Annie Fowler, of the Tri-City Herald is kind enough to put together a WHL Best of the West poll each year, and hot off the presses its here:

2015 Best of the West

For fun, here's the last one, with some background on how this is put together.  Its a lot of work, and we are lucky that she puts it together for us.

Everett V Portland - game 6 / series recap

Video highlights here

Real time discussion recap

Brendan Leipsic: player of the week!

Paul Buker's story

Photo essay

Nick Patterson's piece

Andy Kemper camreaphone shot

Mostly this series occurred as planned, aside from real strong efforts from Austin Lotz & 6 goals from Josh Winquist - combined with some defensive breakdowns & bouncing pucks on the 'Hawks behalf.

Mac Carruth ended up going 2.42 GAA / .865 SV% in the series - vastly different from the franchise record 2.06 / .929 he put up in the regular season.  You always hear goalies talk about how they like to get work - they want shots.  Not rebounds, 3rd chance plays, screens, tips, etc - but they want to feel the puck.  They want to make saves.

These are the period by period shot totals for the 'Tips:
Game 1:  9  13  9
Game 2:  3  1   7
Game 3:  4  2   7
Game 4:  7  7  9
Game 5:  9  4  5
Game 6:  8  4  1   
Out of 18 periods of hockey in this series, Carruth saw no more than 13 shots in any of them, and only 1 shot in two of them.  I already touched on this, the game winning goal in game 5 occurred in a 4 shot period, where the shot that beat him came on a clear cut, shorthanded breakaway.  That HAS to be tough on any goaltender to have that kind of workload.

Should be interesting to see how Carruth's workload settles out in the 2nd round, and how he responds.

Everett V Portland: rough stuff

The rough stuff has been really hit or miss in this series.  Seems like games 1 & 3 have been pretty calm, and games 2, 4, & 5 have had some fireworks:

Hockey fights is such a good tool - they do a bang up job.


I know that some Winterhawk fans felt that Travis Huntington's call was a little over the top at the end of game 5 - and he's been known to get excited before.  I'm cool with it.

Everett V Portland - Games 4 & 5

Video highlights from game 4.

This is the game story from the O for game 4.

Here was the live chat from game 4.

Scoresheet

Interesting Davidson quotes here.

Game 4 in pictures:

its always tough to get a skyline shot, even from a stopped car in traffic

2nd nicest ballpark I've been to (KC#1)

I met my friends at the Angry Beaver - a hockey bar in the Greenlake district of Seattle.
 This place was filling up, with everyone wanting to watch a particular NHL game. 
None of them had any idea that junior hockey exists,
with both local WHL teams engaged in really interesting series. 
Disappointing.

Cable Box.  A really nice barn.

across the street - name escapes me

great seats, great view.  spendy.

I HATE the phony Zamboni.  makes ours look pretty classy.

De Leo has fans everywhere

3,000 in a building that seats 9,000

I've always wanted one of these

I don't think I'd ever realized that they have duplicate sets of banners in there:
 The official WHL ones, and they made bigger ones on the other side of the rink. 
Seems a little cheezy to me.

seems like the 'Hawks should be selling Leipsic wigs. 
if you have a jersey, go find a wig - its a good look.

I had a good look at that cowbell that just missed a ref's head.  Only missed by about a foot or so.  Not good.

On the way out of town

  ******  GAME 5 ******

Postgame discussion here.

Video highlights

Scoresheet

Photo essay - its a real small sample size, but the puck isn't laying flat on the ice in any of those photos.  Seems like we never have good ice.

Game story

Austin Lotz given the #2 star in the entire CHL.  Of course that poses the chicken-and-egg of 'do we make the other goalie look good' OR 'does the other goalie stand on his head against us every time'

Watching the 1st goal again, it looks like Hanson goes down to block the shot, but doesn't really commit all the way, and ends up screening Carruth - pretty much a worst case.  The D man either has to block the shot, or let the goalie see it.   Winquist has 6 goals in the series, which is pretty damn good.

