To Legit to Quit

 Four of Seattle's last five games have been against two teams, Everett and Kamloops, ranked in the top five of the CHL's Top Ten poll.  And while the results haven't gone the T-birds way, they have been in the battle. It was a busy week as well for the Thunderbirds as the five games were played over an 11 game stretch.  There wasn't a lot of down time between games.

It was also an untimely convergence of a tough, busy schedule and the absence of key players from the lineup.  It began with a hard fought, one goal loss in Everett back on November 13th.  Seattle was coming on strong late in the game, but ran out of time in a 3-2 loss.

The T-birds rebounded with a nice, come-from-behind win in Spokane last Friday. The win came at a cost though, as Seattle lost a heart and soul player, Henrik Rybinski, to an upper body injury.  Just before a three-games-in-five-nights showdown with two of the top ranked teams in the CHL, Seattle was without their leader.  

The Thunderbirds didn't necessarily play poorly in their first game without Rybinski in the lineup, but they didn't play well enough to keep up with the speed and quickness of Kamloops on Saturday in the first of two meetings in four days with the Blazers.  As a result Seattle dropped a 5-1 decision.  The schedule makers did the T-birds no favors either. Seattle had to travel back from Spokane the night before, while the rested Blazers were waiting for the T-birds in Kent after their Friday night game had been postponed. Ah, life in the WHL.

Then, despite it being their third game in three nights, Seattle was fairly good Sunday up at Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett.  But late in the second period the officials handed Matt Rempe a major boarding penalty.  As a result he missed the rest of the game and had to sit out Wednesday's rematch against Kamloops.  

Even without Rybinki and Rempe available for the third period Sunday against the Silvertips, Seattle was the better team over the final twenty minutes.  They killed off the major penalty and scored a power play goal of their own to pull within 3-2.  They had a tying goal on their stick in front of the Everett net with about 90-seconds remaining.  Unfortunately, once again their last, best chance was denied. Close but no cigar.

The T-birds knew going into Wednesday's second game against Kamloops that they would have to play withot their top two centers.  Another forward, Sam Oremba was away at the U17 Capital City Challenge in Ottawa.  They entered the game down to just 10 forwards.  There were no spare parts, so they called up 16-year old defenseman Niko Tsakumis from the Delta Hockey Academy and inserted another 16 year old rookie d-man, a banged up Sawyer Mynio, back into the lineup.  

Meanwhile the Blazers were fresh and healthy.  They hadn't played since the Saturday win over the T-birds. Instead of traveling back to Kamloops between games, they made a short trip up to Vancouver to rest and practice.  A recipe for a T-birds disaster right?  Seattle should just fold the tent and live to play another day.  But this T-birds team doesn't back away from a challenge and undermanned they battled and stayed within striking distance until the final minutes of the game,falling 4-1.  

There are no moral victories in hockey.  You don't get points in the standings for playing hard just to come up short. I think though, the Thunderbirds will look back on this busy pre-Thanksgiving stretch and understand it was at this point in the season, not their recent eight-game winning streak, where they came together, developed their team identity and earned the character that will define them the rest of the way.

One shining example of that is their penalty kill.  Yes, they'd prefer not to be in the box as often as they are, but if any area of play is a complete team effort, it is on the PK. Everyone has to be willing to make sacrifices for the good of the team, doing what's necessary to disrupt an opponent's power play.  Over their last five games Seattle has killed off 18 of their oppenents 20 power play chances, including a couple of lengthy 5-on-3s.  The result?  The T-birds went into Thanksgiving with the WHL's top ranked penalty kill at 85.6%.  They did much of that work with two key parts of the penalty kill, Rybinski and Rempe, unavailable for much of that span.

My T-birds Three Stars for the past five games:

Third Star: C Jordan Gustafson. Last spring was technically his rookie season, but he only got 23-games.  He still has not played a full season of hockey at the WHL level, so I still look on him as a rookie.  He accumulated five points over his last five games and on the season is a point per game player.  He was all over the ice Wednesday night and scored the T-birds lone goal. In the abscense of Rybinski and Rempe, he's been centering the T-birds top line.

Second Star: C/W Jared Davidson.  Davidson is another one of those guys every team needs.  He plays in all situations.  He can play up and down the lineup.  He can play the wing on the first line or center your second line.  With Rybinski and Rempe out, Seattle needed his versatility. After going goal-less in his first eight games, he now has five in his last ten.  he has a deadly shot that will be key to getting more consistency from the T-birds power play.Three of his five goals have been scored on the power play.   

