Unexpected gift – Lambert living out special time in Seattle

Brad Lambert is enjoying his time with the Thunderbirds.

Brad Lambert initially took reassignment from the hockey’s professional level to the major junior ranks like most would – as a gut punch.

Lambert, who was born in Lahti, Finland, started the season with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. He put up two goals and one assist in 14 games with the Moose and was held pointless in his final 10 outings with that squad.

The 19-year-old forward proceeded to join Finland’s squad for world juniors, which were jointly held in Halifax, N.S., and Moncton, N.B. Lambert, who stands 6-feet and weighs 183 pounds, had one goal in five games as Finland bowed out falling in a quarter-final 3-2 to Sweden.

Upon returning from world juniors, the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets, who are the parent club for the Moose, assigned Lambert to the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds. The Jets had selected Lambert in the first round and 30^th overall in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. Lambert’s WHL rights were originally held by the Saskatoon Blades, and the Blades dealt Lambert’s right to the Thunderbirds on June 20, 2022.

With the Thunderbirds, Lambert was playing on a team that topped the Western Conference and finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 54-11-1-2 record. The U.S. Division champions were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. Seattle’s 54 wins and standings points total of 111 points are new regular season club records.

Shifting from right wing back to his nature centre position, Lambert took off with the Thunderbirds putting up offensive numbers that showed why he was a first NHL Entry Draft selection. In 26 games with the Thunderbirds, Lambert piled up 17 goals and 21 assists to go with a plus-27 rating in the plus-minus department.

As the Thunderbirds marched through the WHL Playoffs posting a 16-3 record to capture the Ed Chynoweth Cup as league champions, Lambert posted six goals and 20 assists to go with a plus-13 rating in 17 post-season appearances. He missed the Thunderbirds last two games of their first round sweep of the Kelowna Rockets due to illness.

The Thunderbirds are set to open play at the Memorial Cup tournament that determines a CHL champion on Saturday against the OHL champion Peterborough Petes at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops, B.C., at 3 p.m. local time. Kamloops is hosting this year’s Memorial Cup tournament and the host Blazers open game action tonight taking on the QMJHL champion Quebec Remparts at 6 p.m. local time.

Brad Lambert has six goals and 20 assists in 17 post-season games.

Lambert said playing with the Thunderbirds has been a good thing.

“We haven’t lost a series yet, so it has been perfect,” said Lambert, with a chuckle. “We’re looking to win it here.

“Yeah, I was disappointed, but I’m just making the most out of the opportunity. It is a great team here we have and a great group of guys. I’ve had a lot of fun.”

Lambert found he had joined a Seattle side where the rest of the team accepted him right away. After making the WHL Championship Series in 2021-22 and falling to the Edmonton Oil Kings in six games, the Thunderbirds were aiming to go all the way this season. He originally played right wing on a line with two star players in Jared Davidson at centre and Kyle Crnkovic on left-wing.

The Thunderbirds made another addition helping increase Lambert’s comfort level with the team. Before the WHL’s trade deadline on January 10, the Thunderbirds acquired the WHL rights to forward Dylan Guenther, who helped the Oil Kings with the WHL title in 2022.

Guenther, who turned 20-years-old in April, started the 2022-23 campaign with the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes. He appeared in 33 regular season contests with the Coyotes putting up six goals and nine assists and played games with the club to January 28.

The Coyotes allowed Guenther to play for Canada at this past world juniors, and he recorded seven goals and three assists in seven games. In Canada’s 3-2 overtime win in the gold medal game against Czechia played on January 5, 2023 in Halifax, Guenther had two goals including the winner in extra time.

On February 5, the Coyotes assigned Guenther to the Thunderbirds. Guenther made his debut with Seattle on February 10 in a 6-1 victory over the Red Deer Rebels at the Accesso ShoWare Centre in Kent, Wash.

Brad Lambert had 38 points in 26 regular season games with Seattle.

He started the contest on a newly created line where he was on right wing, with Lambert at centre and Reid Schaefer, who has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Edmonton Oilers, on left wing. The Thunderbirds have kept that unit together ever since.

“I’ve got two great shots on my wings,” said Lambert, who father, Ross, played with the Blades in 1982-83. “I just use my playmaking to get them the puck.

