Watch out, Pessimistic Patty's here

Ok, not really.  Well, maybe a little.

From listening to Westy call the game, it sounded like the Americans dominated the game.  Shots were 41-26 in favor of the AMS.  That's nothing to be pessimistic about, though how many of those were quality shot, I have no idea.  They just didn't get the bounces, and the 'Hawks did.  Or something besides bounces.  They got good goaltending and the best tandem in the league was less than brilliant (as was the support in front of them).

From Oregonlive blogger Dylan Bumbarger:

Tri-City was the slightly better team in the first half of the game, and the significantly better team in the second half of the game. At least three and maybe four Winterhawk goals came against the run of play. They may have done well to keep the Americans from getting a lot of 'A' chances, but they gave up a ton of 'B' chances.

Yes, there were stretches where they played well, especially the Johansen line, but as the game went on the Winterhawks gradually went back to the trading-chances style of play which had them 0-6 versus the Americans coming in. The goals just didn't go in for TC. Which you'd expect--the Winterhawks shouldn't lose every run-and-gun game with these guys.

It's a win on the scoreboard, and maybe that in itself is a good first step. But if this is considered a good game versus Tri-City, we've got no chance against them in the playoffs.

There have been some (myself included) that say the team is missing some passion, some heart.  I don't know if that is an entirely accurate statement.  Seriously, they controlled the game.  The come-from-behind game in Vancouver, that showed heart.  I just wonder if it's enough.

Some have said this team isn't built for the playoffs and I'm beginning to wonder.  No, I'm not jumping off any bandwagon or anything like that, and it's nothing I can put my finger on per se.  It's not just one thing--it's inconsistency, it's lazy play, it's stupid penalties, it's a sometimes ineffective power play, it's lack of passion and heart, it's a lack of goalie support, it's coaching--it's all these little things that add up to give me a sense of nervous time (DRINK!) when it comes to a.) the rest of the season and b.) the playoffs.

It sucks having to see them come-from-behind so often, but at the same time, they rarely quit completely.  There's usually at least some semblance of passion there when fighting to get back into the game.  But momentum is a tricky thing, and so is luck.  Look at last night, they had the momentum, they had the shots, but no luck.  

While we're talking about heart, let's look at the Feser-Prokop-Wilgosh line.  This is a line that never quits, never takes even a shift off, works their asses off.  They don't always get rewarded in the goal department for their work, though they did last night with four points between them.

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In other news, Friday is Breast Cancer Awareness night and if you were at Tuesday's game you saw a preview of the jerseys.  The AMS also now have a preview available on their site, here's a screen cap:

They're pretty snazzy and I like the use of the navy blue so the pants don't look so ridiculous.  It's one of the better designs they've had.  

I just hope the ice isn't Pepto-Bismol pink.  Try subtle, subtle is ok.  There will also be shirts for sale (they were available at Tuesday's game also).  Speaking of shirts, huge thanks to all who purchased their BCA shirts from my Zazzle site.  As mentioned, since I have to go through Zazzle the proceeds don't amount to much, however every little bit helps and the Tri-Cities Cancer Center Foundation will be receiving at least $25 from me for the shirt sales.  I'll keep the BCA designs up there and whenever any of them sell the profits will go to the Foundation.