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Thread: Gagnon, other things

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Default Gagnon, other things

    In The Corners
    with Thom Beuning

    (From today"s T-Birds release)

    Can the Thunderbirds win without Aaron Gagnon? They are about to find out. The injury Gags suffered in the first period Tuesday night in Saskatoon is going to cost him significant playing time. In their first two games without him in the lineup the T-Birds could only muster two goals. The rest of the team, not just one player, is going to have to pick up the offense. That means the new line combinations are going to have to come together quickly. Brett Robertson was a 20-goal scorer last season in Medicine Hat. He’ll need to be that kind of offensive threat for Seattle. Bud Holloway, Jan Eberle, and Greg Scott all are on pace for 20 goals. The two guys who need to step up now are David Richard and Lindsay Nielsen (once he’s back from injury). They are both capable goal scorers. The wild card for Seattle is Prab Rai. I think the trade for Rai becomes huge now. He has a scoring touch and he’s going to get the opportunity now to provide some goals.

    Not sure if the Eastern Swing is the highlight of the season but it usually provides some of the season’s most memorable moments and usually not for what happens on the ice. A few years ago the Thunderbirds began their swing out east with a stop in Kamloops; only they got stopped on the way up by a couple of jack knifed semis on the Coquahala Pass and didn’t arrive in Kamloops until 8:30 p.m. for a 7:00 p.m. game. Now, while they lost that game versus the Blazers on a late goal, all things considered they played very well that night and their only other loss the rest of the trip was on a disputed overtime goal in Brandon.

    So, hopefully that means the team is in line for similar success on this year’s swing through the Eastern Division. The T-Birds bus was making great time on the way to Saskatoon. After driving through the night and stopping in Cranbrook for breakfast Sunday morning the team bus was about 25 kilometers from the summit of the Crow’s Nest Pass when white out conditions and an accident turned them around. This meant a detour a back to Cranbrook and up north toward Calgary, an adventure that added three hours onto the trip. Fortunately there was no game until Tuesday, so there was no sense of urgency.

    Surprisingly the only time the bus had to chain up was about a half hour into the trip. Chains were required going across Snoqualmie Pass but only for about a mile as the snow plows cleared the way. It was snow from there all the way to the east slopes of the Canadian Rockies. There was barely a hint of snow though in Calgary where the team stopped for dinner Sunday night. Of course the silver lining to the three-hour detour was a chance to have that dinner at the Silver Dragon restaurant in downtown Calgary. Although, calling it dinner is a bit of a misnomer, this meal was, as always, a feast.

    The brief respite from the snow was just that, brief. A little farther east into the prairies and the snow returned along with frigid temperatures. So, 26 hours after they departed the practice rink at Kingsgate in Kirkland, the team arrived at the hotel in Saskatoon at 4:30 Monday morning and, despite the best pleadings of the coaches, Isak Quakenbush’s chocolate-covered almonds were still safe and would at least make the journey to Prince Albert.

    The question now is how dramatically will the lineups of some of the teams the T-Birds faces on this trip be altered with this week’s trade deadline upon us? It doesn’t appear there is going to be any blockbuster deal. Vancouver acquiring the rights to Wacey Rabbit from Saskatoon may be the loudest shot fired. No surprise there as the Giants were looking for more scoring punch. Credit the Blades G.M. Lorne Molleken for getting something (Kenton Dulle and a future 2nd round bantam pick) from Vancouver for a player that wasn’t on the Saskatoon roster and wasn’t going to play for the Blades this season.
    _____________________
    Tipped Off

  2. #2

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    Also, the team was stranded in Saskatoon yesterday in our big blizzard, and had to spend the night in Stoon, missing their game in PA because all highways were shut down. Sounds like they always have bad luck on this road trip. Just hope it stays to delays instead of accidents.

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