Half-Way Report...and a Retort
I admit it...I've been slacking here alot lately. It's just that, as has happened over the last couple years with the email, I'm finding it harder and harder to find any time to type these things out. And when I actually do have some time, it's difficult for me to find any inspiration to sit down here and type away for a couple hours. But while I was sick last week, I came up with this idea of writing about how things are shaping up in the WHL this season so far. Well, at least in the US and BC divisions. So, while Kristi was sleeping in the car on the way home from Portland last night (which, if I may be so bold to say, she looked about as hot as I'd ever seen her last night...lol), I started forming some of these things in my head.
I'll first do some takes on the 5 US Division teams. Then, I'll share my opinions on some of the players in both the US and BC divisions. No real order here unless I say so (lol).
Portland Winterhawks
I'm starting with Portland since I've been seeing alot of them lately. I still stand by what I said at the start of the season; this is, top to bottom, the most talented team in the US Division. Maybe even the entire Western Conference. They started off well. But some injuries (especially to their defense) put them in a bit of a slump. Eventually, they came out of it. But I've been noticing lately that their overall play has become less and less disciplined. They've taken alot of bad penalties at even worse times. Not to mention quite a few majors and even a match penalty. And now, Brandon Dubinsky is down with a bum knee. The Dubinsky injury doesn't kill their chances. But they gotta tighten up those bad penalties. Sooner or later, with all the suspensions that start to take real effect, those will come back to haunt them. How about this??? Put Kevin Constantine behind the Winterhawks bench and, not only are they the best team in the WHL, they may even be the best team in all of junior hockey.
Seattle Thunderbirds
All defense, no offense. When you're 36 games into the season and your leading point getter has something like 28 points, you know you're in trouble. One stat that's decieving about this team is the shots on goal every night. They routinely get out-shot in just about every game. But when you look at it a little closer, it's not because the other team is firing puck after puck on net. It's more along the lines of the Thunderbirds just don't get many quality offensive opportunities. And the ones they do get, they tend to squander away. And when it comes to describing their power play, words like pathetic, clueless, awful, horrible, embarassing, lack-luster, impotent and disgraceful come immedietly to mind. Statistically, they're not the worst this season (unless things have changed, they've been around 18th out of 20 teams in the league), but this is a problem that's been going on for about three years running now. And until it's fixed, they're doomed to another first round playoff exit.
Everett Silvertips
As I've said before...Everett is Everett. But the scary thing is that now, their third season in, they're starting to see the fruits of their in-house program ripen. And Kevin Constatine is still the best coach in the Western Division (perhaps only outdone by Sutter in Red Deer). An example being that, with the new rules in place, their neutral zone trap is just about rendered useless. But with the better personel out on the ice, Constatine is now able to use a more conventional style of defense. And they're scoring alot more this season, too. As long as they listen and obey coach Constantine and the Winterhawk players don't pull their heads out of their ass, they'll win the division going away.
Tri-City Americans
For the most part, this team is still Logan Stephenson on defense, Carey Price in goal and a bunch of other guys filling out the ice. But looking at their game sheets from night-to-night, they're getting help from different players all the time. To be honest, I was kinda shocked last Friday night at the Key when they posted the league's assist leaders and I saw Ian McDonald's name up there in the top-5. Where the hell did he come from??? (lol). But I'm hoping most that this franchise gets things turned around for good. The last owner was a weasel. So hopefully Stu Barnes and Olaf Kolzig will help get things straight.
Spokane Chiefs
This one should be an "incomplete" since I've only seen Spokane three times in the regular season so far. And not since the day after Thanksgiving. But as I recall, they're sorta along the same line as Seattle. Only with a little more offense and a little less defense. Although I was a little suprised that they moves Klassen and Watt at the deadline yesterday. So maybe they're alot worse than I thought.
Now for some players.....
