Computer wizard and known lothario Graham Kendrick sets up for tonight's live chat.
Over the last week or so, my son has become difficult at bedtime. What used to be a fairly simple process of halfheartedly reading Curious George for the 5,982nd time, turning on his Nirvana Rockabye Baby CD, flipping off the light and flopping onto the couch to watch Friday Night Lights for the rest of the evening has turned into an ordeal that involves multiple jail breaks from his bedroom, screaming (him), tears (me) and general unpleasantness.
I was fine with this arrangement over the weekend when we had back-to-back home games and my wife was flying solo in dealing with him. But having been home the last few nights and actually having to deal with it has been less than ideal.
Actually, it’s been brutal.
So I needed an out for tonight, and came up with a beauty: a live chat.
“Sorry dear,” I said to my wife. “The team’s in the playoffs for the first time in 4 years and the bosses think I should get fans together for a live chat on our website. Game starts at 7, so I’m out for the bedtime routine tonight. Good luck.”
Nevermind that it was my idea, not my bosses’. It’s genius. So while she’s waging an hour-long battle royal with an obstinate toddler, I’ll be hunkered down at the computer and telling her to keep it down while I watch playoff hockey on the livestream. Sounds like a pretty good arrangement to me.
So if you’re listening to the game on Freedom 970, watching the live stream or are looking for an excuse to get away from a misbehaving child, make sure you come by and hang out. It’ll be fun.
To help get you ready for the game, we have a few links to check out. The Oregonian has a preview piece that appeared in print today, while the Tribune also has an article on their Web site. Mike Johnston did a live interview with Strong at Night on 95.5 The Game yesterday, while Nino Niederreiter was a guest on the Junior Hockey Magazine Radio Show syndicated throughout Canada (download the Mar. 19 podcast). The Spokesman-Review out of Spokane also has a piece looking at tonight’s game from the Chiefs’ standpoint. Of course, we had our own interview at winterhawks.com with Mike Johnston before the team boarded the bus yesterday as well.
Anyway, hope you can join in the fun tonight.
In the great scheme of things, a week really isn’t a very long time. For instance, when I’m watching Chuck on Monday nights, it never seems like it’s been that long since I’d watched it the previous week. And Morgan cracks me up.
But a week between the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs? Ugh. Like the song says, The Waiting is the Hardest Part.
It’s been a weird week over here at luxurious Winterhawks HQ – there’s been a nonstop flurry of activity getting everything ready for this weekend, yet it seems like it’s been a year since the season ended as we wait for Game 1 to get here tomorrow night.
(Speaking of which, did you know that tickets are available now for this weekend’s games? It’s true! Get tickets for Game 1 here and Game 2 here.)
The players feel the same way. They’ve had a great week of practice, with one more to go this afternoon, but they’re tired of going up against each other every day. They’re ready for the real thing.
If you’re looking to read up on the team to tide you over to tomorrow, I’ll point you to a few different places. The Oregonian had a feature on Luke Walker today, while the Columbian also had a playoff preview article. The Tribune yesterday had a column by Kerry Eggers looking at Luca Sbisa’s impact with his Olympic experience, while Steve Brandon talked to a couple of Winterhawks veterans about getting their first crack at the postseason.
You can also listen to a couple of interviews with Winterhawks players on 95.5 The Game, one with Ian Curtis, another with Stefan Schneider. Mike Johnston was also a guest with Inessa on KINK radio this week, and you can listen to that interview right here. Johnston’s will also be a guest on Ron Callan’s Inside Sports show tomorrow morning. KPTV also has footage of the guys dyeing their hair black earlier this week.
In addition to all the action on the ice this weekend, WHL Commissioner Ron Robison will be at Sunday’s Game 2 to present Ken Hodge with the WHL Governors Award and Jann Boss with the Distinguished Service Award. Meanwhile, Saturday you can bid on game-worn Chris Francis, Ryan Johansen and Nino Niederreiter jerseys.
Meanwhile, there’s still no update from Spokane on the condition of Kyle Beach. Whatever the prognosis is, they’ve managed to keep it under wraps so far.
Of course, at 7:05 tomorrow we’ll have the answer. It can’t get here soon enough.