First Star: W Conner Roulette.  It's almost been a quiet first 18-games of the season for the Dallas Stars prospect. That is, until you look at his numbers. He leads the team points (20), is tied with Gustafson for the most goals (9) and is tied with Rybinski and Kevin Korchinski in assists (11). He's registered a point in all but two games so far.  He has points now in five straight games (3g, 3a).

Denied Number Nine

 A weekend split isn't the worst thing that can happen.  The Thunderbirds won on home ice and lost a one goal game on the road. But I was once told by someone who did more winning then losing that good players, good teams, will stew over the loss more then they'll celebrate that win. That's because they demand the best of themselves.  

The T-birds fall into that category.  They'll demand the best they have and not be happy when they don't give it their all.  I think coaches can understand if you left it all on the ice and come up short.  Sometimes the puck doesn't bounce your way. Where they take issue is when you don't give one hundred percent and lose a winnable game.  

We saw in the first period in the Friday win over Portland, what the best this team has can look like.  That was the best twenty minutes of hockey we've seen from this team this year.  And that is saying quite a bit because this team has played some good hockey so far.  You don't win eight in a row without bringing it every night.  Everything was working for them in that period because they were putting in the work to make it so.

Now, the key is to find that level of play on a more consistent basis.  It disappeared in the second period of that game and came back late in the third to preserve the win. It was no where to be found, Saturday in Everett in the 3-2 loss.  And I think Head Coach Matt O'Dette summed up the reason for that in his postgame comments.  To play at that level every game, you need every player on board. Some nights, for some reason, a few player are missing from the engine room.  That's Junior hockey.  Seattle still has a young team and some of those young guys are still learning that one of the most important keys to success in the WHL is consistency.  

The strangest thing that jumped out to me going into the Saturday game in Everett was, here were two teams with a combined 20-2-1-1 record, yet statistically both sat in the bottom half of the league in power play success.  Normally teams with the best records, build up those wins with an efficient power play.  I can't speak for the Silvertips power play struggles because I just haven't seen it enough.  I know they didn't have success against the T-birds because Seattle has a tremendous penalty kill.  

But when I watch the Thundebirds power play, I see a unit that is on the cusp of getting it going.  They had two late power plays in the first period Friday against Portland and the puck movement, the passing was on point.  It was hard to gauge the power play against Everett, though they did get one power play goal, because a couple of their man advantage opportunties Saturday were of the abbreviated variety. They were coming on the heels of a penalty kill. In that situation, your top power play guys are probably not available because they were most likely just out there on the PK. But even on the full power play, against Everett's league best penalty kill, I thought they were in position to do good things. 

The one criticism from that game, was the same one O'Dette had when I spoke to him after the game.  It was a similar problem when they were 5-on-5 versus the Silvertips.  They were missing the net with their shots and at times making one too many passes.  Which actually makes me optimistic for the power play because it means puck possession is not the issue. When Seatle is skating with the man advantage, more often then not, the puck is on their sticks.  

If that's happening the goals will come but even if they don't score, it should create momentum for them at even strength.  And that's what's happening. That's making them a hard team to play against at even strength.  That's why they won eight in a row.  Saturday was the exception, not the rule. 

My Three Stars for the Weekend:

Third Star:  D Ty Bauer.  His breakaway goal in the third period Friday against Portland was not only an unexpected thing of beauty, but it was timely.  It came at a significant moment in the game.  This was no garbage time goal.  It gave Seattle a two-goal cushion in an eventual 4-2 win.  It helped turn the momentum back in the T-birds favor.  Bauer has three goals on the season.  two of them are game winners.  This one wasn't technically a game winner but it sure felt like it.

Second Star: G Thomas Milic.  Milic was dialed in all weekend.  He was a big reason Seattle maintained their lead Friday versus Portland, especially in the second period, when the Winterhawks were awarded five straight power plays, which included two lengthy 5-on-3s.  If not for his first period twelve save performance Saturday in Everett, the T-birds would not have been around to make that third period push that fell just short in the 3-2 loss.  

First Star: C Henrik Rybinski.  Every player who didn't put forth their best effort Saturday in Everett should be put in front of a video screen and made to watch Rybinski highlights, not just from that game, but any game he's played.  He only knows one way to play and that is with an all out effort on every shift.  He is the gold standard. He is now riding a nine game point streak, accumulating four goals and nine assists in that span.  