“They’re doing a good job of finishing.”

Lambert found he had good chemistry playing with Guenther and Schaefer and added both wingers bring different dynamics to the table.

“I know when I give him (Guenther) the puck I’m going to get it back, or he is going to create something,” said Lambert. “Just the give and goes and playing together it harder for the other team to stop.

“Reido (Reid Schaefer) is great in front of the net. He has a big body. He is great on the forecheck and a fast skater too.

“It has been a good line.”

Thunderbirds head coach Matt O’Dette has enjoyed having Lambert as part of the Thunderbirds. The bench boss said the young forward has surprised the Seattle coaching staff with how well rounded he has been in all parts of the game.

“He (Lambert) has been great for us,” said O’Dette. “Obviously, he is a highly skilled player.

Brad Lambert loves his teammates with the Thunderbirds.

“He really integrated himself well with our team right away. He was proud to be a T-bird. He is a great skater and dynamic player.

“He also competes and plays in the hard areas. That was a pleasant surprise for us. Obviously, we knew of him, but now that we’ve had him for a while here, he is a much more complete player than what we thought.”

O’Dette said Lambert rolled during the regular season with the Thunderbirds and has continued that roll in the post-season even with opposing clubs keying more on him and his line.

“He (Lambert) has picked up in the post-season right where he left off in the regular season,” said O’Dette. “He has been real good.

“Obviously, he is probably keyed on a little bit more in the playoffs. He has handled that real well. The height and physicality of the playoffs hasn’t bothered him at all.

“He has been really good for us.”

Lambert said the best about the Thunderbirds is he found he joined a group of good players, who are characters who have character. He enjoys coming to the rink, because he knows something fun will happen along with work getting done on the ice.

He has enjoyed playing with all his teammates on the Thunderbirds including the likes of Guenther, Schaefer, Davidson, Crnkovic, Thomas Milic, Luke Prokop, Nolan Allan, Colton Dach, Lucas Ciona, Jordan Gustafson, Kevin Korchinski, Jeremy Hanzel and Nico Myatovic.

Like himself, Guenther, Prokop, Allan, Crnkovic and Dach were all acquired via trades by the Thunderbirds since the club fell in the 2022 WHL final. Lambert said it has been cool to see the newcomers and the existing core of players come together.

“You wouldn’t know this team has been put together kind of throughout the season,” said Lambert. “You would think we have been together for many years.

Brad Lambert hopes to enjoy some good time at the Memorial Cup.

“Everyone is great and close with each other, so it is nice.”

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Thunderbirds undeniably WHL’s best team in 2022-23

The Thunderbirds celebrate a goal in January.

The Seattle Thunderbirds are the WHL’s best team in 2022-23.

They had the best team on paper, and it translated to having the best team on the ice long before they won the Ed Chynoweth Cup. The fact they won the Ed Chynoweth Cup to become WHL champions on Friday just added a final stamp of approval.

Of course, the Kamloops Blazers will still have a chance to cast doubt about whether the Thunderbirds truly are the best in the WHL. The Blazers host the Memorial Cup tournament that determines a CHL champion, and that event will start this coming Friday and runs through to June 4 at the Sandman Centre.

Seattle and Kamloops met in the WHL’s Western Conference Championship Series and the Thunderbirds took that best-of-seven set 4-2. If the Blazers win the Memorial Cup, they will be one of those asterisks CHL champions, because they weren’t able to win their league championship on their way to capturing major junior hockey’s biggest prize.

Still, the reason the Thunderbirds won the WHL championship was due to the fact they had the deepest team on the circuit. That allowed them to beat the Blazers in the Western Conference final for a second straight year before taking out the Winnipeg Ice in the league championship series in five games. The Ice had topped the WHL’s regular season standings in each of the past two seasons.

The seeds of the Thunderbirds run to winning the WHL title in 2022-23 were planted during the 2021-22 campaign. In 2021-22, the Thunderbirds finished seventh overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 44-18-4-2 record.

Thomas Milic is the Thunderbirds star netminder.

They advanced to the WHL Championship Series falling in six games to the Edmonton Oil Kings. During that post-season run, the Thunderbirds won six straight contests where they faced elimination from the WHL Playoffs.

