My impression of the Tips early season is that it is a team trying to find their identity. Not a surprise considering the coaching/philosophy change. We are scoring more but struggling defensively. This is compounded by the goalie situation which before the season started looked to be a strength (Hart and Wolf) of which neither are or will be factors for the first month of the season. Secondly, of the 8 defensemen on the roster only two have more than one years experience at WHL level. While we have become accustomed to great starts from the Tips in recent years this year may be different. Maybe more realistic expectations would be a gradual improvement over the course of the season even if that does not mean another division banner with the possibility of a better playoff showing than in recent seasons.