Hat Trick List of 2011-2012 season so far

The players in the US division are exceptional this year, bringing a few accolades back to their clubs.  This is the current list of players in the US division that have Hat tricks.

1.  Ty Rattie (with a pants trick)  (great hat trick on 12.30.11)
2.  Brendan Shinnimin
3.  Patrick Holland
4.  Mitch Holmberg
5.  Anthony Bardaro (no longer on Spokane)
6.  Connor Rankin
7.  Josh Birkholz

Honorable Mention

Joshua Windquist  (for a pre-season hat trick)

Pdx Penalty Shot

Last night at the Victoria Royals game vs the Portland Winterhawks a penalty shot was awarded to Ty Rattie.  The tripping call was made after he Ty opened up a substantial lead on the defender Hayden Rintoul,  and he took both of them off of their skates while barnstorming and crashing the Royals net.  To me the shoot out was the worst form of hockey, it is mono a mono like boxing, but dose little to progress the sport although it is a necessary evil for competition to right the balance of the game as for skill, until I saw this Amazing Goal.

Spokane's Franchise Men? Part 1

It was announced earlier today that the Spokane Chiefs would be trading a large portion of their bread and butter in an opportunity to change their coarse. The trade is centered around Anthony Bardaro and Luke Lee-Knight of the Chiefs, for Todd Fiddler and Eric Williams of Prince Albert.   The press release stated that,

"We felt it was important for our team to strengthen our goal tending position," Chiefs General Manager Tim Speltz said. "Eric is a proven starter in our league and we feel comfortable that with him and Mac Engel we have done just that." "Todd Fiddler scored 23 goals as a 17-year-old last season but hasn't found the same success this year. We expect a change will help him achieve those numbers,"

and to keep a healthy goal tending competition going, is a long term wise move.  

Frankly, the team switcharoo is not the brightest of ideas why?  Two dynamics are at play here: One the  bread winners verse the people who butter the team's muffins affectionately known as Revenues vs Payouts.  The second of which is the fan experience. 

A Franchise Player is paramount to the fan experience,  (in the WHL most franchise men are temporary but that is the design of the league) so much that fans will get up and cheer at the slight whisper of the players name.  That player fills the seats, that player becomes a symbol, that player makes it to the background of the team's program, that player makes it into folklore, that player spans the generations and that player makes his team valuable.   The fans in Portland still talk about Cam Neely in the stands between periods nearly 3 decades later.

Anthony Bardaro is the franchise hopes on a bad day, he is the offensive drive when the team is on a losing streak he is Mr Comeback.  To trade him away is like changing the wind direction while trying to cross the ocean.  What did the feathered S do?  The team took down its sail's and hopes the drift will keep them going through the playoffs.

Without drive a team will fail to fill the seats, fail to earn more for their scouts fail to be able to recruit the next best Coach, you get my drift.

Now all of this is speculation except for one thing, the Fans.  Teams having a shut outs night in and night out will bring less spectators to the arena than high scoring games.  The NHL is going through this right now.  Is it better to have a higher scoring game to fill the seats or is it better to have bigger shot attempts?  They say yes and are actively looking for ways to bring the game back up to the scoring levels of the 1980's.

   

The Season is back on and things are heating up around the dub.  This weeks match-ups will prove to forecast the rest of the season for the US division.  Portland is playing the middle of the road Royals for the BC division. The Royals striking distance is short but it is effective (even with it’s current lineup of offence), similar to a majority of the Canadian teams.  The Chiefs are facing Kelowona’s home puck, witch will bring the start of the uphill climb to toward an long second half.  Everett’s Silvertips and Seattle Thunderbirds will be dueling it out for the final golden ticket to the post season.  As in football the Americans have a bi week, facing the same Rockets that could fire off against the Cheifs.

For the Boys in the U20 tournee the hits are fierce and powerful enough to prove if the boys are ready for the big show.  Yesterday’s games gave more than a few bumps to the skaters it recorded few broken bones were recorded during the 60 mins of ice time. 

Are the Juniors Affecting the NHL Operations?

Two weeks ago the the National Hockey League announced that it would restructure it's team brackets to that more conform to geographical constraints of the teams.  The change was billed as way to create deeper rivalries and a stronger fan base.  Sound familiar, 4 brackets, 4 regions, double the meetings of teams that play in your bracket, and more team loyalty.  Yep its the same here in the Northwest, but will the NHL's plan work?