For fans keeping track of the injury Chiefs star Kyle Beach suffered last weekend and his availability for the first round playoffs, here is a note in the Kelowna Daily Courier:
In other WHL news, the Spokane Chiefs are hopeful that Kelowna product Kyle Beach will play this weekend in their first-round series against the Portland Winterhawks after getting hurt on the weekend. The 20-year-old forward, who has one season of junior eligibility left, was hurt during a type of knee-on-knee collision with Tri-City defenceman Tyler Schmidt in the Chiefs‘ 5-4 win. Beach was on crutches after the game.
“He‘s hurt and he‘s real sore and we‘ll be reevaluating on Wednesday,” Chiefs head coach Hardy Sauter said, adding the injury is above the right knee. “We should know more after the doctor sees him then.”
Schmidt was handed a clipping major and a game misconduct for the centre-ice incident.
“It was one of those (plays) where (Beach) went to go to his left and he was gonna get by Schmidt,” said Sauter, “and they went leg to leg. The good news is that there‘s no ligament damage. The bad news is that it‘s probably as bad as it could have been without that.”
Asked about Beach‘s availability for Spokane‘s upcoming series with the Winterhawks – which starts Saturday in Portland despite the Chiefs being the higher No. 4 seed, as Spokane‘s arena is booked with NCAA basketball – Sauter said he‘s “really really hoping he can manage to play Saturday, but, again, I won‘t have any idea until Wednesday.”
My apologies for the lack of posts last week. I was beset by a series of ailments only slightly less severe than the Ebola virus, which essentially knocked me out of commission for two days.
Rather than risk spreading my illness to my co-workers in advance of a busy playoff season, instead I heroically stayed home and risked infecting my pregnant wife and two-year-old son instead. Because that’s just the kind of guy I am.
At any rate, I’ll have more late this week, but for now here’s a statistical breakdown of the two teams:
PORTLAND VS. SPOKANE BY THE NUMBERS
2009-10 REGULAR SEASON TOTALS
Category Portland Spokane
Record 44-25-2-1 (91 pts.) 45-22-3-2 (95 pts.)
Goals For (Average) 266 (3.69) 240 (3.33)
Goals Against (Average) 241 (3.35) 179 (2.49)
Home Record 21-12-2-1 22-13-1-0
Road Record 23-13-0-0 23-9-2-2
Power Play Percentage 62-320 (19.4%) 70-281 (24.9%)
Penalty Kill Percentage 289-365 (79.2%) 260-308 (84.4%)
Top-3 Scorers 1. Chris Francis – 82 pts. 1. Mitch Wahl – 96 pts.
2. Ryan Johansen – 69 pts. 2. Kyle Beach – 86 pts.
3. Brad Ross – 68 pts. 3. Tyler Johnson – 71 pts.
Penalty Minutes Leader Brad Ross – 203 PIM Kyle Beach – 186 PIM
2009-10 PORTLAND VS. SPOKANE HEAD-TO-HEAD TOTALS
Game Results:
October 2, 2009: Portland 5 @ Spokane 3
October 31, 2009: Portland 2 @ Spokane 0
November 1, 2009: Spokane 3 @ Portland 0
December 6, 2009: Spokane 5 @ Portland 4 (Shootout)
December 16, 2009: Portland 3 @ Spokane 2
December 27, 2009: Portland 5 @ Spokane 4
December 29, 2009: Spokane 3 @ Portland 4
March 5, 2010: Spokane 4 @ Portland 0
Category Portland Spokane
Record 5-2-0-1 3-5-0-0
Goals For (Average) 23 (2.88) 21 (2.63)
Goals Against (Average) 21 (2.63) 23 (2.88)
Home Record 1-2-0-1 0-4-0-0
Road Record 4-0-0-0 3-1-0-0
Power Play Percentage 4-32 (12.5%) 5-35 (14.3%)
Penalty Kill Percentage 30-35 (85.7%) 28-32 (87.5%)
Top-3 Scorers 1. Brad Ross – 12 pts. 1. Mitch Wahl – 13 pts.
2. Ryan Johansen – 7 pts. 2. Kyle Beach – 9 pts.
3. Chris Francis – 6 pts. 3. K. Miller, B. Gal – 6 pts.
Penalty Minutes Leader Brad Ross – 39 min. Kyle Beach – 60 min.