After falling in the WHL final in 2021-22, the Thunderbirds went all in for the 2022-23 campaign. The obvious difference between this season and last season has been the load up.

Seattle traded multiple young players, prospects and draft selections in order to add star players that would put them over the top. After falling to the Oil Kings in the 2022 WHL final, the Thunderbirds additions via the trade route included Brad Lambert, Dylan Guenther, Luke Prokop, Nolan Allan, Kyle Crnkovic and Colton Dach.

Guenther and Prokop were key figures in helping the Oil Kings capture the WHL crown in 2021-22. The experience they had added to the experience the Thunderbirds gained in their post-season run in 2022.

Seattle returned 15 players this season who were on the club’s playoff roster in 2022. Included among the key returnees from the 2022 post-season run was netminder Thomas Milic. Milic backstopped Canada to a gold medal finish at world juniors this past January and was named the WHL playoff MVP as the Thunderbirds claimed the Ed Chynoweth Cup this past Friday.

Brad Lambert has scored key goals for the Thunderbirds.

Other key returnees included Jared Davidson, Jordan Gustafson, Reid Schaefer, Lucas Ciona, Kevin Korchinski and Jeremy Hanzel.

The returnees guaranteed the Thunderbirds would have a good shot at a top five finish in the WHL’s overall standings. Seattle also benefited from Nico Myatovic having a breakout year as a returnee and Gracyn Sawchyn putting up a pile of points as a rookie.

Credit has to be given to Thunderbirds general manager Bil La Forge and his scouting staff for knowing who they should add to the core mix of players they already had. La Forge was named the winner of the Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy as the WHL executive of the year for 2022-23.

La Forge and his scouting staff knew they couldn’t just add players who could statistically put up points. They looked to add players who where good character guys that could put up points that would be automatically welcomed in by the existing players.

One of the first players the Thunderbirds acquired was Crnkovic from the Saskatoon Blades back on August 30, 2022. During his 19-year-old season with the Blades in 2021-22, Crnkovic was an assistant captain who appeared in all of the team’s 68 regular season games recording 39 goals and 55 assists for 94 points.

Off the ice, Crnkovic was known as one of the Blades best ambassadors in the community. You would be hard pressed to find someone that disliked Crnkovic, and it was pretty safe to assume he would be accepted into the Thunderbirds dressing room.

Jared Davidson is a key member of the Thunderbirds core group.

Lambert, Guenther, Prokop, Allan and Dach are all high character guys too. Dach is a power forward who likes to be an agitator. When he is in your dressing room, you think he is the greatest teammate ever, but when he is an opponent, you wish you could run him over with a semi truck.

Prokop is known as the first WHL and CHL player to come out as gay. As he is signed by the NHL’s Nashville Predators, Prokop also became the first active player with an NHL contract to come out as gay.

After making his coming out announcement on July 19, 2021, you could tell Prokop was more comfortable in his own skin. Since that announcement, he has played the best hockey of his career and continues to steadily improve.

Prokop is arguably one of the best all-around defencemen in the WHL. He can play a physical game, a smart game, put up points or skate for massive minutes to ensure the defensive end is always under control. On top of that, Prokop has been popular with his teammate in every stop he has made in his hockey career.

Lambert and Guenther are talents who are NHL ready right now. Lambert spent the first half of the season with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, who are an affiliate of the NHL’ Winnipeg Jets. His WHL rights were traded by the Blades to the Thunderbirds, and Jets elected to assign Lambert to a Seattle side projected to make a long post-season run.

Dylan Guenther has won two straight WHL titles.

Guenther spent the first half of the 2022-23 campaign with the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes. After the Oil Kings traded his NHL rights to the Thunderbirds, the Coyotes assigned Guenther to the Seattle said anticipating he would be part of another long playoff run.

During the post-season, both Lambert and Guenther have played with heart skating with the Thunderbirds. They could probably get away with going through the motions, but they have shown they are driven to win championships in the post-season.

Allan focuses on perfecting his craft of being a defensive-defenceman. He has a signed NHL contract with the Chicago Blackhawks and knows he needs to be a good defensive-defenceman to have a long NHL career.

