Returning home after five straight on the road, the Thunderbirds were looking to take advantage of some home cooking this past weekend as they began a stretch of seven of eight games on home ice. Unfortunately they couldn't dish out sixty minutes of consistent play either night and dropped two games.
Facing the two best records in the Western Conference, Seattle needed to be prepared to play at the top of their game every shift. It didn't happen. The missing ingredient was a sense of urgency, or desperation. That's what you get with a young team. The ingredients are there, they just need seasoning.
Friday night it was a flat performance the first ten minutes of the game. As a result they found themselves in an early two-goal hole against high powered Kamloops. Despite a push back the rest of the night, they never could overcome that early deficit and fell, 7-4. When you get behind you have to play a near perfect game the rest of the way. That's a tall order to ask from a young team.
Saturday versus Everett it was a better effort. The start was not as slow as the effort against the Blazers but it still lacked a strong push out of the gate. Missing on two early power play chances was a missed opportunity to grab early momentum. Again, it wasn't until Seattle fell behind that they jump started their intensity level. It was just too little too late in a 4-2 loss. There is not a lot separating Seattle from most of their opponents. In some cases it really does boil down to experience. As a young player you don't realize the level your game need to be at in the WHL until you experience it night after night.
We talk a lot about all these young players the team is focused on building around. Is the excitement justified? Are these 16 and 17 year olds the real deal or just roster spot holders? It is one thing to get excited about a high first round pick, but a seventh rounder or a listed player? Come on! Now you're just being too hyperbolic, right? Look, don't approach it with the idea that these players better light it up every night. Too many out there think if that young guy isn't averaging a point a game why is he here? If he makes one mistake, for some that is one too many. They see it as the player not being ready or overvalued. Send him back to play Midget or Junior A and bring me an older, veteran player!
What you should be looking for is how they are taking advantage of the ice time they are given. They come in with potential and promise but are they getting better with each game they play? How are they competing against opposing players, not just the ones in their same age group but older players on other teams as well? Now tell me if any of these rookies look out of place? I've certainly seen in past years a young player come in and get overwhelmed. I've not seen that with any player yet in this group. Not even when Sam Popowich and Reid Schaefer were called up from the AJHL and were in the lineup briefly last week.
Another case in point is Matt Rempe, who after missing the first 15 games with injury, finally made his regular season T-bird debut this weekend. You notice him out on the ice, First, it is hard not too with his 6'8" frame. He's also physical and, as he adjusts and learns to use that size, he's going to take some penalties as he did in both games. The T-birds certainly aren't going to tell him to stop trying to punish opponents. Besides those penalties, he delivered a big, legal hit Friday that led to Seattle's fourth goal against Kamloops. Instead the T-birds are going to teach him how to consistently deliver those legal hits and avoid the ones that lead to penalties. But the big man can skate and he can shoot as was evident on his first WHL goal late in the third period Saturday against Everett and that is rare in someone his size. Normally you see those guys over 6'6" on the back end, as defenseman, but his skating, shooting and work along the walls allow him to be a forward.
A player who is 6'8" starts off as a curiosity. It grabs your attention but you wonder is that it? Is he just a novelty because of that size? But I watched Rempe at the last two training camps and camp scrimmages get free on a number of breakaways. He's no longer a curiosity. He can play. He's not just all legs and arms, he's a WHL level talent. He's another part of the puzzle for this team's future.
there is another player, another rookie still to come. Mekai Sanders, like Rempe, Sanders has spent the first month of the season on the shelf with injury. the Thunderbirds are hopeful his debut is just a few weeks away. Like Rempe, the 2018 9th round Bantam pick is still a bit of a curiosity. He's the local kid from Gig Harbor fans are waiting to see. Until he goes out there and plays we don't know, right? But the team knows. The scouts, the GM the coaches, they've seen him and they believe he's another piece of this future they are building.
It's because of that, it's because of this deep group of 16 and 17 year old forwards and a player like Jordan Gustafson, another young forward Seattle picked in the first round of the Bantam Draft this past spring and it's because of other potential signing of young forwards from the 2019 draft that Seattle made the decision to trade away 18 year old rookie Michael Horon. It's that simple, it came down to a mumbers game. The T-birds have eight forwards age 17 and younger they need to get into the lineup as much as possible. If Horon were a year younger, he'd most likely still be here. It is nothing he did wrong. In two years those 15, 16 and 17 year olds will still be here. The T-birds will add more to that group in next spring's Bantam draft as well. Odds were that in two years Horon would not be here.
Horon was a late bloomer but full credit to him. It took until his third WHL franchise to earn a roster spot but he made himself into a WHL player. He proved he can succeed at this level of hockey and now he gets to be a solid depth piece for a contending team in the East, the defending champion Prince Albert Raiders. GM Bil LaForge found him a great landing spot. That's another success story. Now, if you think with just a 7th round pick coming back that Seattle didn't get enough in return for an 18 year old WHL rookie, third line player, I offer up exhibit A: former T-birds 8th round pick and WHL Champion Donovan Neuls. It's not where you pick 'em, it's how you develop them.
My T-birds Three Stars of the Weekend:
Third Star W Matt Rempe: Yes he took some penalties but I'm guessing part of that was adrenalin. He was so excited to finally get into the lineup. It's encouraging to see some of these rookies with big grins before their first game rather then a look of trepidation in anticipation of their debuts. This group comes with a bit of swagger but it's not overconfidence. It's an assuredness that they belong here. After missing 15 games with injury he worked hard to get to this point and according to assistant coach Kyle Hagel, put in a lot of extra work to get back sooner rather then later. His first WHL goal was a thing of beauty.
Second Star D Ty Bauer. The second year d-man tried to light a spark under his team Friday with a toe-to-toe tussle with Kamloops big d-man Montana Onyebuchi, then sparked Seattle's late comeback attempt Saturday against Everett with his first goal of the season, an angry blast from the blue line that had a lot of sizzle on it. Among this group of first and second year players, he is the unabashed leader. There is a reason he wears an "A" in just his sophomore campaign.
First Star: C Matthew Wedman. Wedman just keeps being Wedman. There is only so much he can do as one of the few veteran players on the club but he's going to do it to the best of his ability. His work rate each night should rub off on the young group. He gets a bulk of the attention from the opposition because he is the one proven scorers on the team who is scoring constistently. When this young group matures in a couple of seasons, Weds will be long gone, but his affect on them will still be felt.
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