T-Birds' playoff run ends with 5-2 loss in Spokane

This game recap is a hard one to write.  I’m not gonna lie.  Writing up the last recap of a season is always difficult, especially when it is cut short.  The Seattle Thunderbirds have provided excitement all season long, whether in the form of amazing wins or heartbreaking losses.  The team took us along with them on a wild rollercoaster ride to the first round of the WHL playoffs.  And now that ride is over.

It ended last night on the ice at Veteran’s Arena in Spokane, following 60 minutes of the most in-your-face hockey I have seen in quite a while.  The puck dropped at 7:05 and aggression flowed off both benches. Goalies Calvin Pickard (T-Birds) and Dustin Tokarski (Chiefs) were on their heels the entire first period as players fired shot after shot at them.  Picks slapped one hard shot away at 3:20, then caught the rebound to deny Spokane a goal.  Tokarski gloved a slapshot by Thomas Hickey, then moments later, denied Devon LeBlanc, who had charged up the ice with two other T-Birds, with only one American to stop them.  Well, make that two.  Tokarski did what his d-man could not.

About 5 and a half minutes in, Spokane’s Jared Spurgeon drove hard for the net, and he got it. The net, that is.  He went rocketing past Pickard and tumbled into the goal.  As he tried to extricate himself, Seattle’s Thomas Hickey was called for hooking and went to the box.  Once again, Pickard stepped up, denying shot after shot.  One attempt got a little too close for d-man Jeremy Schappert.  He took exception with Brenden Kichton and shoved him away from Pickard.  Kichton shoved back, but a ref stepped in before it could escalate.

The T-Birds aggressively pushed play into Spokane’s end, then had trouble scoring.  Greg Scott missed a big chunk of open net at the 8 minute mark (Tokarski was out of position).  To put it bluntly, he whiffed on a pass that would have definitely resulted in a Seattle goal.   Spokane’s Brett Bartman went to the box at 11:54 for interference and the T-Birds swarmed Tokarski, peppering him with shots.  Tokarski stopped all of them, much to the crowd’s (and Spokane radio guy Mike Boyle’s) delight. 

As the first period wound down, Seattle kept up its attack of Spokane’s net.  With 3:30 left to play, Dustin Tokarski somehow lost his stick, yet made another amazing save.  Several scoring chances ended in pushing and shoving matches in front of Spokane’s net, and at 18:41, the T-Birds Brad Haber was called for hooking and went to the box.  This led to some frantic action down at Seattle’s net, but Calvin Pickard turned them all away, and the first period ended with a scoreless tie in what appeared to be a battle of the goaltenders.  Shots on goal were pretty even, too. Spokane: 10, Seattle: 7.

The second period began with the T-Birds shorthanded as Brad Haber rode out his hooking penalty. Seattle killed it, then had their own power play chance a minute later, when Ondrej Roman went to the box for holding.  I don’t know who fired the shot at goal, but I was sure it went in.  The puck rolled over Dustin Tokarski’s leg pad, but Jared Spurgeon dove in behind him and somehow knocked the puck out before it crossed the line into the net.  Are you kidding me??? I had to watch it again.  I could feel the waves of frustration rising from the T-Birds bench at this moment.  Especially since four minutes later, Drayson Bowman scored to put Spokane up 1-0.  He scored on a rebound after Calvin Pickard turned Mitch Wahl’s shot away.  The T-Birds answered by driving up to Spokane’s end, but Dustin Tokarski blocked every shot they fired.

Just before the halfway mark, Spokane’s Ondrej Roman was called for a hooking penalty that sent radio guy Mike Boyle on a tirade.  He accused Thomas Hickey of deliberately firing a puck at Roman and that Roman had just been defending himself when he was called for the penalty.  Boyle said Hickey should have been called for what he called a “blatant act”.  A blatant act of what?  In the four years that I’ve watched Hickey play with the T-Birds, I have not seen any blatant unsportsmanlike acts.  Yes, he’s been called for the same penalties that others have been called for: hooking, tripping, high sticking.  And he’s had a fight or three. But I’ve never seen him play dirty, as Mike Boyle inferred. 

Jim O’Brien went to the box for interference at 11:28 and Pickard immediately blocked two key shots off the faceoff.  Thomas Hickey broke up what would have been Spokane’s second goal at 12:00 by putting his body in front of the oncoming Chief, then using his great play-reading ability to knock the puck right out of action.  O’Brien’s penalty had just ended when Spokane scored again, following a flurry of action at Seattle’s end.  Captain Justin McCrae got one past Calvin Pickard at the 13:30 mark. Mitch Wahl and Levko Koper got the assists. 

