A Tale of Two Cities

What a difference twenty four hours can make in the life of a young Thunderbirds hockey team.  The game Friday at home against Prince George was the best game they had played since their last win back on December 13th in Spokane. It was not a perfect game as they still are struggling to finish, but against one of the best team's in the CHL they went toe to toe and probably deserved something other than the 2-1 loss.

They were direct, they got pucks in deep, they won puck battles and put shots to the net. In the defensisve zone they got into shot lanes. Their sticks were active knocking down passes and they played with some physicality.  I thought they were focused on playing their best agaisnt one of the best.

Satruday in Everett it was almost the complete opposite. And you might be asking why? Why couldn't the T-birds bring that same focus and effort they had against the Cougars into the game against the Silvertips? I think one of the lessons that young players struggle to grasp early in their careers, is the need to make adjustments from game to game.

Everett plays a different style than PG.  Just as Portland plays a different brand than, say, Tri-City.  So Seattle's young squad may have been focused on doing the same things against Everett as they did the night before against Prince George. That's okay until you have to adjust to how your opponent is playing. 

Against PG Seattle was able to get pucks in deep in the offensive zone and get into the board battles quickly.  Everett is a quicker team and Seattle didn't adjust to that speed.  As head coach Matt O'Dette said about Everett "They're a team that gets up and down the ice very fast. They're on you quick. When you're trying to skate the puck up the ice (against that), if you're not letting the puck work for you and moving it, getting to a place where you can head man the puck, they're going to chase you down."

Again, it really comes down to consistency of effort because back on December 30th, Seattle was able to do that against Everett. They did it even in their 7-1 loss to Everett in mid-December when they outshot the Tips in Everett 44-35. It's just making the mental adjustments from game to game, opponent to opponent.  It's the part of the game that probably takes the most teaching. 

I think another issue is physical maturity. When you're young and consistently playing against older players. Back to back games can be a drain. Physically going up against an older, NHL drafted player on back to back nights is going to be taxing. These young players are learning that firsthand.  We saw it a few years back when players like Ciona, Schaefer, Davidson and Korchinski were young and green.  Then we saw those players mature physically and turn the tables. It's a process. 

But you can't learn it if you don't go out and play.  This is why you'll see a young Braeden Cootes or even a 15-year old callup like Brendan Rudolph out on the ice against an opponent's top line. It gives them that first hand opportunity to know how much they need to grow. It many not seem like it now, but they are learning from those situations.  I remember quite vividly Shea Theodore's 16 year old season. He finished -36. He was thrown out on the ice in all situations.  He wasn't benched if he made a mistake. He learned, he grew, he absorbed the lessons and a couple of seasons later he was +19 and a NHL first round draft pick.

They're going to have some good shifts and they're going to have some bad shifts. They're going to have some good games and they're going to have some nights where they are off.  The goal is to reduce those bad shifts and off games as they grow in their WHL careers. You can't learn every lesson in practice.

What's the first thing a U16 player says after his first game in the WHL? almost to a man they say it's a much faster game. What's the first thing a freshly drafted 18 year says at his first NHL camp? The players are bigger and faster. You don't adjust to that change overnight. The game slows down as you get more repitition. And when you think you have it figured out one game, the next game will challenge that thinking.

Nineteen. The T-Birds have nineteen rookies in their system.  Many of them have already played at least one WHL game this season. In all likelihood, they're going to get two top 25 draft picks this May.  So that's a minimumm of 21 players who will be fighting for roster spots the next two to three seasons. Those players are spread out over four drafts. That's competition. Iron sharpens iron. 

Not all of those players are going to spend 4-5 seasons with the Thunderbirds but they're going to push each other to be their best.  Not all the players will become Shea Theodore's. The cream will rise to the top and that's how you build a winner.  The organization won't hit on 100% of those prospects but if they can develop 30-40 percent, they'll be a winning team again, sooner rather than later.  That process has already begun.  Probably sooner than the organization wanted to because of all the injuries this season. So it may be a curse right now, it could end up being a blessing down the road.

My T-Birds Three Stars for the Weekend:

Third Star: C Coster Dunn.  He just seems primed for an offensive breakout.  You could see that shorthanded goal he scored against Everett coming.  He seems to be feeling more comfortable in his own skin as he becomes relied upon more.  He still has work to do but he had a goal and an assist in the two games and that has him pointing in the right direction.

Second Star: W Nathan Pilling.  A goal in each game.  His shooter's mentality is a reason for that. Hopefully there is more of that to come the second half as he gets more comfortable in his new surroundngs. In five games since being acquired from Edmonton he has four points (2g, 2a). What I've observed from him off the ice, he's got the look and the demeanor of a team leader.  

First Star: G Scott Ratzlaff. Simply brilliant on Saturday night in Everett. He made 54 saves and everyone of them kept the T-birds in the game, giving them a chance until the final minute. One of the best singular goalie performances I've seen in 20-plus years with the T-Birds. Not just because of the volume of shots faced, but the number of high quality scoring chances he denied.  In two games this weekend he stopped 87 shots.  

