I think the final week of hockey in the calendar year 2021, pretty much summed up the entire year. We had some hockey and we were glad for that. It was affected by Covid and there's nothing you can do about that. You win some, you lose some (hopefully doing more winning than losing), and you're just glad for the opportunity to be playing because you don't know what tomorrow brings or what's around the corner,and then Betty White dies and you start to question the meaning of life!
The Thunderbirds went 1-2 in their first three games post-Christmas. It really was a mixed bag. The final score in Tuesday's 6-3 home loss to Spokane really doesn't tell the whole story. The T-birds were behind the eight ball before the puck even dropped. Injuries, Covid, travel, and an international tournament meant the team could only dress 15 healthy skaters. For much of the third period they were down to just 13.
Still, it was a winnable game. Certainly Spokane took advantage of the undermanned T-birds, but you could also make the argument Seattle let them. The biggest culprit wasn't necessarily the T-birds undisciplined play that led to the Chiefs going 3-for-7 on the power play. Just as significant an issue was Seattle passing up scoring opportunities by overpassing the puck. It was particulary acute when Seattle scored the early first period goal and had a chance to pad their lead but got too cute with the puck. Instead they let the Chiefs hang around.
The good news? This Seattle team learned the lessons from Tuesday's loss and applied them to Thursday's 6-2 win in Spokane. Pucks on net and traffic in front were the theme. After going 0-for-5 on the power play Tuesday, the T-birds shoot first mentality led them to a 4-for-7 night with the man advantage Thursday.
Give the Seattle coach's credit for making some subtle changes to the lineup for the Thursday rematch with the Chiefs. Obviously getting a few more bodies into the lineup helped. But Matt O'Dette and his crew moved Jared Davidson off the first line and put him on the second line. He responded with a four point night with a goal and three assists. Moving him off the first line didn't hurt that line's production though as the Reid Schaefer-Henrik Rybinski-Sam Popowich combo compiled three points with a goal and a pair of assists.
The other change was on the power play. Most significantly they parked the 6'8" frame of Matt Rempe in front of the net and he was able to deflect a couple shots into the back of the net. But as Rempe said after the game, the biggest change was going from quality of shots to quantity of shots and being more of a shooting power play.
Will the power play stay that way? especially when Jordan Gustafson, Conner Roulette and Lukas Svejkovsky return to the lineup? I don't know yet. The T-birds weren't awarded any power plays in the game the next night down in Portland. The refs had put their whistles in their pockets the first half of that game. And that's fine. Let them play. But then, that's where they should have left those whistles, because the calls they did make over the second half of the game were head scratching, one-sided and in most instances, flat out wrong.
How Portland wasn't assessed a penalty for steamrolling over Thomas Milic is maybe the greatest miscarriage of justice I've seen in a hockey game in a number of years. Well, except for maybe the cross checking call that was assessed on the same play to the T-birds Sam Knazko. Things that make you go whaaaaaaat?
And should it have been a penatly shot in the third period? I don't know. Those are so subjective. I'm not sure it was a clear breakaway. But late in a 0-0 game do you want the outcome decided on a penalty shot that wasn't a clear cut, obvious call? In Tuesday's loss to Spokane, Seattle had two breakaway chances that ended with a Spokane penalty, but neither time was Seattle awarded a penalty shot. Consistency, that's all we're asking for. Consistency.
Despite that loss in Portland, I still loved the effort from the team in that game. Seattle was playing their third game in four days and doing so with three of their top five scorers out of the lineup. They had just played in Spokane less then 24-hours before. They spent 16-hours on the bus waiting for Snoqualmie Pass to open. It was an early start in Portland against a rested Winterhawks squad that hadn't played in four days and basically spent the entire month of December playing home games. The T-birds buckled down and almost were able to grind this one out.
The loss overshadowed the play of Milic in goal. It may have been his best game as a T-bird. I'm guessing he wasn't happy with how he played in the loss Tuesday at home to Spokane where he was pulled after giving up four goals. Just a terrific job of putting that game behind him and refocusing his effort against the Winterhawks. He was the best player on the ice. He deserved better for his effort. As Head Coach Matt O'Dette said after the game, the whole team deserved better.
Let's hope Seattle gets those players missing from action back in the lineup soon. That's a whole line of NHL drafted guys, and one soon to be NHL drafted guy, sidelined. I'm excited to see what this team can do the second half of the season if/when everyone comes back. You could argue Seattle played too much a price for a half season of a 20 year old player in Svejkovsky,but Seattle had a couple of extra first rounders, why not use one to make your already good team better?
Remember, this is Rybinski's final season in the WHL. Let's not waste these final 4-5 month of his time in the league. He's having an incredible season thus far. Now you have two of the best 20 year old forwards in the league. Bringing in Svejkovsky improves the depth of an already deep forward group. I'm curious to see how O'Dette and his staff put their lines together now. Does Svejkovsky automatically slot onto the top line? Who gets bumped down? All of a sudden, Seattle's third line is as good as many other team's first lines.
When the T-birds acquired Svejkovsky, they had to trade away a 20-year old to get down to the league limit of three per roster. Unfortunately Eric Van Impe was the odd man out. But give Bil LaForge and his scouts credit for the deal that brought back 19-year-old Chase Lacombe. Seattle did their homework. It's only been two games but from what I've seen, Lacombe is just a,one year younger, version of Van Impe. Maybe not as big but perhaps a little more physical. That's a good value trade. Not every trade acquisition has to be a home run. a solid double works too.
I still wonder, with the loss of Ty Bauer long term, if Seattle might need to bring in another veteran WHL d-man. We'll find out in just over two weeks. The WHL trade deadline is January 17th.
My T-birds Three Stars of the Week:
Third Star: The Young Guns! While we play for the present, we've gotten a little glimpse of the future and the future looks bright! Because of many different factors Seattle has had to dress a lot of young players recently. Seattle deployed as many as six, 16-year olds and one 15-year old over the last seven games. The 15 year old was 2020 first round pick Tij Iginla and he already has his first WHL point.
How good was Seattle's 2020 draft? We've already seen Sam Oremba, Scott Ratzlaff, Sawyer Mynio, Niko Tsakumis and Ethan Mittelsteadt. Now Coster Dunn has made his debut and he is another one of those mid to late round picks that looks like he will shine as a T-bird, ala Donovan Neuls, Reid Schaefer or Nico Myatovic. Meanwhile, waiting in the wings is Seattle's 2020 second round pick, Brayden Dube, who's currently lighting it up with the Dauphin Kings in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
Second Star: D Jeremy Hanzel. Four points since returning from the Christmas break, tallying two goals and two assists. If he can continue that pace, maybe Seattle doesn't have to acquire another veteran defenseman before the trade deadline. He has such a wicked shot and when he gets it on net it's deadly.
First Star: F Jared Davidson. He is now your team leader in scoring with 33 points in 31 games making him a point a game player. He came ready to play post-Christmas break putting up six points this week (2g, 4a) and is now a +16 on the season.
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