The Thanksgiving holiday, for the NHL at least, often is used as a benchmark for projections going forward into the rest of the season. This is no different for the WHL, as teams this time of year look to find more consistency in their games going into the more strenuous months of the schedule. And of late for the Seattle Thunderbirds and Everett Silvertips, finding this consistency has been either hit or miss.
Weekend skirmishes
The Silvertips and Thunderbirds renewed acquaintances for the first time this season, meeting twice for a home-and-home Friday and Saturday. Luca Hauf gave the T-Birds the early lead on Friday, but four unanswered goals from the Silvertips, including two from Dominik Rymon, pushed Everett to the 4-1 victory.
The scene shifted to Kent on Saturday, with Everett starting Tyler Palmer for the second night in a row. The results would not follow the Tips to accesso ShoWare Center however, as T-birds netminder and Buffalo Sabres prospect Scott Ratzlaff stopped 42 of 43 Silvertips shots on goal. Performances from Eric Alarie (1g-2a—3p) and Sawyer Mynio (1g-1a—2p; GWG) helped lead the T-birds to a 4-1 win of their own.
Everett finished off its action-packed weekend with a Sunday showdown against the Portland Winterhawks. Despite an injury to Winterhawks starter Jan Spunar in the first period, two goals from Carter Sotheran brought them to a 6-4 victory. The Hawks have been simply dominant whenever the Silvertips have come into Veterans Memorial Coliseum, having won 12 consecutive regular-season and playoff games, a streak dating back to November, 2021.
Weekday Melees
The T-Birds began another back-to-back on Tuesday in Tri-City, which turned out to be a night they would rather forget. Despite putting 34 shots on goaltender Lukas Matecha, none found their way through. Tri-City forward Jordan Gavin’s three-point night helped the Americans steam past the T-birds, 5-0. Gavin’s big night extended his point streak to four games, recording 10 points (5g-5a—10p) during that span.
Finishing off the back-to-back, Seattle hosted Kelowna in Kent Wednesday night. The T-birds struggled to find the back of the net once again, with 36 shots on goal on the night and only one squeaking past Rockets netminder Jari Kykkanen. The goal was courtesy of Eric Alarie. Despite the offensive struggles of late for the Birds, one would be all they needed on this night as Ratzlaff stopped all 19 shots he faced. An empty netter sealed the 2-0 win for Seattle, and Ratzlaff collected his seventh career WHL shutout.
Taking I-5 north Wednesday night, Everett looked to bounce back after the weekend mishaps, and early on, they were in the driver’s seat against the Saskatoon Blades. Despite an early goal from the Blades, Silvertips forwards Austin Roest (2) and Dominic Rymon continued their goal-scoring prowess, giving Everett an early 3-1 lead after one period, a lead they would not relinquish. Palmer stopped 26 of 28 shots on net by the Blades, helping Everett ease its way to a 6-2 victory. With their fifth-straight home victory, the Silvertips improved to 10-2-1 at Angel of the Winds Arena this season.
U.S. Division performer of the week
Buffalo Sabres prospect Matt Savoie made a big impact for the Wenatchee Wild this week, who won all three games played. In his first full week back in the WHL, he contributed 8 points (4g-4a—8p) in those three games against Spokane, Prince Albert, and Saskatoon.
Kraken prospect highlight
What more is there to say about Jagger Firkus? The highly touted forward from the Moose Jaw Warriors fell to the Kraken in the second round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, and since the selection, he has been sensational for the Warriors. In just 21 games so far this season, Firkus leads the WHL with 22 goals and 43 points, averaging just over a goal per game. This production is garnering some national attention, as Firkus appeared at No. 48 in TSN’s Top 50 Under-24 rankings this week.
Other notable players with P.N.W. roots that made appearances: Matty Beniers, Dustin Wolf (formerly with Everett), and Kevin Korchinski (formerly with Seattle).
The week ahead
Saskatoon continues its biannual U.S. Division journey, continuing through Seattle, Portland, Tri-City, and Spokane. Seattle will be idle starting after Saturday’s game in Kelowna. Meanwhile, Everett takes on Portland once more before heading up to Kamloops and Prince George.
Header photo courtesy of Seattle Thunderbirds.
How come the Thunderbirds have played so few games at this point. They are 8 games behind Wenatchee and Calgary.