For ten years now, the smattering of WHL teams has remained somewhat the same.  A few teams have expanded and few have bounce around , but the attendance (the ultimate factor) has also remained nearly the same since 2000. Yet the quality of the product that the WHL offers has improved drastically for 3 reasons.

First is Ownership.  The US division teams ownership have restructured their teams away from just wealthy men looking to own a piece of the community. Now the focus is on the General Managers and Coaching Combination finding the space franchise skaters need to bring the right talent, image and accolades to the fans.   

Second is quality of the experience.  If the team dose not have the cash to update their arenas, they generally seek out community support, and the evidence is clear.  If a fan shows up 40 minutes before the game or stays 40 minutes late, there is usually a contest or giveaways to keep the fans coming back.

Third is a winning record.  Where the WHL can excel, is in the Subway Series the U18 and the U20s and at the Memorial cup.  The Whl can measure itself vs the worlds best which always draws a crowd.

Yes, the WHL is guiding the way for the bigs.  If the NHL teams place more emphasis to integrate more into the fabric of the community, bring more players into the franchise player role, and play a few preseason games outside of the league.

Do you know NORPAC?

NORPAC what is that?   NORthern PACific Hockey Leage is a Tier 3 Junior A Ice Hockey League based in two areas the Interstate Five Corridor from Southern Oregon to Seattle and Northern Wyoming to Northern Montana.  


The talent pool that come from NORPAC attracts is focused at a collegiate career in ice hockey instead of the WHL who focuses at NHL careers in hockey.  The league operates a heavy schedule of nearly 50 games a year to build their skills and experiences.  For the players are weighing their education options this maybe a good fit seeing that NCAA refuses to recognize the WHL as amateur hockey and not professional.


As of Now, I do not know many alumni of this league, so I can't speak to the progress of the the players post NORPAC, but for a cheap alternative to the WHL this league fits the bill. 

For more info  http://norpac.pointstreaksites.com/view/norpac

Flames Prospects Lighting WHL's fire.

Not only, is one of the Calgary Flames top prospects, keeping the Winterhawks in hunt for the top playoff spot, the other is insuring the that his team remains there.

Coast to Coast Patrick Holland (my affectionate name for the man) took top honors this week notching a Player of the Week award from the WHL.  He was instrumental in helping the Americans stage a thrilling comeback from a 3-0 deficit after forty minutes of failed shots in Seattle Saturday night.  In the Third he racked up 2 goals and a collaboration point quite a feat for only being on the ice about 7 minutes of play.  Good on ya.

Meanwhile Sven Bartschi is off at then World Juniors Camp making the most of his holiday season, giving the Swiss a real chance to bring home a U20's medallion.  Fans need to look no further than his focus.  Sven zeros in on the puck like it is meal time, and the boy is hungary.  Come Playoffs these boy will square off to be some of the deciding factors for the US division.

Silvertips Put Up the Numbers

500

500, is the number everyone wants to stay above, to make it to the Payoffs.
500, is the number of ice hours most players will see in season.
500, is the number of drills you have to do during practice.

500, is the minimum of fans you want to hear when scoring a goal.
500, is club every one wants to make it to.

To be a talent in the WHL, it takes more than the lumber in your hand and a little balance to keep on your feet.  It takes a goal.  Night in and Night out, Everett falls below point five hundred, but they consistently do it without their former Captian, Mr 500, Ryan Murray.  Murray is the man who can keep the puck out of the Silvertips Goal, Ryan is the man who can squeak one out from the point, and when Mr Murray returns from the U20 tourney, look for 500 to come closer to reality.

The River Rivalry

In the history of Pacific Northwest hockey we have reached the mighty flow of three seasoned teams.  Teams that seem to play with an aggression like the river carving it's way out of the land.  For these three teams the the full force of the River Rivalry will happen this season.

