The Winterhawks dominated play in both games over the weekend and walked away with a pretty easy 2-0 advantage over the Everett Silvertips in Round 1 of the 2011 WHL Western Conference Playoffs. My keys to victory were to score early and minimize cheap penalties. The Hawks must have been listening as they took an early lead both nights and never looked back. Also, PIM’s were very low and the special teams play was excellent.
The one area I was most concerned with coming into the playoffs was our goaltending. Mac Carruth had suffered a concussion followed by a leg injury and has had very little playing time. Our backup, Keith Hamilton has done an excellent job filling in but lacks the depth and experience Mac brings to the table. Don’t get me wrong, Hammie can, and should, be starting somewhere in the league and we are damn lucky to have him and he is one of my favorite Hawks. However, make no mistake, Mac is BACK in a big way! He got the shutout in game 1 and allowed only 2 in game 2. He looked sharp and made some great saves, displayed excellent awareness, played the angles very well, managed rebounds very well and was generally a stone wall in front of the net. You can see his confidence grow with every blocked shot. He is starting to peak at just the right time, or has simply stepped up his game for the playoffs. Whatever, it’s a welcome change!!
Speaking of welcome changes, I’m not seeing the chippy play after the whistle from many of the players. I’ve actually witnessed Brad Ross contentedly skate away from a mini scrum at the net on a few occasions. Last night an opposing player had him in what looked like a headlock, it may have been that he pushed his head down, whatever it was, Ross just skated away from it with no comment. On the next play he got hammered, hard, high and just took it while the opposing player was hauled off to the penalty box. I can remember the time, not so long ago (like last week) when Ross would have turned that into a matching minor at minimum. Instead, we got the power play!! I’ve seen a few instances of this from a lot of Hawks players. It’s a welcome change and a key to a deep run!
The depth on this team just astounds me. Our top three lines can legitimately be #1 lines on any team in the dub. Clearly, Ryan J has emerged as the leader on the ice but we see great leadership from so many players. Clearly everyone is finding that little something extra you reserve for the playoffs. Cunningham has been an animal, he played in his 60th career WHL playoff game yesterday. WOW!! An amazing number, the experience and leadership he brings to the table is priceless. Yes fans, we clearly got the better end of that trade There are not enough superlatives for Nino and Ryan. Throw in Ross, Rattie, Peters, Jordan, Eviston, Leipsic, Swenson,Bartschi, Boychuck and all the others, easily the strongest offense in the league. Aronson and Rutkowski, Morrow and Wrenn, Pouliot…Awesome defense guys. How underrated is Wotherspoon? Hoping to see more of Petan and Ius in Everett.
Shout out to the Dads who brought their young sons to the game and sat in the second row of 114. You guys were so good to your kids, it really warmed out hearts to see you be so attentive and patient with the boys. We could tell how much they meant to you. The game was a “moment” in those youngsters lives that you made special for them. They will always remember it. To the guy directly behind us, I hope your son enjoys the game puck!.
How awesome was it to re-connect with some of our Everett Hockey FANatic friends? I was really hoping we would see you all down here. We missed seeing Woody & Kyoko but to all of you, Joyce, Doris & Tom Tony and…darn, can’t remember her name, thanks for coming down. It was fun chatting on Saturday and hanging out with you before the game Sunday . As your friend, sorry you experienced the losses, I know you all are big time Tips fans and the losses hurt. As an opposing fan….Thhhhhhtptptpttptptpt!!
I suspect you will all be Winterhawk fans next week J
Was very cool to listen to Andy and the gang on 98.1 inside the Rose Garden. The 10 dollar radio was well worth it!
Finally joined the Booster Club. WooHoo?
Had lunch with Sis on Saturday before the game. The find of the weekend was Newport Seafood Grill on Broadway. Awesome happy hour menu, large portions, cheap prices. We will definitely make this a favorite pregame spot. We did Spirit of 77 on Sunday. May be fun to take in a Timbers game there. The food was really good!
To the complainers on Facebook who feel the Sunday attendance was low. You are wrong, let’s just agree to disagree. Nuff said.
