Fill Those Stockings, Fill the Net

The Thunderbirds reach the Christmas break hoping Santa will put a few goals under their tree. Seattle finished the three game weekend scoring just one goal in each game. No surprise then that the T-Birds lost all three games.

With the exception of an ugly seven minute span in the first period Saturday in Everett, the T-Birds didn't give up much either. The Thunderbirds lost 2-1, in overtime, Friday at home to the Vancouver Giants.  They dropped that game to the Silvertip 7-1 before losing 3-1 Sunday to the Giants in Langley with the third goal being an empty netter.

Those three losses came after Seattle had traveled to Spokane last Wednesday and posted a 5-3 win. But four of the goals versus the Chiefs were scored on the power play. The T-birds scored just one even strength goal in their last four games. And since a 10-for-23 stretch with the man advanatge, the Thunderbirds are zero-for-their-last-six.  

You can't rely on your power play for fifty percent of your scoring. Somehow, someway the T-birds have to start generating more even strength goals. Is it a lack of opportunity? Are they spending too much time in their own end? I would say no. Sure, there have been occasions when they struggle to get the puck up ice but that wasn't an issue in any of their last four games.

In those last four pre-Christmas games Seattle averaged 36 shots on goal, twice breaking the 40 shot barrier. What they are missing is some finish.  Sunday's game against Vancouver was a prime example as Seattle created numerous ten bell scoring chances but either flubbed the chance, shot wide or put the puck right in the middle of the goalies jersey. During the first intermission Sunday in Langley, one observer up in the press box said the T-Birds skated themselves out of three goals.

With just 78 the Thunderbirds have scored by far away the fewest goals in the WHL thus far this season. Yes, part of that can be explained by having played a league fewest 29 games at the break but their goals per game average is just 2.6 goals per game and that number drops to 2.1 over their last ten outings.

The injuries to Nico Myatovic and Jordan Gustafson, the month missed by Gracyn Sawchyn, are factors. Not getting Kevin Korchinski back from the Chicago Blackhawks has played into the lack of offensive production as well. It has left Seattle with little margin for error as they skated through the first half with one of the youngest rosters in the WHL.

It's realistic to think that had the Thunderbirds not lost so many games to injuries with their top players, they woud convievably have 4-5 more wins.  But every year teams go through the injury bug. Some more than others, but you know it's coming. Seattle just hasn't had the veteran depth  to survive it, like they did a season ago.

As a result the optimism at the start of the season gave way to the reality of a 12-15-2-0 record heading into the holiday break. The question is, how will they respond when play begins again December 28th?

The T-Birds used fifteen rookies the first half including eight 16 year olds and five 15 year olds.  That's unprecedented. Hopefully it pays off in the future but what does Seattle do in the present? Do they get healthy and stand pat? Or do they break up the gang and trade away valuable veterans? It will be an interesting next month.

My T-Birds Three Stars for the First Half:

Third Star: C Sam Popowich. He has been the most reliable of Seattle's forwards. He plays in all situations and is one gig reason why both of Seattle's special teams, the power play and the penalty kill. have been consistently near the top of the WHL. He needs two more goals to establish a new career high in the WHL. He sticks up for his teammates and provides needed leadership.

Second Star: W Antonio Martorana. On a team full of rookies, he has stood out in the crowd. The 16-year old former 4th round draft pick leads the team in goals at the break with 12. He gets many of them by going to the net. He should only get better as he begins to play more minutes on the power play. A couple goals in the first few games? Maybe you could discount that as flukey, but a dozen goals in 29 games is no fluke.  He's the real deal.

First Star: D Jeremy Hanzel.  The 20 year old defenseman is playing his best hockey right now, building off what was a terrific season a year ago and doing it with a lesser supporting cast around him.  He's taken over the role of quarterbacking the power play that would have been Korchinski's if he were here and he is flourishing. He plays a ton of minutes and he's so often able to skate the T-Birds out of trouble. The Colorado Avalanche have to be happy with the way his season has gone the first three months. They picked him in the sixth round last summer, now let's hope they reward him with a contract. 

Please Bear With Us

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.

Four Out of Five Dentists Recommend

Playing four games in five nights is taxing. It gets even more so when you are minus players to injuries. It becomes even more difficult when those missing players are your relied upon point producers.  No one recommends playing four games in five nights under any circumstances but it is a fact of life in the WHL that from time to time you go through a few of those. Building availability, travel and a few other itmes factor in.  You play the hand you're dealt.

