I thought one of the reasons for taking the trip out east so early in the season was to avoid the cold prairie winter that greets us in January. I mean, two weeks in mid to late October and we should be fine right? iIt didn't quite work out that way but I survived.
The first day in Calgary was balmy, no need for a jacket weather. But then boom, some one flipped a switch and just like that snow and freezing temperatures. It was like a Seattle blizzard! One inch of snow and 25 degrees! Not sure how we survived, but we did.
Playing six games in nine days and to come home with a 3-3 record sounds like a successful trip, doesn't it? Just, well, it stings a little bit when the trip started with three wins. As always, injuries aren't an excuse but they are a fact of life and the injuries and other absences from the lineup definitely affected the T-Birds over the last three games.
Still, the only clunker on the trip through the Central Division was the 5-0 setback in Lethbridge. It was the first time this season Seattle played back-to-back games and that might have taken its toll but that was an effort not up to T-Bird standards.
It was good to see the response from that with two solid efforts in Swift Current and Medicine Hat to close out the trip. No one is looking for moral victories, so the losses still sting, but with a depleted and very young roster, the T-Birds battled into the third period both games.
I'm still amazed how disciplined this young team is. They take very few penalties. In fact, they didn't incur any penalties in the Medicine Hat game. That tells me there is a lot of skill on the team and they skate well and don't got caught often standing around and hooking and tripping their opponents.
Seattle has a trio of first year, 16-year old rookies in Braeden Cootes (4), Kazden Mathies (4) and Antonio Martorana (5)who have combined for 13 goals through the first 11 games. How encouraging is that? Well, the last time the T-Birds had three 16 year old rookie forward in the lineup was the 2019-20 season. That year it took Kai Uchacz, Lucas Ciona and Connor Roulette 25 games to combine for 13 goals and nine of those were from Roulette. That year Uchacz, a future 50-goa scorer would finish with two and Ciona who had 34 goals last season, had just three.
Seattle has a really good crop of 2007 born forwards. Samuel Charko only has a couple of assists thus far but his goals will come eventually, while recently added-to-the-roster Brayden Holberton, will bring some grit and sandpaper.
Best team I saw on the trip? I'd give that nod to Medicine Hat. They're not an old team either. Their best players are their 2005s and 2006s born. Really good depth too. They will be a hard out this year but watch out for them next season.
I'm curious to see how former Tiger Cru hanas develops with the Thunderbirds. There was no ice for him on that deep Medicine Hat team. In the few viewings I've had of him as a T-Bird, I like his compete and once he gets consistent using his size to his advantage he should be a really solid player.
It will be hard being patient going forward with some key pieces to the T-Birds lineup on the shelf for a bit in Nico Myatovic and Gracyn Sawchyn. Seattle should get Jordan Gustafon in the lineup soon. But when this team is finally whole, watch out. They're youth will win them some games and it will lose them some games but they will be fun to watch.
My T-Birds Three Star for the Road Trip:
Third Star: C Gracyn Sawchyn. He'd be higher up in my rankings if he didn't get hurt in the Lethbridge game and miss the last two games of the trip. He single handedly beat Red Deer with two goals and three assists, factoring in on every goal. But where he really stood out was in the defensive zone, especially with his backchecking. Get well soon!
Second Star: G Spencer Michnik. Terrific 31 save game to open the trip in Calgary in a 3-2 OT win over the Hitmen. He followed that up with 35 saves in the Red Deer win. He may have taken the loss in Medicine Hat but Seattle would have been out of that game in the first period if not for his work between the pipes.
First Star: W Antonio Martorana. He is now your team leader, tied with Luca Hauf, with five goals. His goals seem to come in big moments and he scored on the rush, from the outside and from in close. He's a bulldog. Listed at 5'8", he battles hard agaisnt bigger players and wins his fair share of 50/50 pucks. Imagine he Mathies and Cootes when they reach their 19 year old season!
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