To bring you up to speed, in 1982 when the Spokane Flyers flew away and the Kelowna Wings landed (three years later) to stake claim to the Spokane Coliseum with the first drips of the River Rivalry beginning.  Later that same season the Spokane shuffle happened between the Portland Winterhawks and the newly minted Chiefs trading a large deal of the skaters to each others benches.  Three years later another US team farther down stream sprung forth into the WHL.  This team are the descendants of the Westminster Bruins and as soon as the puck dropped that fall of 88, the Tri-City Americans and the Spokane Chiefs, were stepping on each others toes. Eventually the match up would be dubbed  the 395 Rivalry.

Over the Past few seasons the Seattle Thunderbirds and Portland Winterhawks deep seeded hatred has lifted ever so slightly.  With the antagonism lifted the teams who's tributaries flow into the Columbia River seem to step up into the collective ire culminating into the three way race to top of the US division.

In the 2010-2011 Season the top spot in the division was shared between the three teams and now the 2011-2012 season seams to be a repeat with a little bit of disarray this season.  These three teams are the ones to watch come March.

U20 Boys are back

Its been a fire sale of the US divisions best at the Canadian U20 camp.  This morning the decision to discount the division's prime talent who are, Ty Rattie,, Brad Ross and Joe Morrow.  Sad to see these boys not getting a fair shake at the rink, but thats what happens when camp is too short.

Strong effort boys.

Tbirds Return to the Playoffs

At this point, With the Silvertips miracle man being off the competition ice for the past few months, Everett is going need to become the prodigy team make it to the the playoffs.  But will the thunder reign during the Payoffs?  I think yes.

The T-birds are a team built for the playoffs with flankers #22 Burke Gilmore and #15 Marcel Noebels not hitting their sharpshooting marks yet in the regular season, the boys will be ready to make their targets after 64 games.  Like last season the defensive end is allowing open season on #1 Calvin Pickard,  I would suspect #3 and #5 on the defensive end are looking into getting their plus/minus numbers up to par.  Calvin in net is stunning to watch, like Comrie of Tri City, his tenacity to find the crease after a dizzying array of shots makes the team a true contender come the month of flowers.

Arena Anthem

  

I ran across this Anthem last night, would love to hear it at the Arenas.   It has that "get the crowd pumped" rhythm that I hope would inspire the home fans to get on their feet.

Winterhawks Slump will be temporary

Remember 2007 for the Portland Winterhawks, not many people do.  Portland's records for the W column were poor, to say the least, and the Ownership was sinking the boat.   Yes, #18 Brad Ross was still there but not much of that team remains as it could have went to the bottom.

Fast forward to the 2011-2012 season and our 2010-2011 Western Conference Champions have learned to swim with the greats.  The Current Team composed of 9 seasoned future NHLers, have a few more tricks up their sleeves. 

It seams since the teddy bears hit the ice, the Winterhawks have not pressured the opponents behind the goal line with pucks coming back out to the Point Pipeline.  With the added pressure on net Minnesota Mac (#31Mac Carruth) has had his hands full with pucks going either glove side or blocker side.

Winterhawks secret weapon, Skating.   #33 Nick Petan's drive for the puck in the corners, and bringing that puck out for #25 Taylor Peters or #28 Brendan Leipsic both of which have dead aim accuracy when it comes to finding the woven fabric, will be on full display.  Not only is Petan a potent play maker, but #9 Chase de Leo has a chance to slide across for the crease to bring up his sharp shooter skills, since the point leaders are going to be away at U20's.

Spokane on the 17th will be the a great showcase of the depth of the Winterhawks.

Tri-City Breaks 50

I was wondering which team would be the first in the WHL to make it to 50 points at the mid season mark?  To my amazement, Tri-City has taken the honors and top spot in the dub.

The Tri-City Americans' team dynamic is a simple formula which is fool proof,  Provide support for your Netminder, and have dynamic cross ice front-men who attack the net from all angles.  The men who religiously follow this formula are #24 Brendan Shinnimin and #17 Adam Hughsmen, who bow to the black dot before sending it into the webbing. These boys find each other on the ice so frequently that you 

never know who is going to slip the puck past you.

This first front-man line is not to be overshadowed by #22Feser, #41Holland line who, strengths are quite different.  These boys play the long game, bringing the puck from goal line to goal line without opposition.  Holland can always skate through the open ice, finding holes in the defensive wall; Meanwhile Feser will always find the hole in the goal tender as long as he is down low.

So good on you boys for your dominant first half.