Ondrej Roman got physical with Pickard a couple of minutes later.  Picks had caught a shot when Roman grabbed his glove, in an apparent attempt to shake the puck loose.  Several T-Birds came flying up to protect their netminder, resulting in a lot of pushing and shoving.  It took the refs a few seconds to break things up.  The T-Birds took that energy up the ice on the next play and found a chink in Tokarski’s armor.  Rookie Colin Jacobs scored his second goal of the playoffs.  Greg Scott and Calvin Pickard were credited with the assists.

David Richard was called for tripping at 16:39, putting Spokane on the power play, but the T-Birds were ready.  Stefan Warg and Jeremy Schappert leveled huge hits that sparked boo’s from the crowd.  Schappert took a pass from Jeremy Boyer and fired point-blank at Tokarski.  Tokarski caught it.  The T-Birds ran into penalty trouble again in the final minute of the period. Brenden Dillon went to the box for slashing, setting Seattle up to begin the third period short handed.  As the clock ticked down the final 15 seconds of the period, Spokane attacked Calvin Pickard furiously, but he held them off; kicking and slapping the puck away from the net.  The second period ended with Spokane ahead 2-1 and the Chiefs firing more shots on goal. Spokane: 16, Seattle: 9

The third period began with Calvin Pickard making some heroic saves.  Off the opening face off, Spokane drove at the net.  One shot hit the post and Pickard kicked it away before anyone could try for a rebound.  30 seconds later, Picks stopped a hard shot by Drayson Bowman by falling on the puck.  Seconds after that play, Justin McCrae collided with Thomas Hickey at center ice.  The refs called McCrae for high sticking and the crowd erupted.  Spokane radio play by play guy Mike Boyle took exception to this call, too and let loose with a tirade that lasted several seconds.

More back and forth action resulted in Spokane’s third goal of the night at 5:21. Brady Calla stole a T-Birds pass at Seattle’s blue line and fired it straight past Calvin Pickard.  Mitch Wahl tried to score a minute later, but knocked the net off its moorings instead and play moved back into Spokane’s end.  The T-Birds applied the pressure and Tokarski turned away all comers.  At 11:00, Thomas Hickey drove at the net and landed right on top of Tokarski.  Several Chiefs pulled Hickey off and a lot of pushing and shoving ensued.

The refs called Spokane’s Levko Koper for cross checking at 11:00.  For some reason, Spokane radio guy Mike Boyle went ballistic, calling it a bad call and disparaging the referees.  24 seconds later, The T-Birds went on a 5-on-3 power play when Drayson Bowman was called for high sticking.  Boyle said this was actually a legitimate call, then spewed some more about Koper’s penalty being a bad call.  At the 12 minute mark, Spokane’s Tyler Johnson and Seattle’s Jim O’Brien traded shots in front of Spokane’s net after Dustin Tokarski denied a scoring chance by O’Brien by falling on the puck.  Johnson and O’Brien both went to the box; Johnson for cross checking, O’Brien for roughing.

Seattle scored its second goal at 13:49 when Prab Rai fired a shot past Dustin Tokarski.  Thomas Hickey and Greg Scott were credited with the assists.  This goal sparked another tirade by Boyle, who said Scott should have been called for cross checking and the goal should have been disallowed.  He went on to accuse the referees of working hard to keep Seattle in the game.  (I have to pause here to say that in the times I have listened to Tom Beuning cover the T-Birds on the radio, I have never heard Beuning spew the way Boyle has during this playoff run.  I understand that radio guys must be fans of the teams they cover, but this is just a little too much.)

With 7 minutes left to play in the third, T-Birds head coach Rob Sumner was called for a bench minor for unsportsmanlike conduct.  This put Spokane on a power play and moved the face off, which had been set next to the Chiefs’ net, back down in Seattle’s end.  The Chiefs capitalized on that power play. Mitch Wahl found the net at 14:31.  Drayson Bowman and Levko Koper got the assists on this one.  Spokane fired more shots but Pickard stopped these.  Following Spokane’s goal, Rob Sumner was slapped with a game misconduct and sent to the locker room. 