Tri No More (Not Really)

 After three straight and four of their last six games against Tri-City, the Seattle Thunderbirds will put the Americans in their rear view mirror.  Well, for a couple weeks at least.  Seattle actually has another  game on the schedule this month against the Americans, but that will wait until after Thanksgiving.  

For now, the T-birds will take their wins and move forward, preparing for a pair of games this coming weekend.  Friday they host the Portland Winterhawks.  Don't forget, it's Girls Night Out.  Go to seattlethunderbirds.com for details.  Saturday Seattle travels north to Everett for a showdown with the Silvertips. 

The Thunderbirds were successful this past weekend because they found different ways to win both games, but the common theme was effort.  And that's been the mantra throughout their current seven game winning streak. Sure, you can lose a game even when you give your best effort, but it is highly unlikely you'll ever win without it. I say this, knowing there is another level of play this team can reach.  We're just twelve games into the season and they certainly haven't peaked yet.  Their team chemistry is still developing.  

You could point to the four wins in the current winning streak against Tri-City and say, yeah, but they're doing it against a team at the bottom of the Western Conference standings.  Again, the players don't have control over who their opponent is.  There job is to go out and meet the challenge and win.  Control the controllables by taking care of your business.  The position in the standings of these two teams would be reversed had the T-birds not played well and lost. 

Remember about a decade ago when Portland beat Seattle 10 out of 12 times, and went on to win a WHL Championship?  No one put an asterisk next the Winterhawks title because a 57-win team beat a 24-win team ten times on their way to the Cup. Good teams find ways to win, no matter the opponent. Who you're playing shouldn't matter as much as how you're playing.  

What areas does Seattle have to clean up as they move forward?  You might have to take out a microscope to find them, but they're there.  They need to cut down the number of odd man rushes and breakaways they're allowing, especially when they are on the power play.  And this is a little nitpicky, because they actually have been doing a better job recently of bearing down when they have the lead, but there have been a few ocassions when they get a little lackadaisacal coming back on pucks in the defensive zone. That slows down their transition game at times.

They are still taking too many penalties.  The coaches want to limit an opponent's power play chances to about three a game.  Right now the T-birds are allowing 5.5.  Seattle's penalty kill has been good. At around 85-percent it ranks with the best in the league, but the team's strength is 5-on-5 hockey and you can't play that when you're in the box.  

The Thunderbirds power play is hovering at just under 20-percent.  I thnk they'd like it up at around 25-percent or better, but I'm not to worried about it. They probably need to get to more rebounds when they have the man advantage, but even when they don't score off the power play, they generate momentum off it. 

They're doing a lot of things well.  Chiefly among them, they are getting a solid team effort every game.  They are rolling four lines and getting all three d-pairs involved.  The goaltending has been excellent.  Their transition game seems to improve with each outing and they win most 50-50 battles along the boards. They win the puck posession battle most nights and 30-plus shots on goal is the norm. They probably want to do better on faceoffs, but they seem to come up with key faceoff wins at the right time, especially late in games.

The coaching staff consistently talks about good habits.  Well, the best habit you can have is winning.  The T-birds have that right now.

My T-Birds Three Stars for the Weekend:

Third Star: The top D pairing of Ty Bauer and Ryan Gottfried. Bauer leads the team in +/- at +10.  He had a pair of assists this weekend. He'll take the odd penalty but that's because he plays a physical brand.  He's getting more and more opportunities to put shots on net.  Gottfried didn't register a point in either game but finished the weekend with a +3 rating.  Describing him as "consistent" or "steady" might seem bland, but that's what he is.  You get the same game from him every night.  He's a terrific penalty killer, blocking shots and sweeping pucks out of harms way.  

Second Star:  C Henrik Rybinski.  He has points now in seven straight games and is now a point a game player with 11-points (2g, 9a) in 10 games.  The reality is, he has a point in all but one game he has played.  I don't really count opening night down in Portland.  He got hurt on the opening shift and missed the rest of the contest. Along with Bauer, he's the alpha dog on the team. He sets the tone for how this team wants to play by expending every ounce of energy he has on every shift. He wants to earn a pro contract and you can see that in every shift he takes. 

First Star:  C/W Jordan Gustafson.  He's on a six game point streak and now leads the team in goals scored with eight. Along with Conner Roulette has the team lead in points with 14 through 12-games.  His offensive game, the shoot first mentality, draws your attention but he's a complete player.  Do yourself a favor and watch him all over the ice.  Watch him in the d-zone, on the backcheck.  Key on him along the boards in the attacking zone. On his OT game winner Saturday, he never stopped skating, even without the puck, putting himself in position to score that goal.