Today I'm obsessing about...

The Seattle Thunderbirds since they're in town tonight.  Again.  I hope to see another Calvin Pickard have another meltdown and lie like a babyhead in the crease again.  Ok, that's not true, necessarily.  It's tough for little Pick, being so good but on such a bad team.  But his moodiness does bring the LOLs.  See Portland?  I LOL at other teams too.  But if you want to think I'm "obsessed with all things Winterhawks", go ahead, keep flattering yourself.  I'm reminded of a quote from one of my all-time favorite movies, The Hunt for Red October--"It is wise to study the ways of one's adversary, don't you think?"

The T-Birds are sitting 4th in the division at 17-16-4-4, going 4-5-0-1 in their last 10.  They're mediocre.  But they do make teams work.  The last time they played and the Americans blew them out of the water 8-4, it was closer than the score would indicate for most of the game.  Seattle is certainly not a team that can be overlooked.  In the Americans' last 10 games, they've outscored their opponents something ridiculous like 50-10.  That's an estimate because I started screwing around with the numbers, debating if and how to take into account the two losses to Everett.  So whatever, it's still a ridiculous number.  That could be intimidating to a team coming into the Toyota Center.

As for what team will hit the ice tonight, will Ashton and MacKenzie be in the lineup?  Doesn't look like it:

MacKenzie should make his Tri-City debut Friday when the Ams host Kamloops. Ashton arrives in town Wednesday after playing in the World Junior Championships and also will be available either for Friday's game or by Saturday, when Tri-City hosts Vancouver. (Examiner)

Or maybe?

MacKenzie, 19, will fill a definite need as the Americans make a push for a fourth straight U.S. Division title, and he's excited to get to work. He will arrive in the Tri-Cities today, pull on his No. 5 sweater and face the Seattle Thunderbirds with his new teammates.

As for the trades yesterday, it was a great acquisition by Bob Tory.

"I'm excited to be going to a team that has a chance to go back to the finals," MacKenzie said. "We were pretty young this year in Calgary, and we've had some growing pains. It's definitely tough leaving -- I have so many memories with the Hitmen. They drafted me, and we won the league last year."

Whereas Carter Ashton, who will arrive in Kennewick on Wednesday, is taking a break after playing for Team Canada at the World Junior Championship, MacKenzie said it's better to dive right in.

"Honestly, you just want to get to the new city," he said. "It will be nice to jump into a game and bond with them. I'm pretty excited to play with them. We will have a superior set of forwards." (Herald)

The part that's hard to deal with is knowing Bob has added yet another 19-year-old (good) and there will only be room for 3 20s next year.  Yes, I'm quite glad he seems to be "going for it", believe you me.  But I don't want to think about the decisions to be made for next season.  Not at all.  Also hard to deal with is the drop in overall team hotness.  Not that MacKenzie is ugly, but he's no Brooks Macek and Spencer Humphries.  Srsly.

I had to LOL when I saw this (and I did):

With the move, the Ams get an upgrade on defense with MacKenzie while moving Macek will most likely mean more playing time for 16 year old Connor Rankin, which isn’t a bad thing for the Ams.  (After the Whistle)

Hilarious.  Granted, Rankin's been shuffled around going from the top line with Shinny and Hughey, to playing with Feser and Holland when Neal was still out.  He's been spending more time on the 4th line.  That's a credit to the depth of this team, that a kid with as much talent as Rankin pulling 4th line duty, and rocking it.  Like a boss.  So the movement of Macek may add a little more playing time for Rankin, but more likely creates room for Carter Ashton.  Rankin's time will increase because of the depth, that 4 lines can more consistently be rolled out.  So maybe I shouldn't have LOL'd quite so hard, but I found it to be quite funny.  Which led to the "obsessed" comment from Kemper.  I had to get in the closet and dig out my LOLler skates to go for a spin.

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Take note that Americans Zachary Yuen and Sam Grist are both on Central Scouting's Mid-term Rankings--Yuen at #87 and Grist at #119.  Awesome boys!  I hope to see them both drafted this summer in St. Paul.