four years ago when he was 17. It was the opening game of the season in, where else, Prince George, and as I recollect, the ‘Birds lost that night but I remember thinking this un-drafted, listed kid with the big grin has a lot of energy and is all over the ice. Wouldn’t it be fun to see that line of Scott, Holloway and Nielsen on the ice again one more time? They were fun to watch last season. Thanks for four solids years Greg.

 

Kelowna or Spokane? Hottest team in the west going into the playoffs or the defending champs? If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. Welcome to the second season!

 

 

Wednesday night’s game against Prince George was a bit of an odd one in that there were long stretches of the contest in which the T-Birds were thoroughly dominate. It looked like they would easily stuff a win in their back pockets but every now and then the Cougars line of Tyler Halliday, Greg Fraser and Parker Stanfield would have a really good shift and put one in the back of the Seattle goal and make a game of it. 

 

In the end though, the better team won and Jim O’Brien iced it with the empty net “burger” goal. Seattle has now outscored its last two opponents, 11-2, and did so playing without two-thirds of their top line (and two top goal scorers) in the line up for big stretches of each game. Prab Rai missed both games while Jonathan Parker was back in the locker room for a good portion of the 6-0 win over Tri-City and was a late scratch for the Prince George game. In their absence O’Brien and Jeremy Boyer skated on the first line with Greg Scott and the T-Birds didn’t miss a beat. 

 

With Parker getting scratched from the lineup before the game against P.G. (I’m sure a face full of stitches and a missing tooth led to him getting the night off) we got our first chance to see Mitch Berg skate in a game. My expectations weren’t too high, but I was fairly impressed. He didn’t do anything spectacular but he didn’t make any glaring mistakes. He skated well, took care of his responsibility in the defensive zone and seemed very confident and assure of himself. Sure, it helps that your defensive partner on most of your shifts is Thomas Hickey but if that’s what we can expect from Berg on a nightly basis than I think the T-Birds have found someone who can fit into their top six defenseman rotation for next season.    

 

Three power-play goals for, no power-play goals against and a shorthanded goal for in the past two games; each Seattle wins. If you win the battle of special teams most nights then most nights you will win the game. 

 

The Cougars have some decent young talent on their roster and as a result, I don’t think they’ll be battling for the eighth and final playoff spot next season.   Depending on their goaltending next year they could be a top four or five club in the Western Conference in 2009-10.

 

One of those young players is Brett Connolly who came into last night’s game leading the Cougars in scoring with 58 pts (29g, 29a). Seattle did a good job defensively against him and he was held pointless on the night. Still, he will deservedly get serious consideration for Rookie of the Year, especially in the Western Conference. But now that he has a chance for as many as 25 wins this season, Seattle’s 16-year-old goalie Calvin Pickard has to be mentioned in that discussion as well.

 

The Greg Scott shorthanded goal with just 6/10ths of a second left in the second period looked at the time like it would just be window dressing on another T-Birds win. The goal was created by tremendous hustle up ice by Jim O’Brien who literally stole the puck off the stick of Cougar goalie Joe Caligiuri, then spun and sent a pass back up the slot hoping one of his teammates would be there. Skating hard to get onside, Scott reached, lunged and then threw the puck back toward the goal. While he said it was intended as a pass back to O’Brien, it some how found room to slip through Caligiuri’s pads and into the back of net, giving the ‘Birds a 3-1 advantage going into the second intermission. But that goal turned out to be pretty important when P.G. scored early in the third period. Instead of a 2-2 tie, that goal kept Seattle up by one and actually turned out to be the game winner in a 5-2 victory.

 

I think David Richard has his game legs back under him after missing a big portion of the second half of the season due to injury. He and his linemates, Devin Leblanc and Chris Cloud, were dangerous most of the game.