Still, Allan has skill offensively and can play multiple roles on the back end. He was the captain of the Prince Albert Raiders due to his ability to lead by example, and Seattle gave up a tonne of assets making a blockbuster deal with the Raiders on November 16, 2022 to get Allan.

Thunderbirds head coach Matt O’Dette and the coaches on his staff were able to bring this group together creating a team in Seattle that can play any style of hockey you want to play.

Kevin Korchinski is one of Seattle’s star veteran defencemen.

The Thunderbirds topped the Western Conference and finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 54-11-1-2 record. The U.S. Division champions were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. Seattle’s 54 wins and standings points total of 111 points are new regular season club records.

While it is easy to talk about the Thunderbirds headline grabbers that came via the trade route, the career members of the team are still able to shine. That was seen when the Thunderbirds locked up the WHL Championship Series with a 3-1 victory over the Ice in Game 5 this past Friday before a sellout crowd of 6,202 spectators at the Accesso ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash.

Milic, who is a career member of the Thunderbirds and turned 20-years-old in April, made 30 saves to pick up the win in goal in that contest. Seattle’s first two goals came from centre Sam Popowich, who turns 20-years-old on Sunday, at even strength and Myatovic, who is 18-years-old on a penalty shot. Both Popowich and Myatovic have played their entire WHL careers with the Thunderbirds.

Crnkovic sealed the win with an empty-net goal with Guenther picking up an assist on that tally.

Kyle Crnkovic skates with the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

Going into this year’s Memorial Cup, the Thunderbirds are the WHL’s strongest representative at that event since the circuit’s last Memorial Cup winner in the Oil Kings from 2014. The Thunderbirds are stronger than their WHL title winning team from the 2016-17 campaign that featured Mathew Barzal and Ethan Bear as stars.

The Thunderbirds are the best in the WHL. Soon, we will see if they are the best in the entire CHL.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Thunderbirds perch on WHL mountaintop as champs

Seattle captures second league title in team history

The Thunderbirds are WHL champs. (Photo courtesy Seattle Thunderbirds)

The unsung heroes sealed the WHL championship celebration for the Seattle Thunderbirds.

On Friday night, the Thunderbirds got goals from 19-year-old checking centre Sam Popowich and standout 18-year-old left-winger Nico Myatovic to skate away with a 3-1 victory over the visiting Winnipeg Ice in Game 5 of the WHL Championship Series before a sellout crowd of 6,202 at the Accesso ShoWare Centre in Kent, Wash.

With the win, the Thunderbirds claimed the best-of-seven series with the Ice 4-1 and captured the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions for the second time in team history. The Thunderbirds won their first WHL title in 2017 in an era where Mathew Barzal and Ethan Bear starred for the team.

In 2017, Seattle captured the WHL title with a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 6 of the championship series in Regina against the host Pats courtesy of Alexander True’s winner to take that series 4-2. On Friday, the Thunderbirds won the league title in front of a raucous home crowd that stood and saluted the team as the final seconds of the third period ticked away.

While the Thunderbirds got key goals from Popowich and Myatovic in Game 5, one of their best known heroes in netminder Thomas Milic came through with another big performance. He made 30 saves in Friday’s victory. On top of making key stops, Milic seemed to have the Ice’s best player off balance as they started to look hesitant and seemed to be second guessing some of their shot choices.

On top of backstopping the Thunderbirds to a league championship, Milic was named the MVP of the WHL Playoffs. Milic was the only goalie the Thunderbirds used in their 19 post-season games, and he posted a 16-3 record, a 1.95 goals against average, a .933 save percentage and one shutout.

Lucas Ciona, left, gets the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

The Coquitlam, B.C., product had to assert himself early in Friday’s contest. Early in the first period, Ice right-winger Owen Pederson, who turned 21-years-old in March, was turned away on a close in opportunity thanks to a right pad save by Milic. Later in the first period, Milic stopped Ice star centre Matthew Savoie on a dangerous scoring opportunity from the right faceoff circle on a Winnipeg power-play chance.

The Thunderbirds got a boost on Friday returning standout centre Jordan Gustafson, who turned 19-years-old in January, to their lineup. During the Thunderbirds six-game Western Conference Championship Series win over the Kamloops Blazers, it is suspected Gustafson was injured as part of the celebration for offensive-defenceman Jeremy Hanzel’s overtime winner in Game 2 of that set claimed by the Thunderbirds 4-3 on April 30.