Chris Durand (Thunderbirds)
Apparently he had a good night against Spokane last week. But, for the most part, he's been a complete bust so far this season. An offensive forward in his third full season and a 2nd round draft pick of the Colorado Avalanche should be, at worst, a point-a-game player. Although I really can't get into the players heads, he seems like he just doesn't care too much out there. He just kinda drifts around when he's on the ice. Sometimes, it's almost like he can't wait to get back to the bench. A major part of the rest of the T-Birds season depends on whether or not his attitude changes.
Michael Funk (Winterhawks)
Everybodies favorite whipping boy...and for good reason. Since about this time last season, I've been trying to think of the guy that Funk reminds me of. I mean, he's careless with the puck, doesn't play physically at all, is constantly out of position defensively and doesn't seem to take any personal responsibility when things go wrong in his end. But the moment it dawned on me was during a power play on New Year's Eve. I thought to myself "he's actually pretty good at quarterbacking the pp out there for the Hawks". And finally, after almost 2 years, the name came to my head; former Sabercats defenseman and captain, Scott Boston. It's scary...the two are spitting images of each other. The only real difference is that Funk is a much better skater than Boston was. And, much like Boston, Funk is doomed to a career in the low-minors unless he shapes up.
Carey Price (Americans)
Just silky smooth in net. It often looks like he's not putting any effort into making the saves. In my opinion, he's at the top of the list along with Steve Passmore and Dan Blackburn as one of the best goalies I've seen in this league. Hopefully, he won't suffer any career cripping diseases (Passmore) or career ending injuries (Blackburn) like the other two did.
Peter Mueller (Silvertips)
My personal favorite to watch. He's not a fast skater, but he is hard to knock down. Other than that, his hockey sense is off the charts. He seems to have this almost Brett Hull type knack as to where he has to be at any given time. And, much like Hull, he can zip a one-timer past the goalie before he even has time to blink. Oh, he won't be as good in the NHL as Hull. But there's no reason he can't be as good as, say, Cam Neely, John LeClair or Wendel Clark. He has a career in front of him. All he has to do is lose the mullet (hahaha).
Brandon Dubinsky (Winterhawks)
The kid can play...no doubt. But the one thing I hear from alot of people in the know is that he has character issues off the ice. His ACL injury isn't good. In the long run, the Winterhawks will miss the offense he creates. But my lasting impression of him this season will be at the end of regulation in the first Hawks/Birds game this season in the Rose Garden. After the horn sounded, there was a little scuffle in front of the T-Birds net. As Dubinsky skated by the Seattle bench, he pointed at his noggin and said "we play with our heads". Sadly, his words came back to haunt him as just a couple minutes later, good old Mike Funk literally gave the puck to Seattle's Mitch Fadden who then poked it up to Bud Holloway, who then scored the game-winning goal on a breakaway with nobody within at least 30 feet of him. I chalked his comment up to that he forgot about Funk (lol). Oh yeah......his mom's pretty hot, too.
Clayton Barthel (Thunderbirds)
I think he's the most improved player in the US Division this year. Most of the time, he seems to be the only T-Bird out there who has a clue as to what's going on. And he's playing alot more physically and has also developed a bit of a mean streak. To me, the Thunderbirds need Barthel to wear that "C" on his chest more than Aaron Gagnon.
John Lammers (Silvertips)
What a coup the Silvertips pulled in getting him from Medicine Hat. Lammers has turned into one of the top scorers in the league. But his greatest impact will come in another season or so when his attitude and work ethic begin to rub off on the younger Silvertips forwards (like Zach Hamill).
Bryan Bridges (Thunderbirds)
Since Kristi doesn't want me saying anything good about Bridges, I'll leave the rest of this blank (hahaha).
