Let's Talk Turkey

Definitely a tale of two cities this weekend for the Thunderbirds.  After a good enough first period Friday in Everett that saw them skate off the ice with a 1-0 lead, they struggled to generate any solid puck possession the final two periods. They hung on long enough thanks to goaltender Scott Ratzlaff, but eventually Everett scored three times in the final four minutes to win 4-1.

Saturday in Kent it was more of the level of hockey the T-Birds need to play to be successful.  It started with another good first twenty minutes, as they built up a 3-1 lead enroute to an eventual 4-1 win.  This may surprise you but I thought the last two periods were very good for Seattle. Not INSPITE of having to kill off eight straight Everett power plays, but BECAUSE they had to do that.  

You never want to give an opposing team eight chances with the man advantage, Odds says you're not going to kill them all off all the time.  Strangely though, I think being on the PK that much helped Seattle focus on what makes them a good defensive team: blocking shots, active sticks, physical play along the boards and, of course, supurb goaltending.  As Jordan Gustafson told me after the game, with so many different players going to the penalty box, it gave players not accustomed to it a chance to kill penalties.

Again, not a perfect game but an effective game for the Thunderbirds. They still struggle at time to get clears.  They put pucks in dangerous spots in their own defensive zone. They mishandle the puck around their own net.  This is a young team.  There's lots of learning to do.

Only three other teams in the WHL have a roster with a younger aggregate age than Seattle. But let's compare Seattle's roster to just the rest of the U.S. Division.  We've mentioned before that Seattle is carrying nine rookies on the roster. Six of those are true 16 year olds or 2007 born first year players. Spokane has four 2007s on their roster, Tri-City has three, Portland has two and Everett and Wenatchee are carrying one 2007 born rookie each.

After this past weekend, Seattle's 16 year old rookies have combined to play in 86 games. Spokane's have played a combined 61. For Tri-City their 2007 born players have combined for 39 games. Portland's two have played in a combined 19 while the 16 year old rookies for Everett and Wenatchee have played in 18 and 17 games respectively.  

Remember, of the five teams in the division, Seattle has played the least amount of games.  It's clear the T-Birds rely on their 16 year old rookies more than any other team in the divsion and it's not even close. Heck, the Thunderbirds leading goal scorer is 16 year old Antonio Martorana. Yet, here they are, with so many of their better, older players dealing with injuries, still battling and keeping themselves above water at 9-7-1-0.   

You might be tempted to think that Seattle was in the box a lot Saturday versus Everett because they are a young team and young players are more prone to take penalties. That's understandable right?  Hey, just write this off to youthful exhuberance and inexperienced, undisciplined play by a young team against a more veteran squad. 

Except this seems to happen when Seattle plays against Everett no matter the age of the T-Birds roster. Want an example? just go back one year ago and a game on October 15th, 2022 at Angel of the Winds Arena.  A very much older T-Birds team that would go on to win the WHL title was shorthanded 11 times!  You'll never convince me that Seattle is that undisciplined of a team. Certainly not to that extent.  The same standard must be applied to both teams.  

Penalties in hockey are like holding or pass interference in football. You could probably call one on every shift. All I would ask is that all teams are held to the same standard. By the way, Seatte won that game last October 11-3!

My T-Birds Three Star for the Past Week:

Third Star: W Antonio Martorana.  If you're waiting for the rookie to fall off his scoring pace, you might have a long wait. His game translates to the WHL quite well, no matter his youth. He battles. Many of his goals are of the greasy variety scored from within three or four feet of the net as was the case on Seattle's opening goal Saturday. But he also wins his share of pucks along the wall and below the goal.  He's the complete package with lots of room to grow. He had two goals in three games last week.

Second Star: C Jordan Gustafson. He's still probably shaking off some of the rust after missing the first 12 games of the season but his return has energized a power play that has now scored in four straight games. Seattle also probably doesn't kill off 15 of 16 penatlies the last three games without him in the lineup. He hasn't scored his first goal yet since his return but had a couple of assists and having him back pushed one of those rookies back to a third or fourth line role where they can be more effective.

First Star: G Scott Ratzlaff. Came on in relief Tuesday and stopped 20 of 20 shots before the T-Birds comeback against Prince Albert fell a goal short. With 41 saves Friday in Everett he was the only reason Seattle was still tied 1-1 with four minute left in their eventual 4-1 loss.  he followed it up with a spectacular 42 save performance in the T-Birds 4-1 win Saturday at home.  Eight straight Everett power plays killed and he was their best penalty killer. 106 shots faced in three games and 102 saves made.

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