The Thunderbirds healthy scratched 19-year-old forward Ashton McNelly to make room for Gustafson.

The Ice were without 19-year-old defenceman Wyatt Wilson, who was injured in Game 5 on April 22 of the team’s Eastern Conference semifinal series win over the Moose Jaw Warriors.

Late in the first period, Gustafson had a big chance to open the game’s scoring when he found himself on a breakaway. He snapped a shot that got past Ice star netminder Daniel Hauser but rang it off the post of the Winnipeg net. The puck landed in front of the goal-line of the Winnipeg net before it was swept away by Hauser.

Thomas Milic, left, is named MVP of the WHL Playoffs.

At the conclusion of the first period, the contest was scoreless with the Ice holding an 11-9 edge in shots on goal. The contest remained scoreless until there was 6:45 remaining in the second period, when Popowich broke the ice for the Thunderbirds.

Standing in front of the Winnipeg net, Popowich gave the Thunderbirds a 1-0 lead tipping home a shot taken from the right point by Hanzel. That tally was Popowich’s second post-season goal to go with five assists appearing in all of the Thunderbirds 19 games in the WHL Playoffs. Popowich, who is in his third full season with Seattle, appeared in all of the Thunderbirds 68 regular season contests recording nine goal, 14 assists and a plus-14 rating in the plus-minus department.

At the 2:27 mark of the third, Myatovic forced the Ice into an error he was ultimately able to cash in on. Myatovic had a breakaway on the Winnipeg net, but he was chopped down by diving Ice defenceman Graham Sward. The officials award Myatovic a penalty shot.

On the penalty shot, Myatovic put a deke on Hauser going forehand to backhand to forehand before snapping a shot into the Winnipeg net to give the host side a 2-0 advantage. Skating through his third season with the Thunderbirds, Myatovic had a breakout campaign appearing in all of his club’s 68 regular season contests recording career highs in goals (30), assists (30), points (60) and plus-minus (plus-43).

The Prince George, B.C., product’s production was a bit more quiet as he skated in all his squad’s 19 post-season games recording four goals, three assists, seven points and a plus-eight rating.

Thunderbirds fans cheer on their team.

The Ice didn’t go away. At the 5:02 mark of the third, hard working left-winger Evan Friesen snapped a midrange shot home through a screen to cut the Thunderbirds advantage to 2-1.

With 4:20 remaining in the third, the Ice had a huge chance to get the equalizer, when Thunderbirds captain Lucas Ciona was given a minor penalty for boarding. Due to good work by the Thunderbirds penalty killers and the Ice players second guessing shot opportunities, the Winnipeg side wasn’t able to manufacture any good scoring chances with that opportunity with the man advantage.

After that penalty was killed, the Ice pulled Hauser with 1:52 remaining in the third for an extra attacker. With 66 seconds remaining in the third, Thunderbirds star right-winger Dylan Guenther got a pass to star left-winger Kyle Crnkovic to send Crnkovic in alone on the empty Winnipeg net. Crnkovic put home the empty-net goal to seal the Thunderbirds 3-1 victory.

Hauser turned away 35-of-37 shots to take the setback in goal for the Ice.  

The WHL final between the Ice and Thunderbirds was expected to be a heavyweight tilt.

Winnipeg topped the WHL regular season standings with a 57-10-1 mark and was rated third in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The 57 wins and 115 standings points are new franchise records for the Ice.

Daniel Hauser contemplates the Ice’s loss in the WHL final.

The Thunderbirds topped the Western Conference and finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 54-11-1-2 record. The U.S. Division champions were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. Seattle’s 54 wins and standings points total of 111 points are new regular season club records.

Seattle’s roster contains 10 players who have been drafted by NHL teams and seven players who participated in the last world juniors. Winnipeg’s roster contained eight players who have been drafted by NHL teams and one player who participated in the last world juniors.

Winnipeg won the opening game of the series, before Seattle roared back with four straight victories. Heading into the WHL Championship Series, the Ice hadn’t lost more than two in a row at any part of the 2022-23 campaign.

Last season, Seattle fell in six games in the WHL final to the Edmonton Oil Kings, while the Ice fell in five games to the Oil Kings in the Eastern Conference Championship Series.