You could probably have guessed Seattle was going to have a young, rookie filled roster this season. What you could not have predicted were long term injuries to the team's top three returning offensive weapons: Nico Myatovic, Jordan Gustafson and Gracyn Sawchyn.

Gustafson has played just two games in his WHL career against the Saskatoon Blades. He's probably hoping he never has to face them again (It would only happen if he returns next season as a 20 year old). Last January early in a game in Saskatoon he fell awkwardly to the ice, after a check from his brother Blake no less, and suffered an injury that cost him most of the second half of last season and the first 12 games this year.

Finally back in the lineup again this season and the Blades are in town Friday. What happens? He blocks a shot and suffers another injury that puts him back on the shelf. What are those old country song lyrics? If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all.

It's too bad because I believe Gustafson would have received an invite to Team Canada's World Junior team training camp with a chance to earn a spot on the roster. He was involved in their team meetings this past summer.  He could still be invited so let's hope this injury is a quick heal.

Unfortunately the injury suffered by Myatovic in early October won't be healed in time for him to fight for a spot with Team Canada. Literally a tough break because I think he'd have been a perfect third or fourth line player for Canada, similar to Reid Schaefer's role last year.

Will Scott Ratzlaff get an invite? Like Gustafson he was part of Canada's summer meetings. Don't let his numbers fool you. Yes, he had a poor start to the season but he has settled down and looked terrific in goal the last couple of weeks. He's keeping a young, inexperienced team in a lot of games recently.

I counted nearly 140 shots on goal for Seattle in the four games last week. They scored just five times on those shots and one of those was an empty netter. That's a Mendoza line shooting percentage of 2.85 percent. Is there some bad luck involved there? Sure, but the biggest culprit for me is a lack of a net front presence and I think that correlates with the young roster. 

I'm guessing many of these young forwards never had to stand in front of the net very often in their minor days, asked to take a goalies eyes off the puck.  Most were probably one of the better players on their minor team and are used to having the puck on their stick, shooting and having the puck go in. Give them time to acclimate to that role.

I remember Schaefer's first training camp with Seattle back in 2018. He was flying up and down the ice scoring lots of goals in the scrimmages. By the time he left Seattle he had become a reliable player around the front of the net.

The T-Birds went just 1-3 in their four games this past week but there were times in all four games where they controlled the play and in three of the four games they were in a position to get something out of the contest by the third period. It's why I say this young team is both impressive and frustating to watch, all at the same time. 

It's hard, coming off a championship season, to be patient but that's what we're going to have to be as they go through growing pains. I think the same thing happened in the pandemic season of 2021. Remember that was just a 23 game season, not 68, so we tend to forget the similarities to this year. But Seattle went 10-12-1-0 that year and many of those twelve losses were similar in nature to some of the losses the T-Birds have suffered so far this season. A year later Seattle was playing for a WHL title.

Injuries affect every team but they'll have a bigger impact on a younger, rookie laden roster.  A season ago Seattle could survive four players away at Workd Juniors, a Gustafson injury, or waiting for Colton Dach to heal up because they had plenty of experienced depth. They don't have that this season.

What they do have is a deep group of young players that will develop together and while it may not look like it from one game to the next, they are getting better with each shift and every practice. For a young team practice time has immense value and when you play four games in five nights, you don't get that practice. 

Their youth has probably cost them a couple of wins so far, but I actually think the injuries have been the bigger factor. With everyone in the lineup Seattle is probably four or five wins better than their current .500 record. Keep that in mind as we approach the trade deadline. I know there are some out there who want to trade away any player of value but when Seattle gets healthy, keeping this team together might be the better option. I'm not saying they won't deal, but I wouldn't be surprised if the didn't.

My T-Birds Three Stars for the final two games of four in five nights:

Third Star: D Sawyer Mynio. Seattle is relying on Mynio and Jeremy Hanzel to eat up a lot of minutes on the back end. They're handling the workload quite well. Mynio can be both physical and finesse.  I think he gets called on too many borderline penatlies.Some are warranted, other are not.  He's been a very good skater from almost the day he arrived. He wants to be more offensive and we're starting to see him shoot more. His power play goal Saturday in Kelowna was a beauty.

Second Star: W Simon Lovsin.  In one shift Saturday against the Rockets we saw the package Lovsin brings to the table. Physicality, speed and offensive touch. Remember he's still a rookie. He's got more physical maturity to attain.  He can be a Reid Schaefer or Lucas Ciona type player for Seattle.  

