Playoffs not an impossible task for Thunderbirds, but it won’t be easy

Unlike the movie and television show, the mission of making the playoffs for the Seattle Thunderbirds is not impossible, nor will this message self-destruct in five seconds.

It’s not impossible but its not going to be easy either.

Coming into this weekend’s three-games-in-three-nights grind, the Thunderbirds hold onto to the last Western Conference playoff spot by just one point over the Kamloops Blazers. With just 14 games left in the regular season, that’s the good news.

The bad news is that Kamloops has a game in hand and on paper, the easier road down the stretch.

Of the Blazers remaining 15 games, nine come against the weaker B.C. Division and seven are against teams with losing records. Seattle’s only remaining game against a team with a sub .500 record is its March 1^st home game against the Blazers – a game that looms as a must win.

The Thunderbirds host Red Deer at the accesso ShoWare Center Friday night and that will be their last game against a non-Western Conference opponent. Their final 14 games include one against Vancouver (leading the B.C. Division), four more against Everett (leading the U.S. Division) and four against Portland (second in U.S. Division).

Seattle hosts Everett Saturday before heading down to Portland Sunday to complete the grueling weekend.

The games against Seattle’s two rivals have been the toughest this season. The Thunderbirds will need to find a way to scrape out some points against them if they wish to make the playoffs.

Everett has been a bad match up for the Thunderbirds this year. The Silvertips have won all six of the season series’ contests – Seattle has earned one point for an early overtime loss — and the games haven’t been close for the most part.

The Silvertips have outscored Seattle 27-8 in the season series this year – piling up 18 goals against the Thunderbirds in the last three games. In those games, the Silvertips have averaged just under 40 shots on goal per game while the Thunderbirds just 29.

Seattle has matched Everett for stretches within games, for a period or two, but with the exception of Dec. 8^th, 2-1 Silvertips win, have not competed the entire 60 minutes with Everett. The Thunderbirds will need to find a way to do that, starting Saturday night at home.

Against Portland, the Thunderbirds have been slightly better.

The Thunderbirds are 2-5-1-0 against Portland this season and the games have been closer, with the Winterhawks holding a 36-28 scoring edge in the series. Seattle will get a chance to improve Sunday in a game at the Moda Center in Portland – where they have yet to win a game this season.

Key injuries that Seattle is dealing with are not making the job any easier.

Seattle is missing two of its top-six forwards in Dillon Hamaliuk and Nolan Volcan. Hamaliuk is out for the season and Volcan is listed as week-to-week so his return is still up in the air. On defense, the Thunderbirds are without Simon Kubicek, who was injured last weekend and is listed day-to-day.

The top guys for Seattle have been playing well, however.

Matthew Wedman leads the team in scoring with 28 goals and 57 points and has been on a tear of late. He has five goals and eight points over the last five games and will be leaned on again this weekend. Right behind him, Noah Philp, who centers the second line, has 56 points and a four-game point streak going.

Andrej Kukuca continues his strong second half that has seen him pile up 12 goals and seven assists since returning from the World Juniors on Jan. 6^th.

The Thunderbirds are getting production out of their top three players but to pick up points this weekend, they will need the rest of the cast to chip in. Overall the team is playing better since the start of the calendar year with a 10-8-1-1 record.

Will that be good enough to get into the playoffs?

We will soon find out and it starts Friday night against the Red Deer Rebels.

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