 

It may have been out of necessity because of injuries (with Rai, Parker and Lindsay Nielsen out Seattle had 125 pts sitting in the stands watching) but head coach Rob Sumner gave many of the younger players plenty of ice time and for the most part, they responded well. It was nice to see the fourth line of Brenden Silvester, Erik Fleming and Chance Lund get plenty of shifts, especially in the first period. That kept Seattle’s top players fairly fresh for the third. 

 

Seattle controls its own destiny in regard to where they finish in the Western Conference standings. Win their final three games this weekend and they will be the fifth seed, edging out Kamloops. What they don’t have any control over is who will be their first round playoff opponent. It will be either Spokane or Kelowna. The Chiefs have a home-and-home this weekend with Tri-City while the Rockets have a home-and-home with Kamloops and if that’s not enough the Chiefs and Rockets finish the regular season with a game against each other Sunday in Spokane. 

 

 

 A 6-0 win Saturday night over Tri-City won’t erase the losses in the previous three games but it once again shows what this team is capable of when they stay on task for three periods.   Nice too, to see the power play look dangerous.   

 

If indeed the move of Sena Acolatse from defenseman to forward is a permanent one (meaning for the rest of this season and into next season), then I hope Sena spends this offseason with a good training program. He is already naturally strong. I mean watch him as he handles his stick with one hand while fending off the opposition with the other arm…all the while controlling the puck. It almost looks like he’s toying with the other player. Could you imagine him with another 5-10 lbs of muscle? And he’s actually a pretty decent skater but I think he can improve his foot speed. I think keeping him at forward sets him up to have a monster season next year if he makes that kind of commitment. Maybe it’s just me but I see this vast untapped potential when it comes to his talent.   

 

Not to look too far ahead but I think the same can be said for Brenden Silvester and Charles Wells. I could certainly envision those three players on the same line next season.

 

But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves as the T-Birds have four regular season games plus the playoffs remaining. First order of business is to string together a winning streak before the postseason begins. If the T-Birds play the rest of their games the way they played Saturday they are looking potentially at a five-game winning streak to end the season. That said every game left on the schedule will be a test. Prince George will be looking to prepare for a first round playoff series with Vancouver. So like Seattle they want to end the regular season on a high note beginning with the game Wednesday at ShoWare Center. 

 

Next up is a home-and-away battle with Portland. The Winter Hawks are looking to avoid the Western Conference cellar for the third straight season so these last two games of the 12-game season series are very important to them in that regard. Additionally, with no playoffs again Portland will want to end the regular season on an upbeat note. Beating their long time rivals twice would do that. 

 

Lastly, on Sunday it’s the last meeting of the year against Everett in the season finale. The T-Birds have dropped the last two games to the ‘Tips and haven’t looked good in either game so that should be motivation enough but the results could also play a role in who the T-Birds face in the first round; Kelowna or Spokane.

 

Finally, you always want to be at your healthiest going into the playoffs. Often, the team that wins it all is the one that avoided key injuries to key players down the stretch. Look at Spokane, and even Vancouver right now; both teams have been bitten by the injury bug. So too though have the T-Birds and the question that remains to be answered is whether Lindsay Nielsen is ready to go and how serious is the Prab Rai injury?

 

Speaking of injuries, if there were such a thing in the game of hockey you’d have to award Jonathon Parker a Purple Heart. Twice Saturday he took a hit that required stitches and each time he came back to the ice to finish the game.  You don’t think coaches appreciate that? The ‘Birds just ended a three game losing streak with a 6-0 shutout of a division winning Americans team and one of the first things Rob Sumner wants to talk about is the character of Parker, who went without a point in the game. That’s whey there’s that cliche’; there’s no “I” in team.

 

Monday, March 2
Any Oscar Moller sightings? My gut tells me he goes back to the NHL’s L.A. Kings, but we’ll see! And boy have you been a lot of help Stefan Warg! What, no insider information on your fellow Swede?   ‘Cause we all know all Swedish hockey players know each other and talk to each other all the time! Just kidding Stef, but Warg did tell me if he heard anything he’d let me know. It was just Stefan’s way of saying he knew no more about Moller’s saga than anyone else outside the Kings organization. 