First Star:  G Scott Ratzlaff.  Ratzlaff bailed out his team on more than one occasion on the weekend and was the primary reason the T-Birds could hang around into the third period in both games.  It isn't necessarily the amount of rubber he's facing, though he did face quite a lot Saturday. It's the quality of chances he's facing and stopping that makes him stand out. He has a tremendous competitve fire.

A Brief Pause

 Happy Thanksgiving as Seattle catches their breath in the midst of four games in five days.  

Seattle has been a .500 team the last four games. A loss followed by a win, followed by a loss, then a win.  Not all surprising considering the youth of the team and who is out of the lineup.It's all speculation but I believe with a healthy Sawchyn and Myatovic the last month, the T-Birds are probably good for another two to three wins. I doubt they blow third period leads to Victoria and Spokane.  They'll enter Friday's game against Saskatoon at 10-8-1-0 but 13-6-0-0 looks a lot better.  But as they say, it is what it is.

When the Thunderbirds play their brand of hockey, they're a hard out for anyone. The forecheck is their bread and butter. Get pucks in deep and grind down your opponent. When they fall off their game they struggle to keep up, spending too much time in the defensive zone. Usually the culprit is the lack of crisp passing as they try to move up ice. At other times it's not being positionally sound inside their own blue line.

These are the growing pains this team will go through.  One night they'll look like world beaters, the next, not so much. Heck, they went through both those stages in the loss Tuesday in Kennewick. They were all over the Americans in the fist period, outshooting them 19-9. Now, not many of those shots were of the dangerous variety but it still meant they had a good portion of the puck posession.  It was a different story in the second period as they struggled to make tape-to-tape passes and as a result they looked like a completely different team and fell behind, 3-0.

As you know, the T-Birds traded their 2021 first round pick, Tij Iginla to the Kelowna Rockets in the offseason. The player requested the trade and the organization obliged. Iginla is off to a good start with the Rockets with 18 goals in 23 games, though Seattle stifled him Wednesday night in his return to the accesso ShoWare Center.

I sure hope that first round pick Seattle got back is Kelowna's own and not the Regina pick Seattle traded to the Rockets last January in the Colton Dach deal.  There is still a long way to go this season  but right now that Rocket's first rounder is a lottery pick as Kelowna currently sits with the third worst record in the WHL after losing ten of their last 11 games. The last time Seattle was sitting with the third overall pick in the first round of the WHL Draft, they won the draft lottery and moved up to select first overall. They ended up with some guy named Mat Barzal.  

Either way it looks like the T-Birds are in line for a high selection and I trust Bil LaForge and his scouts to find another high end player to add to their stable of young prospects. The T-Birds don't have a lot of picks in the 2024 draft but getting a lottery selection could make up for that.

Seattle has signed nine 2007 born players (current 16 year olds). Six of them are currently on the roster. Another, Caleb Potter, has played in a couple of games for Seattle this season. Jaxson Pawlenchuk skated in two preseason games. The other, defenseman Tai Riley, just recently signed.  I would be shocked if he doesn't make his WHL debut at some point this season, even if he's up for just one game at the end of the season. Along with their 2006s (five on the roster), that's a lot of youth getting some early action in the WHL. It's going to lead to inconsistency but hopefully it speeds up their development.

Watch Seattle's 2022 first round pick Braeden Cootes whenever he's on the ice and tell me he doesn't play a complete 200 foot game. He's not perfect at age 16 and will make the occasional mistake, but he has all the makings of a team leader. He has that "hockey maturity" that reminds me of the way Nico Myatovic has played since he arrived on the scene.

My T-Birds Three Stars for the front half of four games in five days:

Third Star:  W Coster Dunn.  He may have been Seattle's best player in the loss Tuesday in Kennewick.  He's got a sneaky good reach with his stick that has made him fairly adept at stripping pucks.  He still is growing, even after taking a big leap physically this offseason. Already a solid skater, once he gets even stronger in the upper body, he should improve his ability to fight through checks. My comp for him would be Mathew Wedman.

Second Star: C Sam Popowich.  Seems to be the one T-Birds players that goes consistently to the front of the net. It led to an assist on Seattle's power play goal against Kelowna Wednesday night.  He added a second assist on the Simon Lovsin empty-netter.  The T-Birds are one of the best face off teams in the WHL at this juncture of the season. Winning defensive zone faceoffs when shorthanded is a key to a good penalty kill and Popowich is very adept at it. He was 14-of-25 on draws Wednesday night.

