A Baker's Dozen

It's just coincidence that the T-birds have a baker's dozen (13 donuts) worth of games left after their shutout loss at home Sunday to the Spokane Chiefs.

Let me play the role of Carnac the Magnificent. I put the envelope up against my turban and say, "What is ten feet high and ten feet wide?" No, not the dimensions of a garage door. Rip open the envelope and the answer is...a T-bird attempt of a shot on goal! Is that not the most confounding thing? All game long against the Chiefs, and too often this season, the T-birds shooters put a puck so far off target on a scoring chance it make you wonder what it is exactly they are shooting at?

Notice how Spokane scored their first two goals? They put traffic in front of Seattle goalie Calvin Pickard and redirected shots, changing their direction and getting them into the back of the net. That is something the T-birds need to do more.

So after the weekend the race for the final two playoffs spots in the Western Conference has really tightened up. Only two points separates 7th place from 10th place. The reality is the race is even tighter then that and the four teams are separated by less then one point.

Here are the updated Pace for the Playoff standings going into this week's play:

7. Seattle on pace for 51.25 pts (13 games remaining)
8. Victoria on pace for 51.25 pts (13 games remaining)
9. Everett on pace for 50.89 pts (14 games remaining)
10. Prince George on pace for 50.52 pts (15 games remaining)

Seattle and Victoria are off until next weekend. Both Everett and Prince George have two games on the docket before the T-birds hit the ice again. The Silvertips have a pair of games in Kennewick against the Tri-City Americans before they journey to Kent Saturday for that all important match up with Seattle.

Prince George is down in Portland for two games against the Winterhawks Monday and Tuesday before they head back home to face Victoria twice on the weekend.