I'm back... let's do this

I'm back from vacation and I'm pumped to watch some hockey this weekend.  I'm still pretty slammed at work trying to get caught up but I wanted to make sure I got a post up today with some updates and a few quick thoughts. So here come some bullet holes.

• In case anyone was curious... my softball team went 0-2 at the World Series in Florida.  We played about as bad as we have played all year and the result was deserved.  It was a great experience though... had a lot of fun outside of the actual game results.
• While I was away the Tbirds added two players.  Mitch Guiel is a short forward from Langley, BC who is listed at 5'8" and 190 lbs and is a 1994 born player.  That makes him the only Tbird I am probably taller than, which also means that I immediately like this kid. Guiel was acquired from Lethbridge. They also acquired Braeden Laroque from Edmonton.  Seattle has a number of injuries right now including Verdino, Hauf, Wardley and Fleming to go along with the suspension of Machacek that was just announced today.  I don't have to crunch any numbers to tell you that Seattle is very short in healthy bodies on the blue line and that necessitated the trade for Laroque.  Braeden, 19, is listed at 6'1" and 198 lbs. He played in 54 games for Edmonton last season registering 2 goals and 4 assists.
• Already I have seen several people calling for trades and being generally really negative about this team. The team has played TWO games.  I know that it looks like it will probably be another long season in Seattle but I don't think it would be prudent to waive the white flag after two games and go around trading Pickard and Lockhart because we lost two games to Portland that both included empty net goals (yielding a true goal differential of -3 instead of 5).  I'm not very bullish on this team either but holy crap people... give the coaching staff and the players just a little bit of time here.
• Michael Salmon was re-assigned to the Canmore Eagles of the AJHL.  By all accounts, Michael was a great kid who worked extremely hard on his game and his conditioning.  His departure is bittersweet as he leaves the WHL but will likely get a chance to play a lot more with Canmore.  The coaching staff clearly liked what they saw out of Daniel Cotton, enough to feel comfortable having him backup Pickard at this point.
• Chance Lund is off to a nice start with 3 points in 2 games. Lund is about the last player I expected to start hot and two games isn't really enough to change my perspective... but hey... a good start is a good start and maybe this is the breakthrough year we have all been looking for out of Lund. His 3 points are already nearly 25% of his total for all of last season. Even better than his 3 points... is the 3 points to go along with a +2 rating, which is best on the team.
• Burke Gallimore has 0 points and he is -4.  I'm not worried.
• Luke Lockhart has 0 points and he is -3. I'm not worried.
• Calvin Pickard has 0 points. I'm really disappointed Calvin... pick it up.
• These guys are going to play better and get their points, which is another reason why it is way too early to panic.
• As mentioned earlier the Birds are really banged up.  They easily have the longest injury report in the league right now. Here are the updates directly from the WHL update an additional comments. Verdino, 1 week - I would be a little surprised if he didn't play this weekend. Hauf, day to day - I didn't realize he was this close to playing, so hopefully we will see him this weekend. I heard 6-8 weeks though and this would only put the injury around 4 weeks.  My guess... no Hauf this weekend but possibly by the following. Wardley, 2 weeks - I don't expect to see him for at least 2 weeks. Troock, day to day - Aren't we all "day to day"?? Jacobs, 1 month - I've heard anywhere from the end of October to the end of December. Your guess is as good as mine.  You can bet Jacobs is itching to play. Fleming, 1 week - No idea what happened to Fleming, hopefully it isn't serious.
• Cason Machacek was suspended for the 2 games over the weekend for being the 3rd man into a fight down in Portland.  Machacek was noted as being a "repeat offender" which earned him the 2nd game.
• Healthy D guys for Seattle this weekend... ummm... Laroque, Theodore, Sutter, Frank, Green and Verdino? Hauf? Fleming? Wow they are short.
• I was asked to get this out and I am happy to do so. Scott Ramsay played 87 games for the T-Birds between 2009-20110 before being traded to Medicine Hat.  Scott has a brother, Kody, who was diagnosed with a rare type of lymphoma last year. Kody is just 19 years old and has undergone many rounds of chemo, radiation, etc. Currently, he is very sick and still battling this cancer. Kody was hard to miss when his brother was playing for Seattle, he was always loud and cheering for his brother. Scott, his former Billet, and friends believe it is now their turn to cheer on Kody. They have already raised 4,638 dollars for this cause, but are trying to reach $5,000.00 in the next few days. To donate and help them meet their goal in honor of Kody, or to learn more about the organization they are raising money for, please go to http://pages.lightthenight.org/wa/SeattleL11/TeamKody. I would love to help push them up to that $5,000 mark.

That is it for now. It's nice to be back and into the swing of things.  Let's hope this team can get healthy (and better) real soon.