First Star: G Scott Ratzlaff. Ratzlaff earned his first shutout of the season Wednesday with a 19 save effort. It was the seventh shutout of his T-Birds career after leading the league last season with five. In his last four games he has turned aside 121 of 125 shots, posting a 1.06 GAA and a .960 SVPCT. After a slow statistical start to the season he is starting to look like the Ratzlaff that won WHL Goalie of the Month honors last December.

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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Plant a Tree and Watch it Grow

In all but two of their games so far this season, the Thunderbirds have gone into the third period within striking distance of a win.  In their last three games they had the lead going into the final twenty minutes.  That's remarkable considering the state of the T-Birds roster much of the first six weeks of the season. 

 They've played a league low 14 games but they've already lost nearly 50 man games to injury. They are carrying nine rookies. Thirteen player, with two or fewer games of WHL playing experience under their belts before the season started, have played in at least one game.

Their top five scorers from last season have moved on.  The four highest returning scorers from last year's team have combined to play just 26 games so far and nearly half of those games (12) belong to Jeremy Hanzel. Jordan Gustafson missed the first dozen. Nico Myatovic played in just four games before he went out with a lower body injury and Gracyn Sawchyn played eight games before his own injury. 

Yet here the T-Birds sit, fourteen games in and are three games above .500. You'd like to make the argument that had Seattle been completely healthy since opening night, that record of 8-5-1-0 might include two or three more wins. They certainly lost a few winnable games recently. And this doesn't factor in the loss of Kevin Korchinski to the NHL when many oddsmakers had him returning to the WHL for one more year.

So to be where they are at a month-plus into the season under those circumstances is a win.  They are still a work in progress. But I would also bet you that the players and the coaches are not safisfied.  They feel their record should be better. They know with or without those missing players, they've left points on the table. 

Their last two losses, before Saturday's home win, are prime examples.  The T-birds had the lead going into the third period at home against Spokane back on November 3rd, and again this past Friday up in Victoria.  This new goup is still learning how to play with a lead. They're still learning how to finish a team they have on the ropes.  Mostly, they are learning to play together as a unit.  

Intigrating that many new faces and finding consistency will take some time. It's not just nine first year players but also five players acquired in trades near the start of the season are also learning how to play the Thunderbirds way. And when four or five or your returning players aren't available, the learning curve rises.

One thing we know is, as the T-Birds hunt for one of the eight playoff spots in the Western Conference, the the future is on display. 

Brayden Holberton didn't make the team out of training camp. He did play a couple of games as a call up when Seattle's bench was short.  Those two auditions helped earned him a full-time roster spot. What I think the organization likes about him is his "teachability". He seems eager to be coached up and get better. That's why he is here, because the organization believes by being around the team everyday they can speed up his development.  Like most young players, his skating will need to improve but he's just 16 years old and listed at 6'4", 182.  He'll definitely get bigger and stronger. To think Seattle got him in the tenth round.

While this season plays out, think about the roster Seattle will have in a few years.We've already seen many of them debut this past month.  It's not just a good list, but it is a deep list: Players currently age 17 and under: Davidson, Pickford, Lovsin, Parmar, Michnik, Cootes, Mathies, Hartmann, Martorana, Holberton, Potter, Popil, Gerrior, Bagley, Rudolph and Dikur. Will all those players pan out? Maybe not. Does it guarentee a championship down the road? No, but it's a solid foundation.

After Seattle won in 2017 I was told by an outsider it would be a long while before the Thunderbirds ever sniffed a title again.  They were back at the top in six years.  After they won it all last spring I was told it would be years of misery ahead.  I dunno. I think I'm betting on Seattle to climb back up.  

After playing a league low 14 games over the first six weeks Seattle has started a stretch in which they will play nine times in 16 days. Buckle up!

My T-Birds Three Stars for the Weekend:

Third Star: W Antonio Martorana. In his first fourteen games with the T-Birds, the 2022 4th round draft pick has accumulated eleven points (7g, 4a).   This weekend he picked up a goal and two assists. His goal Saturday stood as the game winner, the first of his WHL career.  No other 2007 born WHL rookie has more goals right now than Marty.

Second Star: W Eric Alarie. Alarie scored a goal in each game against Victoria and finished the weekend with four points (2g, 2a) and was +3.  With their top five scorers from last season gone, Seattle acquired Alarie in early October to help fill the void.  He is starting to deliver with points in three straight games.