The T-Birds got a power play chance with just under two minutes left in regulation.  Ryan Letts went to the box for cross checking.  Seattle yanked Pickard out of net and put a sixth attacker on the ice.  It paid off.  Thomas Hickey lined one past Dustin Tokarski at 18:30, pulling the T-Birds to within one goal.  The wheels came off 45 seconds later, when Jared Spurgeon broke up a pass and fired a shot to Drayson Bowman, who scored an easy empty net goal.  Time ran out with the score: Spokane 5, Seattle 3.  The T-Birds outshot the Chiefs in the third, 18 to 9.  T-Birds goalie Calvin Pickard stopped 30 of 34 shots.  Chiefs’ goalie Dustin Tokarski stopped 31 of 34.

The T-Birds will now work to make some changes in the off season, adding new players to fill the holes being left by 6 key members who are graduating out of the WHL system:  Chris Cloud (LW), Thomas Hickey (D), Devon LeBlanc (LW), Jim O’Brien (C), Jeremy Schappert (D) and Greg Scott (LW).  You can find recaps of all the games this season, information on players and other details at the T-Birds website.  Just click here.

And guys, THANKS for a great season.

WHL Playoffs: T-Birds even series with 2-1 win over Spokane

The Seattle Thunderbirds faced the Spokane Chiefs last night in Game 2 of a “best of 7” playoff series. Spokane won Game 1 in a hard fought 2-1 battle, but they could not hit the ice resting on their laurels. If there’s anything I’ve learned about the T-Birds this season, it’s that they do not take losing lightly. And I don’t know what kind of pep talk Coach Rob Sumner delivered in the locker room Friday night after the loss or yesterday before Game 2, but the team that hit the ice had only one thing on its mind: WIN.

The first period started with both teams taking the puck to each other’s red line, but unable to take it any further. This back and forth action went on for at least six minutes, highlighted by a battle for the puck behind Spokane’s net that resulted in a high sticking penalty for the Chiefs’ Justin McCrae. As he skated to the box, the radio guy for Spokane, Mike Boyle, who’s providing play by play for the live video feed on the WHL’s website, says the penalty should have gone to Seattle’s Greg Scott, because Scott grabbed McCrae’s stick and held it. I’m sorry, but I would hope that a referee would be able to see something so blatant.

Seattle failed to capitalize on the power play and the back and forth action continued, but the tide seemed to be turning slowly in the T-Birds’ favor. The puck ended up in Spokane’s end more. And on the few occasions that the Chiefs drove into the T-Birds’ end, goalie Calvin Pickard and a host of Seattle players made sure that Spokane did not get a chance to score. One frightening moment came when Drayson Bowman grabbed the puck and drove hard at Pickard, before backhanding it at the net. The puck seemed to hit Pickard straight in the chest and he brought both hands up to hold onto it then bent over until the ref blew the whistle.

The rest of the first period played out the same way, with the T-Birds breaking up plays, stealing pucks and driving to Spokane’s end. The Chiefs’ shots seemed to keep going wide, and no players were in position to try to capitalize on any rebounds, mostly because a T-Bird was always there to knock the puck away.

With two minutes left in the first, the action heated up a little. Pickard had no trouble catching a high shot at Seattle’s net. At the other end of the ice, Chiefs goalie Dustin Tokarski gloved a hard shot by Thomas Hickey. That play resulted in some pushing and shoving next to the net as some Chiefs seemed to think that Hickey had gotten too close to their netminder. This action resulted in a hooking penalty for the Chiefs’ Kenton Miller. Again, radio guy Mike Boyle accused Greg Scott of causing the penalty, by grabbing Miller’s stick. Scott was called for interference with a minute left to go. The Chiefs tried to end the first period with a goal, but they were foiled by Calvin Pickard, who snatched the puck out of mid-air to keep it from flying into the net over his shoulder.

The first period ended with no score and the shots on goal pretty even: Spokane 11, Seattle 9.

The second period began with 4-on-4 action, as Greg Scott and Spokane’s Kenton Miller sat out the rest of their penalties. Both teams were getting in some good shots. Devon LeBlanc’s slapshot at 7:30 just flew just over the crossbar of the Chiefs’ net. A minute later, Calvin Pickard knocked away a hard shot by a Chief using his arm pad. A charge to Spokane’s net at 8:31 ended with the puck somehow wedged under a bar on the side of the net. On the next play, T-Bird Brenden Jacobs was so intent on getting the puck past Dustin Tokarski, he ended up flipping head over heels into the net himself! Too bad the puck didn’t go into the net with him. At the other end of the ice, defenseman Brad Haber made it his mission to keep all comers away from the T-Birds net. He slapped pucks away and knocked players away from Calvin Pickard. A minute later, Tokarski had to think fast to deflect another hard shot by Brenden Dillon.