Excuse me while I channel my inner Carnac…
“The I-5 during rush hour, Billy Corgan’s ego, and the Winterhawks’ games this weekend.”
What are three things packed as tight as can be?
Two big games this weekend, Friday against Spokane at 7:30 and Saturday against Tri-Cities at 7, both at the Rose Garden.There will be plenty of activity surrounding the two games, so let’s break it down a bit and give an overview of what’s happening.
Before Friday’s game against Spokane, the team will be hosting its annual awards ceremony. The awards include MVP, Rookie of the Year, Best Defensive Player, Leading Scorer, Scholastic Player of the Year, Fan Favorite and Sportsmanship. I thought about lobbying to have an award for Best Team Blogger handed out this year, then realized I’d lose out to Andy, Todd, and Mike and figured there was no point.Then I thought about pitching the C. Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence, but if Rupert Murdoch and his legal team can get every clip of the Simpsons scrubbed from YouTube, then he can certainly destroy me for misappropriating one of the show’s brilliant ideas.
Once the pre-game festivities are done it promises to be an intense game. It’s a likely first round playoff preview, but the matter of who would get is very much up in the air. Spokane goes into the game two points up on Portland with a game in hand, but the Hawks are 5-1-0-1 against the Chiefs this year. Win this game to pull even in the standings with the tiebreaker in hand, and it’s on.
Then on Saturday the team hosts Tri-Cities, where there will be a veritable bevy of activity. A flurry even. Of course, it’s Hall of Fame Night, where we induct Brian Shaw, Ken Hodge and Dennis Holland into the inaugural class, along with presenting Innes Mackie the inaugural Brian C. Shaw Award for Meritorious Service to the Organization. Along with the Hall of Fame activities, we’re also asking people to bring a canned food item for the Portland Police Bureau’s Sunshine Division. And at the risk of sounding like the Slap Chop guy, that’s not all! We’re also hosting an auction for Luca Sbisa, Paul Gaustad, Josef Balej and Lanny Ramage game-worn jerseys. It starts with a silent auction before and during the game, then the highest silent auction bid is used as the starting point for a live auction post-game. That takes place outside section A17, so make sure to check it out.All the proceeds will go to Winterhawks community outreach activities.
True story: So yesterday my wife and I were watching the U.S. – Canada gold medal game. We’re both Canadian, but our son was born in America. Anyway, his afternoon naps usually last until 2:30 or 2:45, but for some reason yesterday he woke up early. We brought him into the TV room to watch the final moments of the third period of the hockey game, and less two minutes after our American-born son came into the room, Zach Parise put a rebound past Roberto Luongo to send the game to overtime.
It’s a good thing Sidney Crosby won it for Canada in OT, because I was poised to pack up my son and ship him off to his grandparents in Canada had he caused the U.S. to win.
And even though the Olympics have been over for less than 24 hours, I already miss them. The hockey portion was riveting of course, making tomorrow’s Canucks-Blue Jackets game a bit of a comedown. But as much as I enjoyed the hockey, I’ll miss the other sports too: skiing, snowboarding, bobsled, speed skating, curling, figure skating. OK, not figure skating, but still.
The point is, as cliche as it is, it’s exhilarating watching athletes who have spent four years waiting for this moment.
Between the excitement of the Olympics and watching the Winterhawks battle for playoff position, everything else out there seems to pale in comparison.
As I visited a few sports sites today at lunch, I found myself unable to muster much excitement for the sports news of the day. Shaquille O’Neal’s thumb injury? Not interested. Josh Hamilton missing time in Spring Training? Whatever. The NFL combine? I don’t care about the 40-yard dash times of left guards even at the best of times.
I know it will all come back soon enough, but right now, I’d like nothing more than another Canada-U.S. matchup.
(SPOILER ALERT: This blog contains the result of the US-Switzerland quarterfinal game played Wednesday afternoon. Since it’s impossible to figure out NBC’s byzantine tape delay schedule, who knows when it will air. So don’t read ahead if you’re taping the game and want to be surprised.)
