As has been the case over much of the 14 game losing streak, Seattle didn't play horribly this past Saturday at home and Sunday in Tri-City, they just didn't play well enough to win. The team is locked in a deadly stretch where they have mental and physical breakdowns and opposing teams are making them pay for them nearly every single time.
Bullet holes... because I'm lazy today.
- Mitch Elliot took a Kneeing Major on Sunday night when he ran into Connor Rankin of Tri-City. It appears that Rankin escaped with only a thigh bruise and that is really good news. I hate to see anyone ever get hurt like that. I stated my case on Twitter and got into an argument with Andy Kemper about the extent of the penalty and I stand by my position. I watched the replay several times and posted a screen shot of the hit. Elliot's knee is barely extended (and I'm being generous there) and is never turned out. In full speed it appears that Elliot goes for the hit and Rankin avoids it and their legs collide. If Elliot gets more than a game or two I'd be pretty disappointed.
- 6 Tbird players were listed today in the Central Scouting rankings. Theodore, Lipsbergs, Hauf, Honey, Smith and Sheen are all listed in the top 210 North American skater rankings. Three thoughts here: A) Awesome. B) How in the world can we not make the playoffs with this kind of perceived talent. C) When teams lose 14 games in a row it is easy to lose sight of this but things "should" continue to improve in Tbirds land. All of these players are back next season and all should be highly motivated to improve their game before the NHL draft and after it if they are lucky enough to be selected. CSS Rankings can be found here.
- With just 28 games remaining in the season the Tbirds sit only 3 points ahead of Prince George for the 8th and final spot in the playoffs and the distinct pleasure of getting their asses handed to them by the Portland Cheaterhawks. As bad as they have played... they are only 1 point behind Everett for 7th place.
- Updated Massey Ratings - Seattle has slipped (not surprisingly) down to 17th in the league and while things were looking better than the record indicated earlier in the season... things are now just about as bad as the record indicates. Seattle's metrics have taken a serious hit during this 14 game stretch. The offense still ranks 10th in the league but the defense has slipped all the way down to 19th. I've said it before and I will say it again... Offense is not the primary issue with this team. Massey Ratings can be found here.
The season is starting to slip away but there IS still time to stop the bleeding and get into the playoffs. If Seattle finishes 8th I think they get smashed by Portland but if they finish 7th I think they have at least a punchers chance against a team like Kelowna or Kamloops.
17 comments :
I'm sure Mitch is innocent of kneeing another player. Probably just the next example of this leagues poor officiating.
TBRIDS current streak now at 14. The second longest loosing streak this season in WHL is 8. Nice to see that the TBIRDS can distance themselves from the rest of the league in at least somthing.
Have an outside chance of getting to 20....let's go birds
Correction to my prev. post...
You see Tyler, this is the reason why you are needed in the T-Bird blogging community. You provide valid facts with humor. Thanks.
If Seattle doesn't win against Silvertips this streak could easily reach 20 games, Oh but" our team is better than our record shows" That is a great quote RUSS! LOL
Ha ha! Looks like someone is suffering from “I can’t quit you, Russ” syndrome. Russ is obviously inside your head redecorating. Never good or healthy to give another man that kind of power over you, but whatever floats your boat.
If they lose tomorrow, I say one of the T-birds makes up a fake girlfriend to distract the fans :)
I watched the CHL top prospect game last night, I thought Theodore played really well the second and third periods. It was a fun game to watch overall.
Shea has a long way to go. He certainly can skate and has scoring touch. But he is a defensemen that can't play defense. I get the top line argument but he isn't strong enough to knock anyone down, always out of position, and makes terrible decisions with puck in his own end. If he improves on that the sky is the limit if the tbirds are going to turn it around he needs to get better in that end
Maybe you should be a scout, 'cause they say otherwise. He's ranked pretty highly in his draft class. He's #17. I don't think Hickey was ever ranked that high. He's in line to potentially be a 1st rd pick. Sure, he has room for improvement, but those who do this for a living see a great talent.
Hickey went fourth overall. That said, he has been a complete bust (at least in my eyes). In fact, I believe he was put on waivers last Wednesday.
Hickey was picked up by NYI.
I wouldn't say Hickey was a "complete" bust. He got injured his first year in the AHL and then got stuck behind a bunch of talent that LA had.
Islanders do have a good article about him on their site
http://islanders.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=650923&navid=DL|NYI|home
"Those who do this for a living" also had Mitch Elliott, Brendan Silvester, Luke Lockhart, Charles Wells, and a laundry list of terrible players ranked at one point... Where you are watching the game where Theodore makes a nice move and scores or gets a nice assist. I am watching the one where he and the rest of his "d" men give up 6-7 goals and 40+ shots. Maybe it's because he is ranked so high I expect more from him defensively than this.
Elliot, Lockhart, etal were never ranked as high as #17, if they were ranked at all. They were waaaaay down on those rankings. Theodore is only 17 and as I noted, has room for improvement. He's been getting top minutes since he was 16. Again, I'll defer to the scouts who are comparing him to every other player his age. As for Hickey, everyone was shocked when LA selected him 4th overall. No one had him anywhere near the top of the draft. That's more on the Kings then on Hickey, who has also battled shoulder injuries since the time he was with the T-birds.
Kodi...thanks for the link to the Islanders site...good article, good read...appreciate it
I hope he can perfrom there and stick in the big show
Hickey is considered a bust because he has not played in the NHL yet. But at the time he was drafted, he was injured and had to miss training camp with the Kings. At that point, there was actually a chance that he could of made the team (much like Ryan Murray with the Blue Jackets). Afterwards he got stuck on the depth chart behing Dowghty, Jonhson and some other up and coming prospect on D. Was injured but still was showing some definite talent.
at the 2012 AHL all star skill competition.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTD4TdGqEhs
Post a Comment