The annual Teddy Bear Toss game is a highlight of the season on every team's schedule. Not only do the fans look forward to it, but so do the players. Scoring the Teddy Bear Toss goal is a big deal. Only one player gets to do it. Often times, it comes from an unexpected source.
That wasn't the case Saturday against Kelowna as Gracyn Sawchyn is one of Seattle's better offensive weapons. I guess the only real intrigue was whether Sawchyn would be in the line up. He missed over a month with a lower body injury. He did play in last Friday's home game against Saskatoon but wasn't in the lineup last Saturday in Kelowna. Tht's a nice way to announce your return.
Certainly the game was in doubt going into the third period. The T-Birds were down by one and some quality scoring chances in the second period came up just short. Head coach Matt O'Dette admitted that led to a little bit of frustation, and understandibly so. Entering the game the T-Birds had scored just five times in their last four games. They were getting chances and not finishing.
But they stuck with it and continued to play the T-Birds brand of hockey, the key to which is a strong forecheck. It led to a few power play chances in the final period and they eventually capitalized. They earned that win. The old saying is you usually get the result you deserve and recently Seattle had been coming up just short. Small mistakes were adding up and ending up in the back of the T-Birds net. The Thunderbirds were basically playing the "close but not quite" game. It was nice to see them find the necessary finish to close out a win.
Seattle's tying and winning goal came from two players who are noted as prolific goal scorers. Luca Hauf had the tying goal on the power play. In 66 previous games in the WHL he had scored just twelve times. That's one goal about every six games. How long had it been since his last goal? Six games.
Sam Popowich scored the game winner. It was his 23rd career WHL goal, in his 183rd game. That's a goal every eight games. It was his first goal in sixteen games, after scoring in four straight games to start the season.
These aren't two players who are going to consistently light the lamp. What they are is a pair of Swiss Army knives. They bring a little bit of everything in their toolboxes. They can play up and down the lineup. They play in all situations and they bring grit and they bring energy.
The goals they do bring seem to be of the timely variety. Four of Hauf's goals this season have been scored on the power play. Three of Popowich's five goals this year have been game winners. Yes, you win games by scoring more goals than your opponent but you don't win by soley scoring goals. You claim victory by winning puck battles, killing penalties, blocking shots and getting pucks out of harms way. You win by doing the hard work, the dirty work, and both Hauf and Popowich excel in those areas.
After the game Hauf didn't tell me he just wanted to score more goals, he emphasized wanting to score more greasy goals. he's willing to go to the net and take the abuse, getting whacked and hacked, to get to loose pucks and second chances. Popowich isn't ever going to be the biggest player on the ice but so often we see him standing around the opposing net, looking for deflections and redirects. To score more than your opponent, you have to keep the puck out of your net as well. That takes some sacrifice and these two players do that.
Seattle and Kelowna played three games in eight days with the T-Birds winning twice. Goals scored so far in the season series? Seattle 7, Kelowna 6. They're not division opponents but it is one of the T-Birds better rivalries over the past 20 years.
My Three Stars for Saturday's win:
Third Star: W Luca Hauf. For me, the power play goal was the key goal for Seattle and he fought off a Rockets defender to get to the net and take the pass from Antonio Martorana. he then found a small space to get it through the Rocket's goalie. He followed that up with the prmary assist on Popowich's game winner.
Second Star: G Scott Ratzlaff. After the Rockets tied the game in the first period, they were buzzing around the Seattle net for a lot of the second half of that first period. Ratzlaff kept them at bay. Then, after Seattle grabbed the lead in the third period, he came with with a few key late stops as Kelowna was looking for the equalizer. As a result his save percentage is now at .900 and his goals against average is just a tick above 3.00 and heading down in the right direction.
First Star: C Sam Popowich. It just wasn't the game winning goal, though that was the best moment for him, but when the Rockets pulled their goalie for the extra skater in the final two minutes, he won a number of defensive zone face offs, allowing Seattle to get puck possession. He was just nine of 20 in the faceoff circle in the game but I'm guessing two or three came in the final two minutes. He was also part of Seattle's big penalty kill at the end of the second period. If the T-Birds allow a goal there, they probably don't comeback in the third for the win.
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