Tonight (Friday) the T-birds are headed against the second place Tri-City Americans. In case you weren't aware, the games are broadcast live on 104.9 FM Funky Monkey. Game starts at 7:05 PM if you wanted to listen in. I tried to stream the game last friday online, but for some reason I could not get it to work on my Mac, but PC users, have at it!
Also, this Saturday (10/18) the T-birds return home for one of their final home games at the Key Arena. Taking on the Kelowna Rockets, who have a 6-5 record. Come out and show your support.
Go T-birds!
Friday, October 17, 2008
Calvin Pickard - Goalie of the Week
Thunderbirds goalie, Calvin Pickard was named the WHL goalie of the week. With 20 stops and a shutout against the Portland Winter Hawks, he sure does deserve the honor.
Here is the press release:
"Toronto, ON – The Canadian Hockey League today announced that Calvin Pickard of the Seattle Thunderbirds is the ADT CHL Goaltender of the Week for the week ending October 12.
Pickard, a 16-year-old from Winnipeg, MB, is in his first WHL season. This week he posted a 1-0-0-1 record with a 0.480 goals-against-average and a .978 save percentage. His 20 saves on Saturday night backstopped the Thunderbirds to a 4-0 road win against division rival Portland Winter Hawks. With his first WHL career shutout, Pickard was named the game’s first star. On Sunday he made 24 saves in a 2-1 shootout loss against the Chilliwack Bruins and was named second star of the game. Calvin Pickard is the younger brother of 2007-08 WHL and CHL Goaltender of the Year Chet Pickard."
Here is the press release:
"Toronto, ON – The Canadian Hockey League today announced that Calvin Pickard of the Seattle Thunderbirds is the ADT CHL Goaltender of the Week for the week ending October 12.
Pickard, a 16-year-old from Winnipeg, MB, is in his first WHL season. This week he posted a 1-0-0-1 record with a 0.480 goals-against-average and a .978 save percentage. His 20 saves on Saturday night backstopped the Thunderbirds to a 4-0 road win against division rival Portland Winter Hawks. With his first WHL career shutout, Pickard was named the game’s first star. On Sunday he made 24 saves in a 2-1 shootout loss against the Chilliwack Bruins and was named second star of the game. Calvin Pickard is the younger brother of 2007-08 WHL and CHL Goaltender of the Year Chet Pickard."
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Hickey vs. Blum
Don Hay, the coach for the Vancouver Giants, has been running around claiming his defenseman Jon Blum as the best player in the WHL. But we Seattle fans know Thomas Hickey is a top contender for that slot as much as anybody.
Sure, the Giants steam rolled the T-birds in the 5th game of the season beating us 10 to 2. But Blum didn't score, and I believe Hickey wasn't there, as he was training with the Kings around that time, and I see no mention on him in the game summary.
The T-birds will face off against the Giants 2 more times this year in regular season (and hopefully in post season as well), and Hickey will be on the ice to face off against Blum. Not to mention the next 2 meetings will be in the new Kent Events Center, so get ready to make some noise. 2/08 and 02/22 are the dates of the face off.
Read the article on Coach Hay's trumpet blowing here:
http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/sports/story.html?id=d587176b-7936-44a7-bad6-bc5861f4499c
Go T-birds!
Sure, the Giants steam rolled the T-birds in the 5th game of the season beating us 10 to 2. But Blum didn't score, and I believe Hickey wasn't there, as he was training with the Kings around that time, and I see no mention on him in the game summary.
The T-birds will face off against the Giants 2 more times this year in regular season (and hopefully in post season as well), and Hickey will be on the ice to face off against Blum. Not to mention the next 2 meetings will be in the new Kent Events Center, so get ready to make some noise. 2/08 and 02/22 are the dates of the face off.
Read the article on Coach Hay's trumpet blowing here:
http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/sports/story.html?id=d587176b-7936-44a7-bad6-bc5861f4499c
Go T-birds!
Monday, October 13, 2008
The Wins are in Kent? (sports superstition as it best)
Well this weekend started out great.Saturday morning I watched both my daughters score their first goals playing soccer.I have never been quite so proud. They have made great progress and I'm very impressed being that this is only their second season playing. Both their teams won..both their team names have nothing to do with "birds"....Both their teams played in ..Yes...Kent!...
Sunday was a different story, Both our Beloved "bird" teams went down in a Tough way...T-birds ended in a shoot out and lost ...Seahawks were just shot down in the second half..never to fly again....
The wins are in kent as far as I can tell (and my research is very scientific). I cant wait to see the thunderbirds in Kent..Having them this close should be an absolute blast, and a cure for the common seattle winter. I'm thinkin if the seahawks would have given up their lakefront view and just moved a little farther south to our beloved kent...would things be different?
Sunday was a different story, Both our Beloved "bird" teams went down in a Tough way...T-birds ended in a shoot out and lost ...Seahawks were just shot down in the second half..never to fly again....