At the 15 minute mark, the Chiefs tried to attack Seattle’s goal, with three shots in a row. The first was slapped away by Pickard. Brad Haber deflected the second shot. The third went wide and then was cleared by Seattle. Following that flurry of activity, Spokane got hit with a penalty at 15:24. Tyler Johnson went to the box on an interference call. This time, the T-Birds took advantage of the momentum they’d been building all period. Thomas Hickey took a pass from Greg Scott and sent a rocket to the net. Dustin Tokarski turned it away, but it deflected off the Chiefs’ Jared Spurgeon and went in. Spokane’s radio announcer went a little ballistic here, sarcastically saying that Spurgeon should get credit for the goal and not Hickey.

The T-Birds worked hard to protect that one goal lead. In the final minute of the period, they went down a man, as the refs called Thomas Hickey for tripping. The Chiefs’ Ondrej Roman fired a pretty good shot on net, but it hit the left post and Calvin Pickard kicked the puck away with his skate before anyone could jump on the rebound.

The second period ended with Seattle up 1-0. The shots were pretty even here, too: Spokane 12, Seattle 10.

The third period picked up where the second period left off, with lots of physical play on either end of the ice. But this night would belong to the T-Birds. At 5:11, Sena Acolatse slapped the puck past Dustin Tokarski to put Seattle up 2-0. Luke Lockhart was credited with the assist. The T-Birds had another scoring chance a few minutes later, when Greg Scott stole the puck away from Stefan Ulmer and fired a shot. It missed wide. At 7:36, Spokane’s Steve Kuhn leveled a slapshot at Seattle’s net, but he aimed right at Calvin Pickard’s glove and Pickard caught it easily. A minute later, Pickard fell down and slid across the front of the net to deflect another Spokane shot. A play at Spokane’s end around 12:31 looked as though it had ended in a Greg Scott goal, but the puck went in after the refs had whistled the play dead. Stefan Warg was called for interference at 14:19. Just as his penalty ended, a bad pass by Greg Scott at 16:26 set up Spokane’s only score. Somehow, Scott passed the puck right to Drayson Bowman, who drove down the ice and went top shelf to beat Calvin Pickard. Stefan Ulmer got the assist here, although I don’t know why, as no other Chief touched the puck after Scott inadvertently gave it to Bowman.

The Chiefs really stepped up the attack here, feeling a renewed sense of purpose. After all, there were still three minutes on the clock, plenty of time to score again at least once, to take things into overtime. But the T-Birds stepped their game up another notch, as well, running down the clock and breaking up plays. The Chiefs got one good shot on Calvin Pickard at 18:20. Mitch Wahl aimed one right at the net, but Pickard kicked it away.

With 55 seconds left in regulation, Seattle was called for icing and the face off came back to the T-Birds end. The Chiefs pulled goalie Dustin Tokarski to send an extra man on the attack. The Chiefs Ondrej Roman tried to go top shelf against Calvin Pickard, but Picks reached up one gloved hand and snatched it out of the air. The puck ended up sliding all the way to Spokane’s end and just missed an empty net goal by a couple of feet. The clock wound down and the small group of diehard T-Birds fans who made the trek to Spokane jumped up and down and cheered along, as the team gathered around Pickard.

Final score: Seattle 2, Spokane 1. Shots on goal for the period: Spokane 11, Seattle 9. Total SOG for game: Spokane 34, Seattle 28.

The playoff action now moves to ShoWare Center in Kent. Game 3 take place Tuesday, March 24, with Game 4 the next night, Wednesday, March 25. Both games begin at 7:05pm. For more information on the games and tickets, click here.

WHL Playoffs: T-Birds lose a close one in Spokane, 2-1

The Seattle Thunderbirds opened playoff action last night in Spokane. I could not make the drive to Spokane, so I watched the game live online at the WHL website. It’s not the same experience as being inside an arena surrounding by thousands of crazy fans, but in this case, it’ll do. The radio commentary was provided by Spokane’s play by play man Mike Boyle. His commentary was a few seconds behind the actual action, but it wasn’t too distracting.



The first period featured lots of back and forth action and some great saves by both goaltenders. Seattle’s Calvin Pickard withstood a flurry of shots around the 6 minute mark before making a giant save a minute later. The T-Birds picked up on this momentum and capitalized on a great steal at 9:32, when Brendan Dillon, coming out of the box after serving 2:00 for hooking, stole the puck away from a Chiefs defenseman and shoveled it to Greg Scott. Scott drove the puck right up to Spokane’s net and took his shot. Chiefs goalie Dustin Tokarski slapped it away, but Charles Wells was right there to poke the rebound in and put Seattle up 1-0.



The rest of the first period featured more action swinging from one end to the other, and some great saves by both goalies. There were some tense moments at the T-Birds end when Captain Thomas Hickey skated up to stop Chiefs center Tyler Johnson from running into goalie Calvin Pickard. Hickey checked Johnson, who retaliated by giving Hickey a forearm to the face. Hickey hit him back, but referees stepped in before this could evolve into a full-fledged fight. Spokane fans erupted in anger seconds later, when the refs only gave Johnson a roughing penalty. Radio guy Mike Boyle erupted in anger too, but as I watched the play unfold again in slow motion, I think the refs were correct. Hickey was protecting the net and his move, while a little aggressive, did not cross the line. Johnson’s response did. The penalty resulted in some four-on-four play for about 17 seconds, as Seattle’s David Richard worked off a kneeing penalty. But neither team could score.



As the period wound down, there was more pushing and shoving, especially around Seattle’s net, as T-Birds got physical to keep any Chiefs from running into Pickard. Spokane kept the pressure on, firing several key shots, but Pickard held them off, making one spectacular save after falling flat onto his back! I’m still scratching my head over that one. I was sure the Chiefs were about to get a lucky goal, but the kid they call “Picks” knocked it away with one flailing arm.



The period ended with Seattle up 1-0, and both teams tied for shots on goal at 13 apiece. Charles Wells’ goal and Calvin Pickard’s tremendous play between the pipes were definitely the keys to this period.



The second period began with a huge burst of energy by the Spokane Chiefs. They drove hard into Seattle’s zone and put Calvin Pickard on his heels from the minute the puck dropped. He deflected shot after shot, but the Chiefs did not let up on their attack. It was only a matter of time before they scored, and it happened 4:21 into the period. WHL scoring leader Drayson Bowman found a chink in Pickard’s armor and snuck the puck through, tying things up at 1-1.



Play intensified after the Chiefs scored. Several T-Birds made some great plays, including one by Jeremy Boyer, who intercepted a pass and took it straight to Spokane’s net. Tokarski was ready, though, and turned it away. Greg Scott had a scoring chance a minute later, but was also denied. Spokane’s Brett Bartman was hit with a high sticking penalty with 3 minutes left in the period. This sparked a renewed burst of energy by both teams, as the T-Birds drove to the Chiefs net and Spokane worked to hold them off. The second period ended with things all tied up at 1-1, and the T-Birds outshooting the Chiefs, 13-7.



The third period started with some fireworks by the T-Birds. 24 seconds in, Jim O’Brien went on a breakaway and from my vantage point, it looked as though he would score. But Dustin Tokarski made a monster save, and as much as I hate to say it, I think the momentum turned at that moment to Spokane’s side. They certainly turned on the jets after that and attacked the T-Birds net again and again. As I refer to my notes for this story, I realize I wrote the following: “Good save by Picks @ 1:30.” “Picks gloves a shot @ 2:00.” “Picks glove save @ 3:00.” “Great save by Picks @3:44.” This gives some idea of just how aggressive the Chiefs had become. One frightening moment came at the 5:00 mark when Drayson Bowman went on a breakaway, but at the last second, his shot deflected off T-Bird d-man Stefan Warg’s stick! Warg went a little wild here, hitting everyone who came near the net, and working to hit the puck away.



At this point, the T-Birds had only made 3 shots on Spokane’s goal, and they worked hard to take action back into the Chiefs’ zone. Jonathan Parker had a great scoring chance, but Dustin Tokarski came up with an even greater save and the Chiefs took things back to Seattle’s net.



Again, my notes are peppered with save after save by Calvin Pickard. At 11:44, though, Spokane’s top line scored again. Drayson Bowman got past Pickard to put the Chiefs up 2-1. The lead seemed to give Spokane even more energy and they turned away drive after drive by the T-Birds. As the clock wound down, Seattle yanked Pickard to send an extra attacker on the ice. It looked as though the T-Birds would tie things up with about a minute left, but the Chiefs cleared it and missed an empty net goal by about a foot. The Chiefs clearly rallied, though, and came away with a hard-fought, Game 1 victory.



Game 2 takes place tonight at 7pm tonight at Spokane’s Veterans Arena. The action then comes to ShoWare Center in Kent for Games 3 and 4 on Tuesday, March 24 and Wednesday, March 25. Game time for both games is 7:05pm. For more information on the games and tickets, click here.