Portland Winter Hawks 1
November 19, 2008
Everett, WA - Comcast Arena
I really should have been to more Silvertips games by now.
It is sort of disappointing that I have only been to three games now that the Silvertips are in their 6th season. There have been a couple times I would have gone but I was actually shut out at the box office due to sell outs ... but still.
Also, I have never been one for the bobble head doll craze. I have a Landon Donovan San Jose Earthquakes one that was given to me and a Kaz Matsui New York Mets one I got at Shea Stadium in 2004 when Bob and I went to a game and found out the promotion was for kids 14 and under or something so we bought them off of a couple kids.
So, when double checking the internets to make sure of the game time and ticket availability I noticed that there were rules posted for bobble head distribution. It became clear that I could be one of the first 1,000 fans if I put in a little work. By work, it meant that I had to get there early and stand in line.
It was a cold evening, but dry, so I made the trek up to Everett a bit earlier than normally necessary. The second benefit of going early was I got a good parking spot, so that was nice too. Had it been raining, I might not have stood there for 70 minutes. But I did and I got the doll and all was well ... accept when I had to use the restroom. Multi-tasking at a public urinal is not something I prefer to have to do.
I got a center ice seat for fifteen bucks, courtesy of the Pink Panthers gift card, and enjoyed the game. It is a good thing that I brought my radio and headphones, because I would have gone screaming nuts on all the cowbells. Yes, more cowbell is fun and all, but even BOC would have tired of it. A little goes a long way when 17 people have cowbells in your section. Even with the really terrible reception I was getting in Comcast Arena it was better than the ever present bell ringing. Plus, I got to hear the Simpson's joke the radio guy made that was actually kind of clever and he admitted he had been waiting all game to say ... The Silvertips had a Simpson in goal and the Winter Hawks had a player named Milhouse ...
The early power play goal by Everett set the tone in what turned into a rout. The Silvertips scored on their first three power plays and killed off the ones Portland got and with the score 3-0 after one and 5-0 after two the tension for the third was pretty much could they get a shutout. Less than a minute into the third that was settled when a Portland player broke free and scored from the left wing a nice wrist shot to the upper far post. Other than that, Portland didn't do much to threaten.
Of course there was a late fight and scuffle. The two teams play again two days later and 8 more times this season, so Portland could not afford to get pounded and just appear to roll over. It was quick and pretty much obviously an effort to save face.
The announced crowd was 4,609 for a Wednesday night hockey game in Everett. I remember when the Mariners would draw that midweek during the summer for games in the Kingdome. Everett is a real success story for the WHL.
Each team has NHL draft picks and it is clear who those players were from watching and not even checking. However, there are a number of players with future draft potential. There is some good hockey being played these days in the WHL.
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