Now that we have had a good look

[aaAlta]

Buddy, how can you say nobody can control them offensively. They got shut out on Sunday. Sure Evs goalie was good and the second was a mess, but I think you're overstating things a bit. Theres still work to be done up front too.

And with Wutzke gone now, you're down a little more physicality up there as well. Against strong teams you are not just going to fly and funnel to the net, or around and out of the corners. Being a Tri fan I hope you are all right. But I just dont think feeling the offense is unbeatable is a really healthy attitude at this stage.

[Stay-Puft]

After watching this weekend, there is potential up front. But here's my rub. I didn't see the consistancy among the older players. There's no guarantee that Fast and/or Yellowhorn will be back, which are arguably the most consistant players on the roster. I don't have a lot of confidence in the other returnees, other than Pro, to be the best players night in and night out. There is also the possibility that Toll, Schmidt and Mestery could be the senior members of the blueline. I know we just traded for a couple of d-men, added a couple for this past weekend, and there's McColm, but they don't have a year's worth of WHL games between them. The senior members wouldn't have been this young since Belle, Stoner, Festerling and Stevenson were back there as 16s and 17s. And I really don't see a clear number one in net yet either. I think Pickard will start the year, but I feel there will be a on-going rotation until someone starts to separate themselves.

As is, I'm expecting a competitive team, but I think there will be some growing pains early. I think that they will start to blossom in the 2nd half though, which would be exciting for the rest of the year. Of course, it will all depend on if Fast and/or Yellowhorn return, in which I would expect a faster start and fewer pains. For now, I'll go with Everett on top, followed by Spokane, Tri, Seattle, and Portland.

[Buddy]

Buddy, how can you say nobody can control them offensively. They got shut out on Sunday. Sure Evs goalie was good and the second was a mess, but I think you're overstating things a bit. Theres still work to be done up front too.

And with Wutzke gone now, you're down a little more physicality up there as well. Against strong teams you are not just going to fly and funnel to the net, or around and out of the corners. Being a Tri fan I hope you are all right. But I just dont think feeling the offense is unbeatable is a really healthy attitude at this stage.

It simple aaAlta.....the team on the ice sunday is no where near the team that will be there opening night .......I believe Yellowhorn will be back and is a 50 goal scorer I believe Pro is capable of 40 to 50 goals.......I believe Felde or Vey both are capable of 30 plus goals......our rookies are all capable and tho not 40 goal guys guys led by Broda....hoff....Reddick.....McCauley are all capable of 15 to 30 goals......I see with the guys I just mentioned there is 3 if not 4 lines on the ice all capable of scoring ........does this mean we will never have low scoring games .....of course not .......but you put any team up against us in a season series I dont see anyone shutting us down on a regular basis....yes it will happen on occasion but I believe they will be few and far between. Now, add some defense and watch out!!

[aaAlta]

Ok buddy, cool, I get what you're saying. Lets go with that. I guess i was feeling like we really needed fast and yellowhorn back, or else. As I expect the other teams to have some quality returns as well. And i still would like to see some strength and punch added at both F and D. But I'm looking forward to see how it comes together and how they move along as the season progresses.

[Buddy]

All that said if Chet and Birch dont get some help I see us losing a lot of games 7-5 7-6 if you get my meaning.......After sunday's everett debacle I have changed my view on needing an enforcer........It should be up to one guy to be able to go out there and put a stop to the cheap ***** instead of half of our team imploding........so lets hope we get Fast back and the new guys from Kamloops can help out.......

Buddy

[AmsPhotos]

Broda has been, by far in my opinion, the most impressive veteran. Everyone has said he is chiseled physically and he really looks confident out there this year. I think he will have a breakthrough season this year and will establish himself as a top 10 offensive forward in the western conference.

[AMSRocker]

but very effective one was Blair Macaulay. Don gave him several pats on the back durring the Tips game. I like his size and speed. He will be another key elliment here in Tri.

[aaAlta]

Ok, so on the enforcer thing. I think its good to have more balanced team strength and response. So you have enough in the line to just play wide open/hard hitting, or close checking/agressive, to sorting out crap if necessary with a couple middleweights. Yes you want to have a heavyweight, that can still play, but you also want to be able to respond in a more fluid way.

You dont always want to have to drop the bomb when the going gets rough. And I dont think I agree with your thinking that Tri imploded in the Everett game Sunday. Who lost their cool? We have no idea what words were exchanged between Beach and Pro, so forget that response. But the score was more a factor of Beach getting the puck alone at the net twice. (clear break out of the penalty box and I think that was him who intercepted a cross ice on the door step too.).

[AMSRocker]

I'm not going to put to much thought into the loss to Everett. It was a preseason loss and that said it is not worth a hill of beans. Play the kids and the vets that might be traded...preseason...

As far as team toughness I think that we are sitting good. Not great but good. I would like to see Bob pick up a scrapper but it is not so high on my list as it was a few weeks ago. Schmidt, Gorman, Broda, McColm and maybe Macaulay will answer the call if a scrap is needed. I don't want to see our D-men getting into it though given our blue line situation! With all the new tallent that is comming in it looks like they want to play the kids and get them going on the AMS systems. I can't see Bob selling off any of the great new kids at all. I don't know... Maybe one tough guy but he MUST be able to hold down the back end!