The Seattle Thunderbirds were already having a difficult start to the 2009-10 WHL season.
So it was cruel fate when the T-birds were afflicted with illness at the most inopportune moment.
The T-birds were struck by a major case of the flu during their long road trip through the Central Division, leaving Seattle scrambling to field a lineup throughout.
“It’s tough,” Seattle coach Rob Sumner told the Medicine Hat News after the T-birds lost 11-2 to the Tigers on Saturday. “We were undermanned, underfueled, whatever you want to call it tonight.”
Much of Seattle’s roster was stricken by the time the T-birds played their third game of the six-game trip. Seattle had as many as six players unavailable for games because of the flu, and several others played through the illness.
In Friday’s game in Lethbridge the T-birds had to call up 16-year-olds Connor Sanvido and Zach Walker, and still Seattle played a player short. Despite the missing players the T-birds managed to defeat the Hurricanes 4-3.
But that was Seattle’s only success while battling the flu. The T-birds went 1-4-0-1 during the road trip. That included the 11-2 loss against Medicine Hat and a 7-1 loss to Edmonton, heaping more misery on a team that, at 4-11-1-2, has the second-worst record in the league.
Sumner told the News he did not know whether the flu was caused by the H1N1 virus. The visiting locker room at the Medicine Hat Arena was disinfected by arena staff after the T-birds departed.
“Their guys played hard,” a sympathetic Medicine Hat coach Willie Desjardins told the News. “They didn’t quit. They just got bad breaks. You have to have a lot of respect for them.
“They battled. They were finishing their checks at the end. They were just down. They just didn’t have a lot of energy.”
Having a team struck by the flu is rough. Having it happen when the team has to share a bus on long rides made it doubly so.
“We’ve been doing all the regular stuff,” Sumner told the News. “We have been trying to keep the obvious sick guys away from the guys who haven’t been, but that is really tough to do.”
Around the WHL
The Prince George Cougars underwent some musical chairs with their goaltending position. Eighteen-year-old James Priestner, who had been Prince George’s No. 1, decided to retire from hockey. Meanwhile, the Cougars pried 18-year-old Hudson Stremmel away from Colorado College to replace Priestner. … A book about the history of the Regina Pats titled “Junior Hockey’s Royal Franchise: The Regina Pats,” was released last Thursday. Regina is Canada’s oldest major-junior team, dating back to 1917. … The Portland Winterhawks are talking with local government leaders about renovating the Memorial Coliseum, where the Winterhawks play the majority of their games. Portland has regularly butted heads with local government and the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers over arena issues. … Saskatoon’s Stefan Elliott was named the WHL Player of the Week. The 18-year-old defenseman had two goals, four assists and was a plus-8 as the Blades went 4-0.
League leaders
Points — Brandon Kozun (Calgary) 31; goals — Cody Eakin (Swift Current), Bretton Cameron (Medicine Hat) 17; assists — Kozun 22; penalty minutes — Randy McNaught (Saskatoon) 70; wins — Drew Owsley (Tri-City) 12; goals against average — Michael Snider (Calgary) 2.11; save percentage — Cam Lanigan (Edmonton) .928.
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
