The Thunderbirds career of Jeremy Boyer is officially over as he has been dealt to the Saskatoon Blades for 15-year-old center Stefan Burzan and the Blades third round pick in next spring’s Bantam Draft. 

 

Boyer, as you may know, opted not to report to training camp last month and instead asked to be traded. He was a 2005 Bantam Draft choice of the T-Birds (2^nd rd) out of Saskatoon.  In his three year Thunderbirds career Boyer skated in 199 games registering 92 pts (38g and 54a). He added five assists in 20 playoff games.

 

The Thunderbirds were definitely expecting Boyer back for this season but at the last minute he chose not to report. I have no insight as to why he made the decision and can only speculate that he would rather play close to home. Prior to that last minute change of heart though, Boyer appeared to have every intention of being a T-Bird in 2009-10. In an interview with the T-Birds website in late July Boyer had this to say about being a team leader and goals for the T-Birds and himself;   “Put the stepping stones out for the younger guys and be the guy around the room that makes the right decisions on and off the ice every single time we’re together and be very business like about wanting to win and doing everything I can to win. I want to do the best of my ability to play the right way every game and be on board with our team game to give us the best shot at winning. I want every guy in our locker room on board to give us the best shot at winning a championship.”

 

The end result is that Boyer is now a Saskatoon Blade and the T-Birds add two more building blocks for the future. In this case I’d say that general manager Russ Farwell made lemonade out of a lemon of a situation. Only time will tell how the player and draft choice pan out for Seattle but more often than not when players at this level demand a trade you end up getting less in value or nothing at all. In the end, the T-Birds get two players, and the potential of a combined 10 years of service, for the price of one player who, at the maximum, has less than two years left in the WHL. Certainly you are trading a player in Boyer who has had some success at this level for two unknowns, but most deals are all about the promise and potential anyway.

 

One final thought on this; I would say Boyer was treated more than fairly by the T-Birds in regards to his trade demand. The T-Birds took their time, as is their prerogative, to do their homework and get the best deal possible but in the end Boyer winds up with his hometown team.

 

Now a couple of thoughts on this past weekend: There’s no sugarcoating the fact the T-Birds did not play a full 60-minutes in either the loss to Chilliwack or Portland but their compete level was much better in the Portland game and a step in the right direction.   Secondly, and it’s a small comfort, but statistics do lie. Jacob DeSerres was the best I’ve seen him in that Portland game and his 5.50 GAA after two starts does not do him justice.   

 

Finally, I’m dealing with a new pair of glasses. Is it just me or is buying glasses like buying clothes. You know how the clothes always look better on you in the department store mirror than they do when you bring them home (“What was I thinking buying this shirt!)? This is my third eye glass prescription and each time at my eye doctor’s office I could see great with the glasses in that funky machine. But when I pick up my glasses at the optometrists it’s all a blur again. 
 

The reason I bring this up is that I only really need my glasses for reading. During a game that’s things like stat sheets, commercial copy and rosters…things notorious for small print. So a lot of 92s are looking like 93s and the abbreviation for the month of January is looking a lot like the abbreviation for the month of June. So here I am thinking we have seven 1993 born rookies on the team when in reality we have just five. That’s still a lot though and indeed there are seven rookies on the club and at some point hopefully in the near future, there will be an eighth rookie. Toss in the four second year players and nearly half your roster is age 17 or under.  This is definitely a team that will get better as the season progresses and these players learn to play at this level.  

Opening weekend is now in the books. It was a little different to start the year with three games in three nights; maybe not too strange though, since often in the past the team has begun with a two-games-in-two-nights road trip to Prince George.

 

The results were a mixed bag. Definitely a high point to win opening night against Everett in a down to the wire finish that entertained the crowd. Yes, it was certainly a bit of a downer to see the team fall off the wagon a bit Saturday in the loss to Portland. Make no mistake though, that is a vastly improved Winterhawks club. That’s not just a club that will most likely make the playoffs but they have the chance to make some noise once they get there. 

 

The effort was much better Sunday despite the 4-2 loss in Vancouver. A few of those Giants goals found there way to the back of the T-Birds net by way of multiple deflections off sticks and skates, but that’s the way the puck bounces sometimes. Still, it was a decent effort for a first road game, and the third game in as many nights as well. And yes, it’s early but as much as Portland has improved, I’d say Vancouver has dropped off that much from the previous few seasons. But that’s the cyclical nature of junior hockey. Still, with Don Hay behind the bench, the Giants will be competitive every night and once James Wright and Evander Kane (if?) return from NHL camps, the team’s stock will improve.  

 

Hard to get too up or too down after just three games of a long 72-game schedule but the T-Birds youth was evident in all three games but the coaches seemed less concerned with the young players and more concerned with some of the veterans. Personally, I think when you are integrating that many new younger players it takes time for the older players to mesh with them. In the past it’s usually been one or two rookies getting much if any regular playing time. This season you are looking at the potential of five to six rookies logging lots of minutes. 

 

Speaking of the youngsters, the one I was most impressed with this weekend was Tyler Alos. I know Colin Jacobs finished the weekend with four points (2g, 2a) but I’m doing all the things I’m not supposed to by taking him for granted and assuming we’ll get that out of Jacobs every weekend. The thing I was really impressed with about Alos was his energy. Play that way every game and he’ll continue to get ice time.   

 

I can also see the forest through the trees. I can see the potential of a promising future with these young players. I can envision a very good T-Birds club in a few seasons built around Pickard, Jacobs, Lockhart, Alos, Elliot, Lund, Fleming and Doty just to name a few. But I’m also a fan of the now; the 2009-10 season, and I’ve watched players like Rai, Schappert and Nielsen develop the past couple of seasons and now we see them in leadership roles and it’s going to be enjoyable watching them handle more responsibility both on and off the ice. I believe this is one T-Bird team whose personality will change greatly, maybe more than any other Seattle team over the past decade, from now until March.  

 

Interesting factoid of the week: Seattle opened up the ShoWare Center last January 3^rd with a 4-3 win over Everett with Brendan Silvester scoring the first goal. The T-Birds built a 4-0 lead in that game and then held on as the ‘Tips rallied in the third period to close within a goal.

 

Three nights ago the T-Birds opened the new season at ShoWare Center with a 4-3 win over Everett with Brendan Silvester scoring the first goal. The T-Birds built a 4-0 lead in that game and then held on as the ‘Tips rallied in the third period to close within a goal. The more things change, the more they stay the same.