Now, the Thunderbirds will head to the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup. The Memorial Cup runs from May 26 to June 4 at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops, B.C.

The Blazers, who are the tournament hosts, open the event hosting the QMJHL champion on Friday, May 26 at 6 p.m. local time. The Thunderbirds will take on the OHL champion on Saturday, May 27 at 3 p.m. local time.

The QMJHL and OHL championship series are still in progress. The Quebec Remparts lead the Halifax Mooseheads 3-2 in the QMJHL final, and the Peterborough Petes lead the London Knights 3-2 in the OHL final.

The Thunderbirds will undoubtedly get rest before turning their attention towards the Memorial Cup tournament.

Thomas Milic skates with the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

No matter what happens there, they will never forget their WHL title clinching win and the celebration that followed with their home fans on what turned out to be magical night for the host side at the Accesso ShoWare Center.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Thunderbirds one win away from WHL title

Seattle downs Ice 4-2 for frantic Game 4 victory

The Thunderbirds are one win away from claiming the WHL title.

Dylan Guenther picked an opportune time to break the Ice.

On Wednesday night at the Accesso ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash., the host Seattle Thunderbirds were locked in a 2-2 tie with the Winnipeg Ice in Game 4 of the WHL Championship Series going into the third period. During most of the first seven minutes of the third, the Ice had the Thunderbirds pinned in their own zone and at one point held a 6-1 edge in shots on goal for the frame.

It seemed like the Ice were in the groove to get the go-ahead goal to take the contest and even the best-of-seven series at 2-2.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Guenther helped the Thunderbirds flip the script. At the 7:47 mark of the third, Thunderbirds standout left-winger Reid Schaefer got the puck in the right corner in the Winnipeg zone.

Schaefer centred the puck to Guenther, who one-timed a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle past Ice star netminder Daniel Hauser to put the Thunderbirds up 3-2. That tally, which was Guenther’s WHL leading 16^th of the post-season, energized the host side, and the Thunderbirds carried play for most of the rest of the frame.

Thunderbirds standout left-winger Nico Myatovic scored into an empty net with 7.4 seconds remaining in the third to seal a 4-2 victory to the delight of a raucous gathering of 4,104 spectators.

With the win, the Thunderbirds take a 3-1 lead in the series. They will try to close out the set and win the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions when they host Game 5 on Friday at the Accesso ShoWare Centre for a 7 p.m. local start time.

The Thunderbirds only WHL title came back in the 2016-17 campaign when Mathew Barzal and Ethan Bear were starring for the team. Seattle captured the WHL title that season with a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 6 of the championship series in Regina against the host Pats courtesy of Alexander True’s winner.

Thomas Milic made 31 saves for the Thunderbirds on Wednesday.

Wednesday’s Game 4 clash between the Thunderbirds and the Ice was an outstanding contest that showcased the WHL at its best. The game could have turned into a 1980s firewagon style shootout, but the star netminders on both sides were on fire.

Thomas Milic made 31 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Thunderbirds, who have won the last three straight games in the series. Hauser turned away 33-of-36 shots to take the setback in net for the Ice.

Winnipeg came out flying at the start of Wednesday’s game. Early in the first period, Ice right-winger Owen Pederson jetted into the Seattle zone on a breakaway, but he missed the net with his shot. A short time later, Ice star centre Matthew Savoie and import left-winger Vladislav Shilo were stopped on back-to-back close in chances by Milic.

The visitors finally broke through on the scoreboard with 3:35 remaining in the first period thanks to some great hustle by Ice standout right-winger Carson Latimer. Ice defenceman Graham Sward made a high clear into the Seattle zone and the puck sat loose halfway between the blue-line and goal-line.

Latimer beat Thunderbirds offensive-defenceman Jeremy Hanzel in a race for the puck and popped a close in shot to the top right corner of the Seattle net to give the Ice a 1-0 lead.

The Thunderbirds evened the score at 1-1, when star offensive-defenceman Kevin Korchinski wired home a midrange shot through a screen with 16.3 seconds remaining in the opening frame.

At the 4:31 mark of the second, the Thunderbirds struck on the power play thanks to a friendly bounce off the boards. