As well as the Thunderbirds have been playing recently, and they have been playing quite will since early December, we knew the young squad would still stub their toe a time or two the second half of the season. Well, this past weekend they did just that. Not Friday in the 4-2 come-from-behind win over Regina, or even Sunday in the 2-0 loss to Everett. The "toe stub" came Saturday on the road to the Silvertips in the 8-0 loss.
Even though they ended up dropping two of the three games, I actually liked their effort Friday in the third period and Sunday from the start to the finish. Notice I said the effort and not the result. You can't control the result. The only thing you have control of on the ice is the effort and energy you play with. It was an effort and level of energy that was lacking up at Angel of the Winds Arena Saturday night. It was a flat 60 minutes of hockey made all the more stunning because it was so out of character from what the team had been doing on the ice over the last month and a half.
Adversity can reveal character and after such a subpar performance you naturally wonder if they would have the right response the next time out. They did. They got back to playing the right way Sunday. It wasn't the perfect performance but they battled. The way the game was going, you knew it would come to one goal. And though Everett would score twice over the final half of the third period, it was the first goal, the penalty shot goal, that decided this one.
Seattle scored just four times on the weekend and all four goals came in one game. When you dress as many as six rookie forwards each night, the offense can be a struggle at times. You're asking your veteran forwards to produce each and every night and that's just not possible. They will have nights off. Goal scorers go through scoring streaks and scoring droughts. Among Seattle's older forwards, only Andrej Kukuca has had a 20-plus goal season in the WHL when he potted 25 last season. He's gone without a goal in his last four games. Conner Bruggen-Cate, who two season's ago had an 18-goal campaign with Kelowna, put together a nice 8-game point streak coming out of the break. He's gone scoreless in his last three. That's just the nature of the game.
Speaking of scoring goals, I'll keep saying it until it happens but rookie winger Brendan Williamson will get that first WHL goal. It's coming. He certainly hasn't had any puck luck yet. But I like his tenacity. When he gets that goal it will probably be a result of his speed and taking a puck hard to the net. I thought he was one player who had energy all three nights. And it might just be when the first one goes in, the goals start coming more regularly. Sunday he and Mekai Sanders displayed the same type of game. They are fast and physical and play the game like linebackers, hunting down opposing puck carriers. They're going to be fun to watch the rest of this season and over the next few seasons with that style of play.
Again, playing .500 hockey over their last 10 games may not seem like much. In actuality, until the back-to-back-losses on the weekend the T-Birds had a stretch where they won seven of ten. But even just going 5-5 has allowed them to stretch their lead for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Seattle gained six points on Tri-City and four on Prince George. Seattle is still just three back of the Vancouver Giants for the seventh seed.
None of those teams has an easy schedule going forward. Seattle still has 13 games remaining against the top three teams in the U.S. Division (Portland, Everett and Spokane). Tri-City plays those three teams 15 times and still has two left against the Kamloops Blazers as well as a trip east to face the high flying Medicine Hat Tigers. Prince George and Seattle still have four games head-to-head remaining on the schedule but the Cougars also play nine games against Kamloops, Everett and Victoria.
My T-Bird three stars for the weekend:
Third Star: W Brendan Williamson. He may have gone the weekend without a point but his effort level was possibly the highest over the course of the three games. I thought the penalty he was assessed late in the second period Saturday in Everett was, let's just say, a little suspect. But he was still playing hard in a game that was all but decided at that point. Sunday Seattle's bottom six forwards were much more effective than Everett's and Williamson was the leader of the pack. It may feel like a lost weekend, but big picture, the play of the rookie forwards gave a glimpse into the future and Williamson is a big part of that.
Second Star: W Keltie Jeri-Leon. Keltie gave himself an early 20th birthday present (by two days) when he scored twice Friday night in the comeback win over Regina. It included the tying and winning goal. Raise your hand if you had the Kelowna native leading the team in goals scored in late January. I see Keltie's hand is the only one up! He now has 19 on the season well past his previous season best of eight scored last season. A very underrated pick up by GM Bil LaForge.
First Star: G Thomas Milic. A last second phone call brought him here at the start of the weekend after Blake Lyda was injured in practice. Less then 24 hours after arriving he is in net for his WHL debut Friday night against the Regina Pats. 23 saves later he has his first WHL win. Got some mop up duty Saturday in Everett as well. Another piece of the future he is the seventh member of the T-Birds 2018 Bantam Draft class to make his Seattle debut less then two years after being selected in the third round.
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