  

It's the Little Things

I see a lot of parallels between this version of the T-Birds and the 2021 pandemic season team.  Maybe not in the results, as the T-Birds put together a decent record in those 23-games, going 10-12-0-1, but there are other similarities.  

To be fair, that team didn't go through a series of significant injuries like this season's team is experiencing. But like this year's team, that team was quite young with just one 20 year old, Kelit Jeri-Leon on the roster. But the young players that year weren't sixteen year olds, they were seventeen year olds. 

Twelve players who played in at least one game that 2021 season were listed as rookies, though one, goalie Jackson Berry, was 18 years old with limited games previously in the league.  Fifteen players who have skated in at least one game for Seattle this season are rookies, none of them over the age of seventeen. Twelve of them are age 16 or younger. 

Statistically, Seattle is the second youngest team in the WHL this season but we are splitting hairs here.  According to Alan Caldwell, Calgary has the youngest team with an average age of 17.70 year old.  The T-Birds and Medicine Hat have a roster with an average age of 17.79.  But with their key injuries being to their older players (age 19 or older), my guess is that, on a nightly basis, the T-birds are actually icing the youngest team night in and night out.  

Here's an example. In their last game Calgary dressed eight players classified as rookies. Two of them were age 18, three were 17 year olds and the other three were age 16. In their last game Medicine Hat dressed eight rookies as well. They break down like this: one 18-year old, three 17 year olds and four 16 year olds. Both Calgary and Medicine Hat have their fare share of second year players, aged 17 and 18.

In their last game the T-Birds dressed nine players classified as rookies. Of those nine three were age seventeen.  The other six?  All age 16. The T-Birds also skated two other 17 year olds but both Hyde Davidson and Bryce Pickford are no longer classified as rookies, having played full-time with the team a year ago.  The Thunderbirds dressed just two 20-year olds because Eric Alarie was out injured,  then lost 19 year old Jordan Gustafson for the third period because of injury as well.  Meanwhile, 19-year old defenseman Braeden Wynne was a healthy scratch. 

The T-birds are currently carrying just four other 19 year olds outside of the ones listed above. Myatovic (inj) and Hauf (WJC) were not in the lineup while Pilling and Boucher played. Sawyer Mynio and Scott Ratzlaff are their most experienced 18 year olds, with both being in their third season. Of course Ratzaff has been away from the team having made Canada's World Junior roster. The T-Birds only other two 18 year olds are Coster Dunn and Cru Hanas.

How does that compare with the T-Birds 2021 pandemic season roster?  Well, of that team's 12 players listed as rookies, as we said, one was 18 (Berry), four were age 17 (Schaefer, Popowich, Milic, and Hanzel), five were age 16 (Gustafson, Korchinski, Myatovic, Ludwig and Penner) while two were age 15 (Ratzlaff and Oremba). Meanwhile, players such as Ciona, Sanders and Roulette were just 17 but had played in enough games the previous season to lose their rookie status.  Also on the roster were three 19 year olds (McNelly, Gottfried and Rybinski) and  five 18 year olds (Davidson, Rempe, Bauer, Mount and Bateman) to go along with the 20 year old Jeri-Leon.  

So their are definite similarities. But there are two big differences. One will be the number of games played. Again, that team only played 23 games over two and a half months.  This year's team has already played in 32 games and will play another 36 before all is said and done.  

The other difference? That 2021 team had nothing to play for but to gain experience. There was no playoff spot to fight for, no pennants or Chynoweth Cup were on the line. Basically, there was no pressure on them. That's not the case for this year's team.  They are fighting to earn a playoff spot. They put expectations on themselves when the season began. The margin for error was thin.  They could not afford injuries among their better, veteran players. Unfortunately those injuries happened. 

This team is trying to get through this rough patch where every mistake or lapse seems to find the back of the net.  The offense is struggling to score goals and the goaltending has been sporadic.  The hope was always to get healthy and make a second half push. Is that still doable with this young team? We'l soon find out.

My T-Birds Three Stars for the last two weeks of 2023.

Third Star: G Grayson Malonoski. He was solid in two starts and one game where he came on in relief. With Scott Ratzlaff returning soon from World Juniors, I would expect the 16-year old to be returned to his U18 team in Saskatoon, but it looks like he has a bright future in goal with Seattle over the next 3-to-4 years.

Second Star: D Jeremy Hanzel.  He is doing what he is supposed to do as a 20 year old defenseman. He's providing leadership, offense and playing a complete 200 foot game.  In the absence of the injured veterans he has stepped up big time.

First Star: W Simon Lovsin. Speaking of complete players, Lovsin is showing signs that he can be just that for Seattle. He has a scoring touch with three goals in three games, plays physical and stands up for his teammates.  I think his play since returning from the Christmas break will catch the eye of NHL scouts if he can continue it through the rest of the second half.