(OK, a mini-rant before I begin. Criticism of NBC’s tape delays is prevalent all over the Intertubes, so there’s not much outrage I can add that hasn’t been said. But there is this: last week I was watching the finals of the men’s halfpipe competition. Shaun White had the gold locked up before going on his second run. They cut to him and his teammates and coaches celebrating at the top of the hill before he embarked on his final run and discussing what he should do, which was essentially ceremonial since he had the gold already assured. They had his coach mic’d and we could hear the entire conversation, including an F-bomb. This was pathetic since the broadcast was TAPE DELAYED. In the three hours between the time the broadcast aired the F-bomb live on the East Coast and the time that same footage aired out here, they couldn’t be bothered to scrub a very clear, very audible profanity.)
This commercial for Versus’s NHL playoff coverage last year is one of my all-time favorites.
I’m reminded of it because as I write this, we’re about two hours away from the epic (hopefully) Canada-Russia quarterfinal game in the Olympics, and the clock is ticking.
One of the great things about Olympic hockey that I always forget is how quickly the game is played. Not just the action on the ice, but with few, if any, TV timeouts, the action is constant. Unless the coach calls timeout the players don’t have time to stop and catch their breath waiting to come back out of a TV timeout.
If a team is on its heels, they need to work their butts off to change the flow of the play, not just hang on until the next stoppage and gather themselves for a few minutes.
That was the first thing I noticed when I started working for the Winterhawks: the game flows so quickly thanks to just one 60-second media timeout midway through each period.
Understand, before coming to the Winterhawks, I spent eight years in the NBA, where each game has more stoppages than a Flomax commercial. You have TV timeouts, team timeouts, quarter breaks and halftime. Then on top of that you get into late game situations and the foul-free throws-timeout cycle is unbearable. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the strategy, it’s just incredibly fan unfriendly. It’s most exasperating when a team is pulling that routine when they’re down 10 with 30 seconds to go. At that point a Lindsay Lohan comeback seems more likely.
But I digress.
The Olympic hockey action to this point has been ridiculously good; Season 2 of Dexter good. In yesterday’s four qualifier games, there were three one-goal games.The Czech Republic/Latvia and Slovakia/Norway games last night were wildly entertaining. Then to kick off the four quarterfinal games today, Switzerland kept the game against the U.S. scoreless through two periods before losing 2-0. There are three more games today, all of which should be absolutely fantastic.
I know there are a myriad of reasons why Gary Bettman wants to pull the plug on NHL players in the Olympics, but if this is it for the NHL Olympic experience, so far they are going out with a bang. The hockey has been phenomenal, and we’re not even through the quarterfinals yet.
Of course, I reserve the right to take everything back if Canada loses today.
Imagine my surprise when I went to my corner of the Intertubes and realized it had been eight days since my last post. Uh, yeah, sorry about that. There was the excitement of qualifying for the playoffs last week, then I had Friday off, then we had the afternoon game Monday, and then Tuesday was playing catchup, and blah blah blah.
I’d like to say my eight-day absence won’t happen again, but I think we all know better. So to all my loyal readers (Hi Dad!), my apologies for this, and all future disappearances.
It’s a different world from the one we knew last Wednesday. We clinched a playoff spot, traveled to Prince George and swept the two games there, came home and lost a wild shootout* against Moose Jaw then suffered a tough loss last night in Everett. In the meantime, the standings are more volatile than the I-5 bridge crossing project. Even though we’ve won five of our last seven games, Everett jumped back ahead of us by a point while Spokane is on a tear and is just a point behind us for fourth.
(*Ever since hockey adopted shootouts following scoreless overtimes, it’s wreaked havoc with using the word shootout when describing a high-scoring game, particularly when the goal differential is just one. Did no one check with media types when making that decision? What am I supposed to call those games now?)
At any rate, Everett and Spokane both have two games in hand on the Hawks, which will likely be made up very soon. The Hawks play just two games over the next eight days, which should give them some time to rest their legs for what promises to be a wild finish to the season. Three games left with Tri-Cities and one apiece with Spokane and Everett as they try to secure home ice for at least the first round of the playoffs, hopefully more.
The next game is Saturday against Kelowna, with a couple of fun things going on. There’s an auction for the game-worn Buckaroo jerseys. It starts with a silent auction before and during the game, and then the highest bid during the silent auction is the starting point for a live auction after the game. If you can’t make the game, there will be a special treat on the radio as Dean Vrooman will return to the broadcast booth to fill in for Andy Kemper, who will miss the game to attend a family event.
And watch next week for the announcement of the inaugural Hall of Fame inductees, for the game that will be taking place March 6.
If you click on the WHL standings page today, the much-coveted ‘x’ is listed next to the Winterhawks, signifying that the team has clinched a playoff spot.
And that’s true, to some degree, depending on how you want to look at it.
Entering tonight’s game against Tri-Cities, the Winterhawks have 71 points. After losing to the Americans last night, the Thunderbirds have 37 points with 17 games to go. Best case scenario for Seattle is that they win all 17 games, and they would finish with 71 points. If that happens, and if Portland were to lose every remaining game in regulation, the two teams would be tied for the eighth playoff spot.
In that situation, even though Portland would own every conceivable tiebreaker (wins, head-to-head record, better uniforms, awesomest blogger), WHL rules dictate that two teams who tie for eighth place play a one-game playoff, as Prince Albert and Edmonton did last year.
So it becomes a matter of semantics at this point: yes, the Winterhawks have assured themselves of playing beyond the 72-game regular season, but they still haven’t qualified for the postseason.
Only once that happens will the team celebrate. For that spot to be clinched, all Portland needs to do is either win or force one game to overtime the rest of the way to gain a point, or have Seattle lose one game.
If and when that point is earned and the tiebreaker scenario is rendered moot, it won’t exactly be Mardi Gras down here at 300 Winning Way. The goal of just making the playoffs was trumped weeks, even months ago, as the team instead pursues home ice for at least one round, and still looks to close the gap between them and Tri-Cities for a division title, possible conference title and perhaps even home ice throughout the playoffs.
There are nine points separating Tri-Cities and Portland, with four head-to-head matchups left, beginning tonight at the Coliseum at 7 p.m. The Hawks haven’t been able to solve the Americans yet this season, but the team won’t be thinking about those games when they take the ice tonight. They’ll just be thinking about closing the gap from nine points to seven, and going from there.
Of course, it isn’t a two-team race. The Everett Silvertips also have 71 points, with two games in hand and two head-to-head matchups left. And Spokane is still lurking with 66 points and two games in hand.
It promises to make for an exciting stretch run.
Still on the topic of tonight’s game, note that the venue has been changed to the Coliseum to accommodate the rescheduled Elton John/Billy Joel concert.
Also, Mike Johnston will be away from the team for this weekend’s games in Prince George as he embarks on a recruiting trip. If this year’s recruiting efforts net anything close to last year’s in which the team brought in Ryan Johansen, Spencer Bennett, Taylor Aronson, Seth Swenson, and more recently, Mac Carruth, then the team will continue to be a force in the years to come.
Finally, Luca Sbisa and the Swiss Olympic team played a tune-up game last night in Winnipeg against Belarus, and the Swiss dropped a 2-1 decision. The two teams will play again tomorrow morning. Sbisa is wearing #91 for the Swiss team.
The Winterhawks could clinch their first playoff spot since 2006 as early as Wednesday night, but Seattle’s game against Tri-Cities tomorrow comes into play. If that’s enough information for you, you may want to stop here, because the scenarios start to get complicated. But if you’re so inclined, here are the scenarios for how the Winterhawks can clinch a playoff spot in the next 48 hours, depending on how Seattle does Tuesday:
If Seattle loses in regulation to Tri-Cities Tuesday: In this scenario, the Winterhawks clinch at least a one-game playoff against the Thunderbirds to decide eighth place. WHL tiebreak rules dictate that two teams who finish tied for eighth place play a one-game playoff, as Edmonton and Prince Albert did last season. Thus, if Seattle loses in regulation Tuesday, Portland needs one point from Wednesday’s game, also against Tri-Cities, to clinch a playoff spot.
If Seattle loses to Tri-Cities in overtime or a shootout Tuesday: If the Thunderbirds gain a point from tomorrow’s game, Portland would then need a win over Tri-Cities Wednesday to earn the playoff berth. If Seattle gets a point tomorrow, and Portland gets a point from an overtime or shootout loss, the Winterhawks clinch at least a one-game playoff.
If Seattle beats Tri-Cities Tuesday: If Seattle beats the Americans and earns two points, the Winterhawks would then need to beat Tri-Cities Wednesday to clinch at least a one-game playoff.
The Hawks' Nest 