Rough night for Hanson part 2:  that second goal was really unfortunate.  Carruth's 5 foot pass goes off of Hanson's skate, and right into the vacated crease.  #4 ended up -2 on the night, although there were a total of 4 'Hawks who weren't minus players in this game.  I'm a big backer of Hanson, who is a smart kid.  That being said, I'm on Team Kirill and when you have good players you want to get into the lineup anyway, you might be quicker to healthy scratch a guy and get Vorborev some ice time.  Should be interesting.

The 3rd goal was a nice breakaway move by Petryk going to the backhand.  Of course that play came off a rush the other way with Rattie & Leipsic on a kind of 2 on 0 rush, where #28 had the puck, but #8 had a step on him.  Rather than take his chances, Leipsic dished to Rattie, who couldn't hold on to the pass - it was late, as they were too close in to the goalie by that point.

 That clear breakaway was part of a period where Carruth saw 4 shots.  You always hear about how a goalie wants to see shots - he wants the work.  Not 2nd and 3rd chances, not breakaways, not screens - but he wants to see shots and feel the puck.  It has to be hard to stay in the game as a goalie that's seen periods of 4, 5, 1, &, 4 shots this series.

One way for a goalie who isn't getting much work to stay sharp is to play the puck on dump ins, and we all know that the 'Hawks faithful are uncomfortable with that (see goal #2).  I wonder if we have forgot the puck handling game that Carruth had in game 3?  I watched that game online, and he was really good.  Many feel he's the best puckhandling goalie in the WHL, but I suppose its human nature to hold onto the times it goes wrong, since that's the only time it makes the stat sheet.  (Semi-related note:  how many of Burke's games this year did he only see 20 shots?  Sure seems like a majority of the time off the top of my head.)

This has been a bizarre series statistically.  The powerplay has been frustrating everyone in these losses - yet it was at 40% last night, and is at 39.3% in the series.  The 'Tips PP is at 12.5%, so the PK is pretty close to where they were in the regular season as well.  (The Thunderbirds PP is at 0.0%)

What's most interesting about game 5 is how widely peoples opinions vary.  Between postgame interviews, the regulars in the live chat, online commenters, etc - there are many interpretations of how that game went.  I read that to mean if there was any glaring concerns that the 'Hawks need to address, it would be more apparent to all.  I think they had good chances, all 3 periods.  I'm not even sure how much Lotz made a difference as much as pucks were hopping over sticks and going wide.  I don't think you want to change much if you are the 'Hawks, except for those defensive lapses that the 'Tips have capitalized on.

Everett V Portland - Game 3

Lets start with the video highlights.

Scoresheet here.

The 'Tips strike first.  More or less a 3-on-2, with Rattie on the back check to pick up the trailer, and doesn't quite get there.  I suppose that's not why you pay him the big bucks, but you wonder if he could have done a better job to get back on that play.  Not a lot that Carruth could do on that play.

Now that Petan goal - we've seen that one a few times this season.  Nice cross ice pass: Leipsic hits him on the tape from the left faceoff dot to the right circle, and Petan gets the one-timer off they way he wanted to.  If I'm a 'Tips fan, I want to know how that pass was allowed to get across - looks like all 4 on the PK were in pretty tight, but 2 of 'em had just picked themselves up off of the ice - and they looked discombobulated.

Rattie burys a tic-tac-toe goal next.  I'm not sure if you can really fault any of the Silvertips on this goal: those three hockey players are just too damn good.  Petan brings the puck into the zone, and defenders begin to close.  Drops it to Leipsic, not in the best shooting position, dishes to Rattie who isn't going to miss that one very often.  2-1 'Hawks at that point.  Rattie has now scored goals in every game of the series.

Petan wires a wicked wrister top shelf.  I had to watch that one a few times to tell what happened: looks like its a combination of using the defenseman as a screen, a sneaky fast release on the shot, and picking the top corner, far side.  This kid is a 17 - he's going to be centering this top line for TWO MORE YEARS.

De Leo comes in hot - he's all the lone 'Tip back can handle.  At the last second, he dishes to Rutowski on the back side: wide open net from 3 feet out.  As has been the case to this point, Lotz being left out to dry.

De Leo again into the zone with a head of steam, and the D man on him thinks he's got it under control with a stick check, sweeping the puck into the corner.  All Chase does is find the puck, and hit Bjorkstrand in the slot for a beautiful goal.  No wonder Paul Buker wanted to do a story on De Leo.

