DirtyBirds, Shinnigizer, and more

I think it was a tale of young goalies--Cotton and Comrie were both quite good last night.  Brendan Shinnimin's red-hot goal scoring streak was ended, though not for a lack of trying.  His point streak didn't end though as he earned 2 helpers.  It appeared the DirtyBirds'* game plan was to take out Shinny from the start.  Which I get, I guess, but it seems very, I dunno, unsportsmanlike to try to take out one of the best players by trying to injure him instead of being good enough to neutralize his play.  Whatever, the Shinnigizer Bunny** still out played them all.

I've been interested in exactly how many minutes Brendan logs a game so I asked RL to help me out.  She logged him (it was inexact, but pretty close) at 8:41 in the first, 8:38 in the 2nd, and 6:47 in the third.  If I did the math right (which I most likely did not) that comes to 24:25 minutes for the game.  I suspect that's a bit lower than normal because of Seattle's physicality, but not by much.  I'll be interested to see (if RL or anyone else is willing to keep track) what his time is on Friday against Portland.  Though I'm sure their game plan will be much the same as far as Shinny's concerned.

"Sometimes a quick start is a blessing and a curse," said Tri-City coach Jim Hiller, whose team finished 9-1 against Seattle this season. "We relaxed a bit and they were stride for stride with us the rest of the way."

Comrie picked up his 19th win of the season and is 6-1 against Seattle.

"I've played them a lot and I understand what they do," Comrie said of the Thunder-birds. "I know their systems and their plays. I'm happy to have 19 wins. I give full credit to my team, they go out and score a lot of goals." (Herald)

Sportsnet has a great piece today on the Winnipeggers that have found success in Tri-Cities--it's a long article so I've picked a few parts to pique your interest.  Then you need to go read it, it's good stuff.:

After originally pledging his allegiance to the Americans, Toews would indeed take his game south of the border, but to play college hockey at North Dakota instead of the WHL.

He never played a game for the Americans, but his impact on the organization is still profound. Growing up in the WHL's eastern-most city, Winnipeg, Man., Toews drew scouts to an area often overlooked. It caught the attention of Bob Tory, the team's general manager and part-owner, and it's a market still providing the Americans with immense riches.

[...]

"It started with Jonathan Toews when we drafted him and the amount of time I spent recruiting him and watching players and it just sort of developed on its own," Tory said. "Winnipeg had a very good minor hockey system and there were a lot of players that slipped through the bantam draft."

Their overagers are childhood friends Brendan Shinnimin, Adam Hughesman and Mason Wilgosh. Hughesman was the only of the three to be drafted and was joined by Wilgosh for his rookie season five years ago. Shinnimin weighed his options as an undrafted player with invitations to training camp by nearly half the teams in the league in 2006. He attended Tri-City's camp with plans on then going to Regina's, until Tory added him to his protected player list.

"It definitely made it a comfortable transition," says Shinnimin, who had played on a bantam team with future Americans Jason Gardiner, Tyler Schmidt and Eric Mestery, among others. "It was kind of like a home away from home."

[...]

"There are a lot of players that develop later and … slip through the cracks," Tory said. "A lot of hockey is about opportunity and then it's about the commitment the athlete has to pursue their dreams to get better. There couldn't be a better example than Brendan Shinnimin."

Perhaps not coincidentally, the Americans are one of junior hockey's best-run outfits. With Sunday's win over Seattle, the Americans reached the 90-point plateau for the sixth-consecutive year, a feat that defies junior hockey's template where this year's contenders are next season's rebuilders.  (Sportsnet, seriously, click the link)

And the last (but never least) bit today regarding our Brendan Shinnimin, the guys over at the Pipeline Show interviewed him, here's the link.  I admit, I haven't listened to it because my work computer doesn't have Quicktime.  Yay antiquated equipment!!  So take a listen, let me know how it goes, I'll check it out after work.

Alan Caldwell, who sadly hasn't been blogging much but I totally understand when real life gets in the way, believe you me, has taken a look at the playoff picture and remaining games for all the teams, it's an interesting look.  I was talking with Tufnel just the other night about this (he looked up the Ams' info before Caldwell did, how hipster), but the Ams have what some *might* consider an easier schedule the rest of the way out--more home games than away, and a couple meetings with teams like Everett, Seattle, and Prince George.  Now, mind you, none of these games will be easy, the three listed there are fighting to get into the playoffs so they're going to make some stiff competition.  Here's Alan's look at the Americans, follow the link for all the other WHL teams as well.

Currently first in the conference and first overall. Locked in a tight three-way battle with Kamloops and Portland for the top three seeds in the conference (of course Kamloops can not finish below 2nd).

Remaining schedule (10 games):
Home (6): Seattle, Portland, Prince George, Prince George, Everett, Spokane
Away (4): Everett, Portland, Vancouver, Spokane
(Small Thoughts At Large)

Now, changing the subject a bit, I just want to know one thing.  Who the hell in their right mind HONESTLY thinks that a group of teenage boys would get together and make a decision to salute the fans by jerking off their sticks?  I mean, think about it.  Granted, some teenage boys don't always make good life choices, but you cannot be serious in thinking that the guys would ever even consider such a thing.  Is the bonesaw thing a bit unusual?  Sure.  Suggestive?  Meh, if you have it in your mind that it is, I suppose.  Unique?  Definitely.  Apparently some killjoys have decided it's completely offensive.  To which I say get a damn clue.  I direct you to the origin of the bonesaw idea:

That's right, it's from Spiderman. Pay close attention to the :33 second mark, 1:08 mark, and 2:48. That's the bonesaw. I am pretty sure I do not need to embed a video of jerking off for people to get the idea that they are very different.

Also, I cannot believe I even have to address this. This is why we can't have nice things. I will say KUDOS to the boys for doing it to salute the home crowd last night, we love you and we love the bonesaw!!***

*ass-pat to JBizzle for the DirtyBirds

**ass-pat to Thump for Shinnigizer Bunny

***I don't doubt that some people love jerking off too, but this is not a p0rn site