Calvin Pickard during a rare, puck-free moment. (Photo Courtesy: Mick White, Kent Valley Sports)

This level-headed second-year goaltender withstood an onslaught of shots from the Tri City Americans. When the final horn sounded, the rest of the team mobbed him in jubilation. Look at the scoreboard and you see why they were so happy. The T-Birds had bested the Americans, 1-0. But look again, at the numbers underneath the score, under the letters that read: SOG. Under Seattle, it says: 20. Under Tri City, it says 57. No, that's not a typo or a glitch.

Calvin Pickard turned away 57 shots in a game that was physical right from the opening puck drop. The T-Birds and Americans do not like each other and both teams showed up fully ready to demonstrate just how deep that dislike runs. You know it's gonna be a scrappy night when T-Birds forward Prab Rai goes to the box TWICE in the first period, and Tri City D-man Spencer Humphries gets back-to-back penalties in the second.

Tri City dominated most of the first period, outshooting the T-Birds 25-5. Seattle came back in the second and kept most of the action down at the Americans' net and gave goaltender Drew Owsley a bit of a workout. As the clock wound down to the second intermission, T-Bird Sena Acolatse jammed the puck past Owsley following a flurry of shots at the 18 year old netminder. The buzzer sounded as the goal light started flashing, which meant the officials had to review the play to make sure the puck went in before time ran out. The ShoWare crowd erupted into cheers as the referee indicated that it did. Seattle also made a dent in the shots on goal deficit and ended the second period with 13 shots to Tri City's 16.

The third period brought a lot of action at both ends of the ice as well as an avalanche of shots at Pickard. The Americans tried to come at Calvin from every angle and each time, he denied them. He snatched pucks out of mid air with one gloved hand. He slapped them away with his pads. He fell on them. He caught them in his gut and doubled over. You name it, he stopped it. Over and over again. Down at Tri-City's end, the T-Birds were very aggressive, but for some reason, did not shoot. Okay, they recorded 2 shots on goal in the third, compared with 16 by the Americans. I think Head Coach Rob Sumner knows that this is an area that needs work. More on that later. The clock wound down and as the regulation buzzer sounded, Calvin jumped up and down in jubilation. His teammates skated madly over to him and collided in a big group hug. The three stars were announced. Brooks Macek from Tri City was the third star. The second star went to T-Bird Charles Wells. And everyone knew who was deserving of the Number One Star.

After receiving his medal and taking a picture, Calvin chatted with T-Birds play by play guy Thom Beuning, where he gave a lot of credit to his teammates, saying they stepped up and really helped turn shots away and keep Tri City from scoring. He also said he had a few "lucky bounces" that could have gone in but didn't. He said he tried to keep a clear head and track the puck. Again and again he went back to his teammates, praising them for blocking crucial shots everywhere.

Calvin, we understand you want to share glory with your fellow players, but you need to take off that mask and take a bow. By all means, put this game on the shelf and turn your focus to the next match, but for now, accept that you have an amazing talent. Accept that you recorded an amazing win and a shutout to boot. Then, you can go back about your business of preparing for the next game.

Coach Sumner heaped praise on Calvin and the guys, too, saying they worked hard to kill penalties and played better as the game went on. He praised Steve Chaffin for moving the puck up the ice through traffic in the waning seconds of the 2nd period and getting the puck to Sena Acolatse. He praised Sena for taking that puck and jamming it past Drew Owsley for the game's only goal. He also said there never should have been so many shots allowed and said, in his even-tempered way, that there's a lot of work that still needs to be done.

Remember, this year's T-Birds lineup includes about a half a dozen 16 year olds, who are learning the faster pace of the WHL, as well as adjusting to life away from their families and for some, a new school system. We can take the progress as it comes, even if it comes slowly. It took T-Birds grads, like Greg Scott, Jim O'Brien, Bud Holloway and Thomas Hickey a couple of years to become the stellar players they are now. They did it game by game, shift by shift. And that's how we're going to have to watch the T-Birds this season. Game by game. Shift by shift. And maybe even shot by shot.

The T-Birds travel to Spokane to face the Chiefs on Saturday, October 10th at 7:00pm. They return to ShoWare Center the next night to face the Tri City Americans again. The puck drops at 5:05pm and I'm excited to see who steps up on this night.

You can find more information about the Seattle Thunderbirds by clicking here.