The Seattle Thunderbirds season is about 1/6 over so we decided to take a peek at the stats we’ve been tracking to see if anything jumps out. We’ll probably do this every 12-18 games and give a quick examination of the numbers. This isn’t meant to single out specific player(s), we’re just looking for patterns or trends. Also, if you have a question that you think we can answer based on the stats we track, please feel free to ask. We’ll do our best to answer.

We keep 7 sets of stats:

• TBird Stats
• Opponent Stats
• Game Results
• 3 Stars
• Plus/Minus
• Penalties
• Shootout

TBird Stats
Inside this stat set, we keep track of who scores the goals, who has the assists, which goalie they scored on, how fast they sore on the power play, what type of goal it was, and a couple other things.

F Mathew Barzal leads the team with 3PPG. 2 were 5 on 4, 1 was 5 on 3. All 3 were scored :18 or fewer into the power play.

Barzal leads the team with 7 assists. However, F Justin Hickman has 4 primary assists (the last pass before the goal) which is most on the team.

Seattle has scored a goal in the final 5 minutes of a game 5 times. 1 was into an empty net (9/19), 3 have tied the game (10/3, 10/10, 10/18) and 1 was their only goal of the game (10/17).

The fastest two goals of the season were :38 apart and that was in the last game (10/18) against Kamloops.

F Ryan Gropp has 6 goals, the team leader. Each of his 6 goals have had a different player with the primary assist (F Keegan Kolesar, F Sam Mckechnie, D Ethan Bear, F Justin Hickman, unassisted, F Scott Eansor)

G Brendan Burke (Portland) and G Garrett Hughson (Spokane) have given up the most goals to the TBirds. Each has given up 5 goals; Hughson in 3 GP, Burke in 2 GP.

Seattle has scored the first goal in a game twice. D Ethan Bear did it on 10/4 vs Kelowna and Barzal did it on 10/14 vs Spokane. The TBirds did not win either game.

3 out of 4 Barzal goals have been at ShoWare Center. He is the leading goal scorer at home for Seattle.

Opponent Stats

A little tougher to find patterns here but that is to be expected given that the opponent isn’t a constant. Same stats are kept here as in the TBird Stats set.

Fastest two goals scored by an opponent was by Kamloops on 10/18. They scored :52 apart in the second period.

2 players have had 4 assist nights versus the TBirds: F Jay Merkley (Kelowna) on 10/4 and F Cole Ully (Kamloops) on 10/18.

22 out of 31 GA have been even-strength goals. Seattle has given up 1 shorthand goal and 8 power play goals.

Game Results

In this stat set, we track the day, date, attendance, shots for and against both total and by period, goals for and against both total and by period, power play opportunity and goal totals both for and against, shorthanded goals for and against, total penalties both for and against in both minutes and penalties.

Seattle has out shot their opponent 5 times this season but have been out shot in their last 4 games. When they out shoot their opponent, they are 3-2. When they are out shot, they are 1-3-1-1.

Average attendance so far at ShoWare Center, through 5 games: 4263.2
Average attendance so far on the road, through 6 games: 5605.17

TBirds average shots allowed by period: 9.64-9.82-9.45-2.4
TBirds average goals allowed by period: .82-1.18-.73-.2
Those numbers pretty much stand to reason. If you give up more shots, chances are you are giving up more goals. It shows a bit more of a defensive effort in the 3rd period.

TBirds average shots for by period: 8.09-8.73-9.09-2.2
TBirds average goals for by period: .27-1.09-.73-.2
This one shows a little difference. The TBirds get more shots off in the 3rd period but don’t score as often. Given the amount of one goal games, if Seattle starts scoring in the 3rd on those shots, outcomes could change.

Seattle averages 4 power plays per game and .73 power play goals per game.
Seattle allows 4 power plays per game and .73 power play goals per game.

3 stars

This one is pretty straightforward. It keeps track of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd stars in the building. G Taran Kozun is the only TBird to be 1st star more than once.

Barzal has been 1 of the 3 stars 5 times, most on the team.

Only 2 games (9/26, 10/15) have had no TBird named as one of the 3 stars.

1 game (10/14) had all 3 stars from Seattle.

Plus/Minus

This stat set keeps track of goal scorers, assists, whether there is a man advantage, and who for Seattle earned a plus or minus on that goal, if applicable.

Of the 22 goals that Seattle has given up that earns a minus, D Jerret Smith was on the ice for 13 of them.

Of the 16 goals that Seattle has scored that earns a plus, Smith has been on the ice for 8 of them. D Jared Hauf has also been on for 8 of them.

Smith is the only player to be on the ice for both the 1 shorthanded goal against and the 2 shorthanded goals for this season.

Basically, Smith plays a lot of minutes in all situations and his +/- number isn’t necessarily indicative of the quality of his play.

Penalties

In this stat set, we keep track of penalties called on only Seattle players. Also whether that penalty resulted in a power play and if a goal was scored on that power play.

Hauf has taken the most penalties with 8. That number is a bit fuzzy, however, depending on how you count his check to the head major that was rescinded. If erased completely, he has 7 along with D Evan Wardley.

Roughing has been called the most often against Seattle, 14 times. Tripping is next with 10.

Of the penalties that have resulted in an opposition PP, tripping is the culprit most often. That penalty has resulted in 10 opponent power plays. Next is hooking with 6 power plays from that call.

Of the penalties that have resulted in an opposition PPG, tripping is responsible for 4 out of the 8 power play goals against. The other 4 have been charging, hooking, interference and slashing.

The earliest penalty in a game so far was :46 into the 1st period on 9/19 by Hauf for unsportsmanlike conduct. The latest penalty taken in a game was at 17:19 of the 3rd period on 9/19 by Gropp for roughing.

Shootout
This stat set simply keeps track of the shooters, the goalies and the result of all rounds of the shootout.

Barzal and Kolesar are the only 2 TBirds shooters to take part each of the 3 shootouts so far.

Seattle has scored 3 goals in the shootout so far this year. Barzal has 2 and F Donovan Neuls has 1.

Kozun has been the goalie in all 3 shootouts so far. He has let in 2 goals on 8 shots.

Thunderbirds have won the 2 shootouts where they have shot second and lost the only shootout where they shot first.