End of the 2nd period.  Everett brings out Cotton to start the 3rd, giving Lotz a rest.  Makes a lot of sense - the game is 5-1 at this point - but this may have played a major role in this game.

At 6:25 of the 3rd, the 'Tips come into the 'Hawks zone on a rush.  Portland has guys hard on the backcheck, but for all intents and purposes this is a 2-on-1, and Winquist does a real nice job of using Rutowski as a screen and gets a wrist shot past Carruth.  Mac never even moved on the shot, which leads me to believe he didn't see it at all.

What got fans worried back in the Rose City was the goal 0:21 after - I think you have to give a ton of credit to Petryk for knocking down a routine Petan clearing pass from the right corner.  This allowed Petryk to hit Leedahl right in the slot who buried his chance.  You can't leave guys wide open in the slot, nor can you cough up the puck like that.  That being said, it just looked like an outstanding play from both 'Tips.

All the sudden its a two goal game - until the worst goal I've ever seen.  I've been watching the game religiously for 19 years.  That was the worst goal I've ever seen.  Pouliot just dumps it in from center red, and somehow it goes in.  Everett may have had something cooking at that point, and that goal just killed them.

The 'Hawks got the 7th goal (TOUCHDOWN!) on a powerplay - looked like the 1st goal, actually.  Bottom of the left circle to the right side hash mark, one timer, this time Petan setting up Leipsic.

Some are concerned with giving up 3 goals on 13 shots in this one - and 1 on 11 shots in game 2.  Carruth is currently sitting at  2.690 GAA /  .855 save  %.  I would argue that this series has been statistically flukey, as Mac has seen 55 shots through 3 games.  That's less than Lotz saw in game 1.  Its not like the low shot totals are because the 'Tips are pinned up in their own end - they are getting zone time, they are on powerplays and such.  They are going to get chances, and have capitalized 8 times so far.

Loosing game 1 may have been the best thing that could happen to this team.  You get some adversity early, get that sour taste of loosing.  Giving up those two quick goals in game 3 may also be some medicine that you needed to take.  Time will tell.

Looks like the O sent a reporter to the game - its almost like having a beat writer.  There's even a picture gallery!

Everett V Portland - Game 2

this one was actually a goal, but wasn't called as such

Well, game 2 was a little different than game 1 - wasn't it?

Lets look at the highlights.

They start off with the Rutowski goal, which is as simple as drive the net and pick up the rebound (and don't get caught deep as the D man).

Lots more saves by Lotz.

More good examples of how you can do whatever you want to Leipsic with no fear of penalty.  I don't know why I think it will reset each game - you'd think I would know better.

That MacPherson goal was a nice shot for sure.  He benefited from two big Minnesota boys camped out in Lotz's kitchen - which offers glimpses of the future, hopefully.  I was making an effort to count his shifts, and I may have missed some, but I counted 4 shifts for MacPherson in this game.  Even after he scored, he didn't get more ice time.

There's plenty of reasons they don't let me behind the bench, but I don't get that.  The 'Hawks have more good players than there's ice time for, and have maintained a delicate balance all year of lineup changes.  Personally, I'm on team Kirill:  I'd like to see Vorborev in that spot, at least on a rotational basis.  If you are going to play MacPherson, that's fine, but then play him then.  It looks like the 'Hawks are going to lean on him as a 19 next year (they will be replacing 3 D men) - so get him some experience now.  If you can't give him a regular shift against the Silvertips, what does that mean for later rounds?

How 'bout that open ice Iverson hit?  Nice and clean.

Classic momentum swing on that Rattie breakaway goal.  Hard working penalty kill, then Rutowski steps out of the box, puck comes right to him, sends in arguably the best sniper in the league all alone.  That was a NHL shot against a WHL goalie.  You love to see the PK get rewarded like that.

The Everett goal was disappointing.  There's reasons that shutouts are rare, but the 'Hawks were in a good position to battle for one in game 2.  Its easy for me to say, but Jones & Wotherspoon are too good to allow the opposition to walk in from the corner like that - powerplay or not.  Its still only one goal, but it sure seemed like they could have shut down that play before it started.

