MONDAY REPORT » Fun With Numbers
By Mike Benton – Silvertips Play-by-Play
Finally, nice to talk about hockey again.
As we mentioned from our new studios (built out during the last 3 weeks) before the broadcast opened with the puck drop on Saturday night: there was energy across the board here since training camp. The players felt it, the coaches felt it, I felt it, and I’m certain as you kept your eyes glued to your screens at 6:05pm on Saturday night against Spokane, you felt it too.
Diving into the past week, by the numbers:
377: days between games. The Silvertips beat Seattle, 3-2 last year on March 8, then everything completely shut down. Let’s just say I seriously considered encouraging any of you tuning in to raise your glass at the screen, but I didn’t want to drown the moment. You wanted to see hockey, straightforward. You got it.
251: points in Cole Fonstad’s career (in 272 games! ** grimace emoji**). He passed the 250 mark with his second of three assists on Sunday at Tri-City.
140: minutes without allowing a goal. That’s the best two game stretch out of the gate in Silvertips history. Only time it came closer: 2006-07, when the Silvertips beat Chilliwack and Kamloops to start 2-0, outscoring them 6-1.
49: seconds into Sunday – that’s all it took for Olen Zellweger to make it 1-0. Let’s just say after playing Saturday night, traveling on game day over the unpredictable Snoqualmie Pass, they were ready.
40: Shots allowed through two games. Nobody’s better on average (20.0) in the WHL.
(Dustin Wolf has also stopped all of them.)
26: goals the Silvertips have scored against Tri-City, going back to last February. That covers the last 4 games.
22: career shutouts for Wolf. He’s now 2nd on the Silvertips all-time list, just surpassing Leland Irving.
9: goals scored through two games. Not too shabby.
5: players with 3 points or more to begin the season. Fonstad leads the pack with 4 (all on assists).
1: WHL Goaltender of the Week award given out in the U.S. Division. Wolf’s got the first.
Talk with you Wednesday vs. Tri-City (6:30pm pre-game on KRKO)!