First Star: D Jeremy Hanzel.  We saw late last season and into the playoffs that Hanzel is a dangerous offensive weapon when he gets his shot dialed in.  It's taken a month this season but he's getting that one time more and more on target.  It lead to two goals Saturday. He actually got one through the goalie Friday in Victoria but unfortunately it landed in the crease behind the netminder and not in the back of the net. With Korchinski most assuredly not coming back, Hanzel is getting the opportunity to run the power play.  He looks like a natural.

One Hit Wonder

Another one game weekend for the Thunderbirds.  With eleven teams now in the Western Conference, this is going to happen frequently, especially as other US Division teams take their road trips to Alberta.

Since we are nearing the holiday season (some people are already there), what's the old saying "if ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas."  Seattle is winless in their last four games but has been in position to win going into the third period in all but one of those games. IF only they were healthy the might be on a eight or nine game heater.

There have been two overriding themes to the first month of the season, injuries and youth.  In an odd way, you can look at both of them as actual positives.  I know it's counterproductive to say injuries are a positive. Tell that to the injured players and you won't get agreement.  But because of those injuries Seattle's young players, and there are a lot of them, are getting valuable ice time in all situations that is going to speed up their development. There is no substitute for experience.

At the moment the T-Birds are carrying nine full-time rookies on their roster. That's nearly fifty percent of the team.  Occasionally over the first dozen games, they've had to bring in affiliated players just to have enough players each night.  That was the case Friday night against Spokane with 15-year old Colton Gerrior being recalled and making his WHL debut.  

Gerrior is the ninth player to make his T-Birds debut since the season began back in late September.  There are another five players who debuted last season, playing in either just one or two games.  Fifteen year old Jaxson Dikur sat on the bench as the backup goalie opening night. That's 15 rookies in the lineup at some point this season. Yet here the T-Birds sit, with a 7-4-1-0 record. 

They're missing rookie center Braeden Cootes who is away at the U17 World Hockey Challenge. We can lament where they might be record-wise if the likes of Jordan Gustafson, Nico Myatovic, Gracyn Sawchyn and Owen Boucher weren't injured, or if Kevin Korchinski had been returned by the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks. But think about it this way, where would they be if these young players hadn't played to the standard they're playing?  Those rookies have combined for 30 points (16g, 14a). 

Raise your hand if you had a 16-year old Antonio Martorana leading the team in goal scoring through the first twelve games. He's on pace for a 33 goal season. I'm not sure that is sustainable but getting to 20 goals should be reachable.  And he's not doing it on the fourth line. With top players out, he's elevated to the top line, so he's playing against the other teams best players.  

If he can do that at age 16, think what he might be able to accomplish in a few seasons when he's 19. In fact think about what these 15 players combined with two players we haven't mentioned, Bryce Pickford and Hyde Davidson, might do in two-three years.   

Of course, we live in the now.  And right now the T-birds are minus some key players and that is going to affect the results. Does anyone doubt that a healthy Seattle team wins that game Friday against the Chiefs.  I don't.  But because of those injuries we are seeing more of the youth than we anticipated.  As a result we're probably going to see some pronounced ups and downs with this young team. There are times they're going to look like inexperienced rookies, especially against older teams.  But as they say, short term pain for long term gain.

The good news? At some point those injured players will return.  Jordan Gustafson may be as close as a week away from getting into the lineup for the first time this season. In a Western Conference that I believe is filled with parity, Seattle has to weather through the first half, get healthy and get ready to make some noise after Christmas.

My T-Bird Three Stars for Friday Night:

Third Star: C Coster Dunn. Dunn essentially has become the T-Birds number one center in the absence of Gustafson, Cootes and Sawchyn. He assisted on Seattle's first goal and won all his faceoffs.  He's relentless fighting for pucks.  I think he needs to get a little stronger but that will come. He took a big leap physically from last spring to this fall, getting bigger and that trend should continue.    

Second Star: D Jeremey Hanzel. Without Korchinski he's being tasked to do everything Korch would be doing, and he's succeeding.  He's eating up a lot of minutes, quarterbacking a make shift power play and killing penalties. Add on his leadership and his contributions so far this season are immeasurable.

First Star: G Scott Ratzlaff.  It's been a tough start for Rattzy but Friday he looked like the Scott Ratzlaff that won WHL Goaltender of the Month last December.  Through his first 5 or so starts, it appeared he was fighting the puck and had trouble controlling rebounds.  That was not the case Friday against the Chiefs, especially in the third period with the T-Birds back on their heels much of the period.  He gave them a chance and got them a point.