Five games into the season and Seattle looks ready to contend

For most teams five games into the season might not mean much but when you only won 19 of 72 games the year before ( I promise I will stop mentioning this soon) it’s much more meaningful. So far we have seen a Thunderbirds team that doesn’t resemble last year’s squad in the slightest. Case in point is the most recent game down in Portland where the Winterhawks dominated play in the first period, out shooting the Birds 22-3. The first reaction would have been (and the thought passed through my mind) that the period resembled last year’s troubles, especially against Portland. Whatever was said during that intermission worked though, and the Birds were a very different team from that point on. They were able to get the game tied on a misplay by Portland’s goalie but only because Mitch Elliot never gave up on the play, going to the net hard. From the midway point on Seattle was as good if not better than Portland, and after securing at least a point they went on to win their second straight game in the shootout.

You can even look at Friday’s game against Lethbridge. The Birds had a two goal lead with just a few minutes left but blew the lead and had to go to overtime. No big deal giving Lethbridge a point but in order to make up for the late collapse it was important to get that second point back. That’s exactly what they did. Those of us who watched this team last season could say with some confidence that both of these games would have been losses. Not this season. Not with this team.

So what exactly has the difference been so far? Well some of it can be seen on the score sheet and some can’t. Burke Gallimore has four goals, and one in the shootout. Marcel Noebels has two goals and an assist as well as two big goals in the shootout. Luke Lockhart has two goals, Travis Toomey has three points as does Charles Wells and Brenden Dillon. Calvin Pickard has started all five games and has a 2.52 GAA and a .927 save percentage.

So that is what you can see in the stats. What can’t be given a number is the fact that this team is more confident. They believe that they can win, so they believe in one another. I’m not the kind of person to say “I told you so” (well maybe a little) but I saw this coming in camp and through preseason. Now I know it has only been five games, with 67 to go but I actually think this team might have something special going on. How special is yet to be seen. Defeating Portland twice is incredibly important. Opening night it might have been Portland’s “B” team but Saturday night it was their “A+” team. I think the Thunderbirds will blind side some people in the first half and then by the second half they will be a better team. Remember that players like Toomey and Travis Bobbee, as well as Noebels, Dave Sutter, and Connor Sanvido have never played together before. This group is still in the process of gelling. The play of Pickard is no surprise and he will just get better and better.

On defense is where the Birds are the most improved. Except for the first period in Portland they have been spending much less time in their own zone. They are keeping most of the shots to the outside and when Calvin can see it, he’s going to stop it. They clear the pucks out of the crease and get it out of the zone with much more efficiency than last season. This gives their improved forward squad more opportunities.

How could you not be impressed by the penalty kill in Portland? In particular the play of Lockhart as he blocked shots with no regard at all for his own well being. I winced on a few of them. This inspires everyone else to do the same, it’s called leading by example. This team doesn’t get discouraged when they are down, in fact it seems to inspire them to play even harder. You couldn’t say most of this last season.

Noebels has been outstanding in every aspect of the game. The Thunderbirds needed to strike gold with their 10th pick in the import draft and it looks like they have. A smart player who scores big goals at important times in the game (as well as being perfect in the shootout) Noebels could end up being one of the best import picks in a very long time. Sutter, the Birds other import, is a plus five so far. That’s best on the team.

One really encouraging thing about the Birds is that most of the close games are being won rather than lost. I would have though that the team would lose most of these games early on until they learned how to win. That process is going faster than expected. Credit has to be given to the leaders on the team and the coaching staff.

While there is much good than can be reported so far it’s important to remember that the Birds are in a very tough division. In fact, as well as they have played so far it has only been good enough for 4th place. Winning at home and in divisional matches will be vitally important. So far so good as they are 2-0 at home and 2-2 in the division. Remember they only won seven games within the division last season. They are already 2-0 against Portland after losing all 12 games last year.

So everything is pointing in the right direction heading into the third weekend of the season. There is still a lot of hard work and tough games ahead of them but the fact is that this year’s team doesn’t want to remind anyone of what happened last season. If they keep playing the way they have been it won’t be long before that memory is wiped out all together.