Garth Collins (Winterhawks)
Reading that Oregonlive Winterhawks blog, there was a mention by someone who said that Collins is the new Robin Big Snake. When it comes to fighting for the Winterhawks, I can see that comparison. But to me, he's more like the new Zack FitzGerald out there. Fitzy had a little more skill. But other than that, they play the same type of intimidating game. And on that front, I'll also recall something that I heard "Scooter" Vrooman make during a Winterhawks broadcast. In sort of defending his match misconduct during the line brawl on New Year's Eve, he said that "sometimes you have to go a little mad in order to send a message". After hearing that, I wondered if he was saying the same thing about FitzGerald last season when he got those two match penalties against Portland? I'm not making up excuses for any of those incidents on either side. But you gotta be consistant (like I always am....haha).
Dustin Slade (Giants)
The goalie that everyone (outside of Vancouver) hates. For a comparison, he's alot like Billy Smith or Ron Hextall. He's a goalie who treats every opposing skater in very cruel ways. But here's the secret....there's a method to his madness. Exhibit "A" is a game in Seattle about a month ago. Early in the 2nd period, he took not one, not two but THREE slashing penalties all within about a minute of each other. And, to top it off, he chased after Aaron Gagnon when he poked the puck into his net a good two or three seconds after the whistle had blown (an action by Gagnon that would have started a full-scale brawl not five years ago). And the penalties weren't of the little chippy type. These were all-out swinging from the shoulders slashes to the shins of the Thunderbird forwards that I could hear the impact of all the way up in my 15th row seat. Of course, the T-Birds couldn't score on the 6+ minutes worth of power play that they were awarded out of that (suprise, suprise, suprise). But the most telling sign that those slashes sent a message was the fact that I never saw another Seattle player within five feet of the crease for the rest of the game. Ultimately, Slade took control of the game and won it for the Giants.
And now for a little FAQ segment:
Last night during the game in Portland, Tom W called me and asked "do you know when Lindsay is coming up here"? Of course, as some of you know, he's been hoarding pucks like a squirrel lately and wanted a bunch of Blues and River Otters pucks from her (lol). But the same question has been asked of me five times now over the last couple weeks. And just so you all now know my answer.......I don't know (lol). But I'm sure that Lindsay and Joe will be here soon enough. So please....STOP ASKING!!!! (hahaha)
Last (but not least), a small addition to Emily's foul-mouthed comments she left me via Kristi regarding my clumsy ode:
She claims in there that "the only time you talked to me this season was when I sat in your section". That's half-true. I did tell her after whatever game it was that the woman sitting next to me won the Matthew Hansen jersey raffle that night (a jersey that Kristi wanted so badly that she was begging people to buy tickets for her so she could get it...lol). But I think she may have forgotten about our little run-in we had at the Tri-City tourney. Earlier that week, Kristi had told me that Emily was getting her wisdom teeth pulled just before the tourney started. So when Karin and I ran into Emily and Jacque during the first intermission of the 2nd game that Sunday, I asked Emily about getting her wisdom teeth pulled. She told me that it had been done and that they were still sore. But in the middle of a story I had about when I had mine yanked out, she noticed that outside the window the Thunderbirds were unloading their stuff from their bus. So in a very un-puckbunny-ish way, she skipped out of my story to go and stare at the guys outside (lol). I would have expected that type of behavior from Kristi or Kara. But not Emily (lol).
So there ya go......I've talked to you TWICE this season (hahaha). Here's my plate of leftover shiznit for you to finish up (hehehe). And I never said that you didn't want to talk to me. I just said that you don't talk to me (lol). I mean, you may want to talk to me in the worst way for all I know. Actually, I'd be suprised if you did want to talk to me that badly (lol). But I wouldn't know since you just plain don't talk to me at all (haha).
That's about it for now. Hopefully I'll have alot of cool things to write about the Seahawks game this weekend.
1 Comments:
Lindsay doesn't know when she is going to make it up that way yet. Her job is just about sending her to the nut house and there is no end in sight. I promise though, I will be up there soon enough. As for Joe coming with me - start hounding him since I haven't heard from him in weeks.
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