The Pouliot PP goal tells the tale of several powerplays from this game.  Good things happen when you get pucks on net with simple plays.  Pretty sure all Lotz could see at that point was 28 right in his grill.  This play immediately brought me back to the middle of the 1st, where the 'Hawks had 1:30 of 5-on-3 time.  If memory serves, the 'Hawks were sitting on 6 shots on goal at the expiration of that powerplay - I'm not sure what they had to start it, but in my book you should get 6 shots in that 1:30 - not half of a period.  There has to be something more complicated than us everyday fans understand to powerplays, but we just want to see them shoot the damn puck.  Shoot the puck.

In the regular season, this team had the #10 PP at home, but the #2 PP on the road.  I'm not sure how they did on 2 man advantages, but we may have a skewed view of how the powerplay works due to the 5% difference when we don't get to watch them with our own eyes.  After two playoff games, the PP is clicking at 27.3% - which is hard to bitch about.

The "O" had some sweet pictures of this game.  Paul Buker's piece pointed out that the 'Hawks set a franchise record for least playoff shots against.- which is always a good time.

We had a nice discussion about Fredrik Olofsson, who was in attendance on a recruiting trip.  He had a pretty good year on Dominic Turgeon's old team.

The Everett paper does a live blog - which might be fun to drop by sometime.  Nick Patterson is their beat writer, although I get the impression he didn't come down for the first two games.

We'll be chatting during game 3 right here.  Our gracious host, Dylan Bumbarger would love to have you swing by.

Everett V Portland - Game 1

photo courtesy of WHL memes

I think its as easy as a couple defensive breakdowns + a hot goalie.

Video highlights here.

Scoresheet  here.

The obvious thing is that there's a lot of "SAVE BY LOTZ" in there - he had plenty of opportunities to shine.  He's in his draft year, and got some love from Central Scouting in November.  Yahoo! had him as the #1 star across the entire CHL.

I seem to remember at least two chances for Rattie in the 1st period that he should have buried that didn't make the highlight package.  Both times a lesser player wouldn't have scored, but we've seen Rattie feast on bad angle shots and bang-bang plays for years now.

I thought that Petan played really well defensively.  The play in the third where he banged a rebound off of the glass behind Carruth was a particularly nice play, as the conventional wisdom would be to advance the puck, which was the danger zone in this instance.

You look at the goals against the 'Hawks, and its hard to fault Carruth on any of them.   The first 'Tips goal was a rebound that kicked off of Rutowski's leg and in.

The second goal found Petan & Pouliot in the same spot, and just between you and me - Pouliot flamingos a little bit on that shot.  Its easy for me to say from my cushy Rose Garden seat, but there's a lot of hockey players who would rather attempt to block a shot like that than flamingo.  I wonder if Steve Kariya will bring that up today.

The 3rd goal was just a 3rd effort rebound goal by Kohl Bauml.  It went in 2 seconds after the powerplay expired, for what its worth.  Carruth makes the save, then the save on the rebound - get him some help. 

The game winning goal was off of a nice rush - looks like Seth Jones may have been victimized a little.  I know he's been on the big stage, winning several gold medals, but this was his first playoff game in major junior after all.

Lastly, there are several instances of hits on Leipsic & Rattie in that highlight package that the fans wanted calls on, and I'm with them.  Seems like you can do whatever you want to Leipsic and rarely get called.  I think that's largely due to reputation. 

Welcome to town, Travis Huntington!

Travis Huntington is the Director of Broadcasting and Public Relations for the Silvertips, as well as their PXP man.  In a previous life, he served in the same capacity for the  Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs of the Central Hockey League - and he was named CHL broadcaster of the year for 2011 & 2010.  

I like Huntington's work.  Of course, I was fortunate enough to see his predecessor Jon Rosen take his head phones off, turn around, and exchange pleasantries with Winter Hawk fans sitting behind him during a game some years ago, which was fun.

Anyway, here's Huntington's claim to fame:

It is my understanding, from the Marek VS Wyshynski  podcast that they still get "THAT WILL TEACH YOU TO RUN KEN CARROLL" references on the puck daddy blog.  Side note:  Todd Vrooman gets comments read on air from time to time on that show.

Mostly I heard this incident mentioned this week, and thought "I know that guy...." in reference to the epic PXP work, and felt it was worth sharing.