 

I’m not sure what to think after this team played subpar hockey over the weekend but still earned three of a possible four points. Hopefully it is just a hiccup and they’ll bounce back to playing the way they have been for most of the past couple of months. It does get you asking yourself questions about this team though. Are they playing to the level of the competition? How do you explain beating Vancouver twice in two weeks but dropping a pair to an injury depleted Everett team that is currently goal scoring challenged? I think the real issue is getting consistent play from their third and fourth lines and second and third defensive pairings. They’ll need that come playoff time. 

 

February was the third month this season the T-Birds posted eight wins and their third winning month of the season. Seattle had eight wins in November (8-3-1-1), eight wins in January (8-6-0-1) and went 8-3 last month. The best the team can do in March is seven wins because they only have eight March games on the schedule and dropped the first one in the shootout loss to Everett.

 

I think it is safe to say Prab Rai is back on form after suffering from a slow return from a midseason groin injury. In February, Rai enjoyed the best months of his WHL career, registering 18-points (6g, 12a) and he complimented that by scoring in the first game of March. 

 

Thomas Hickey has already long surpassed his WHL career best in goals as he currently has 15 (previous high was 11 set last season). Two seasons ago he set his career high in assists with 41. Last season he chipped in 34 assists and so far this year he is at 33 assists and counting. But let’s remember that last season and this season he missed considerable time while away either at NHL camp or World Juniors so Hickey has been nothing if not consistent with his offensive game during his T-Birds career. 

 

If the T-Birds want to hold on to the fifth spot in the Western Conference standings then a win or two this week will be very important to the cause. Seattle has Spokane in town for a rare Tuesday night tilt at the ShoWare Center then hosts the Tri-City Americans on consecutive nights this weekend. By the way, that game Tuesday against the Chiefs could be a first round playoff preview. The Chiefs hold on third place in the Western Conference is down to one point over the Kelowna Rockets. Should the Chiefs fall back to the fourth spot and the T-birds hold on to fifth, they’d meet in round one of the postseason. Still, Spokane could hold on to third place and the T-Birds could drop below Kamloops into sixth and they’d still be first round playoff opponents. 

 

Spokane, may be the defending league and Memorial Cup champions, but they might just be the best first round match up for Seattle. The T-Birds are 4-4 against the Chiefs this season with two of the wins coming over at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. In fact, the Chiefs are the only one of the top four seeds in the Western Conference that the ‘Birds beat on the road during the 2008-09 regular season and we all know Seattle will need at least on road win to get out of the first round. 

 

In case you were wondering, the player wearing number three on the ice during warm ups Sunday was Mitch Berg, one of the T-Birds list players. Berg is a former number one bantam pick of the Saskatoon Blades. The Blades selected him 16^th overall in the 2006 draft, five picks after Seattle selected defenseman Steve Chaffin. If it works out in Seattle for the 6’2”, 203-pound defenseman from Saskatoon then Russ Farwell and the T-Birds have solidified their 18-year old age group and their blue line situation for the next season or two. If Berg sticks, you can add him to the mix of Chaffin, Warg, Jeremy Schappert, Brenden Dillon, Brad Haber and I would guess at least one, possibly two rookie defensemen (Tanner Muth, Brandon Carlson, Ryan Armbruster or Zach Walker).   Then of course there is the situation with Sena Acolatse and whether the coaches move him back to defense next season or keep him up at forward (I vote for the latter!). 

 

Somewhat surprising though that Saskatoon would drop Berg before his 18-year-old season. I’m not saying it will work out for him with the T-Birds but I’d have at least given a player with that size one more training camp before letting him go. 

 

In case you are wondering; and don’t anyone tell PETA, the Thunderbirds have handed out just over 39-thousand coupons for free Dairy Queen Flame Thrower Grill Burgers. That’s, well, a whole herd of cattle. The coupons are distributed to fans at home games when the T-Birds score five or more goals.