The wins are in kent as far as I can tell (and my research is very scientific). I cant wait to see the thunderbirds in Kent..Having them this close should be an absolute blast, and a cure for the common seattle winter. I'm thinkin if the seahawks would have given up their lakefront view and just moved a little farther south to our beloved kent...would things be different?
Friday, October 10, 2008
Thunderbirds at Everett
Tonight the Thunderbirds head up to Everett and face off against the 2 -3 Silvertips, and a chance to take over the Portland Winter Hawks, moving out of last place for the first time this season. Hopefully with a couple veterans back in the line up (Hickey, Scott) a new rejuvenated Thunderbirds team will over take the Silvertips.
It would seem Everett and Seattle would be great rivalries given they are so close, and both from Washington, not to mention Everett is the armpit of the I-5 corridor. Possibly over time this will grow into a greater rivalry. For now the Thunderbirds top rivalry remains the Portland Winter Hawks (who the T-birds won their final pre-season game against, and the T-birds are currently a game behind in the U.S. Division). Personally, I would love to see a Seattle Thunderbirds, Everett Silvertips rivalry grow. Other than the apple cup, Washington doesn't have too many great inter-state rivalries.
Go T-Birds!
It would seem Everett and Seattle would be great rivalries given they are so close, and both from Washington, not to mention Everett is the armpit of the I-5 corridor. Possibly over time this will grow into a greater rivalry. For now the Thunderbirds top rivalry remains the Portland Winter Hawks (who the T-birds won their final pre-season game against, and the T-birds are currently a game behind in the U.S. Division). Personally, I would love to see a Seattle Thunderbirds, Everett Silvertips rivalry grow. Other than the apple cup, Washington doesn't have too many great inter-state rivalries.
Go T-Birds!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Greg Scott, Thomas Hickey return to Thunderbirds
Greg Scott and Thomas Hickey were returned to the Seattle Thunderbirds both entering their 4th year with the team.
Greg Scott signed a contract with the Toronto Maple Leaves last summer and spent the last few weeks in training camp with the Maple Leaves before they released him back to Seattle. Last season Scott was second on the team in scoring with 38 goals and 37 assists for 75 points.
Thomas Hickey also just returned, having spent time with the Los Angeles Kings, and played in 2 pre-season games with them. Hickey has career totals of 21 goals and 102 assists for 123 points.
Seeing that they just announced these players returning in the last couple of hours/days, I would assume they did not participate in the first 6 games of the Thunderbirds season, which might help explain the 1 and 5 start. Now that these veterans return for their 4th year I would guess the game play should step up (and hopefully a few more wins).
From what I can gather, the Minor League system for Hockey works differently from that of Minor League baseball, which some of us might be more familiar with. Instead of a minor league team only carrying prospects from one team (ie. The Tacoma Rainier's only having prospects from the Mariners), the Minor League hockey teams can have players that were drafted from different NHL teams.
Greg Scott signed a contract with the Toronto Maple Leaves last summer and spent the last few weeks in training camp with the Maple Leaves before they released him back to Seattle. Last season Scott was second on the team in scoring with 38 goals and 37 assists for 75 points.
Thomas Hickey also just returned, having spent time with the Los Angeles Kings, and played in 2 pre-season games with them. Hickey has career totals of 21 goals and 102 assists for 123 points.
Seeing that they just announced these players returning in the last couple of hours/days, I would assume they did not participate in the first 6 games of the Thunderbirds season, which might help explain the 1 and 5 start. Now that these veterans return for their 4th year I would guess the game play should step up (and hopefully a few more wins).
From what I can gather, the Minor League system for Hockey works differently from that of Minor League baseball, which some of us might be more familiar with. Instead of a minor league team only carrying prospects from one team (ie. The Tacoma Rainier's only having prospects from the Mariners), the Minor League hockey teams can have players that were drafted from different NHL teams.
Would the Seattle Thunderbirds become the Kent Thunderbirds?
If you are anything like me, you might have wondered if the location change would also come with a name change, even if it was just changed from "Seattle" to "Kent."
Well it seems as though General Manager Russ Farwell seems to confirm they will remain the "Seattle" Thunderbirds in this News Tribune article:
http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/other/story/502464.html
about 2/3's of the way down you will see the quote:
"The move to Kent won’t result in any name changes, Farwell said.
“We have 30-plus years of playing in Seattle and our name and logo is very well respected,” he said. “There are no plans to change ... there’s a lot of tradition and history in that name.”"
Well it seems as though General Manager Russ Farwell seems to confirm they will remain the "Seattle" Thunderbirds in this News Tribune article:
http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/other/story/502464.html
about 2/3's of the way down you will see the quote:
"The move to Kent won’t result in any name changes, Farwell said.
“We have 30-plus years of playing in Seattle and our name and logo is very well respected,” he said. “There are no plans to change ... there’s a lot of tradition and history in that name.”"
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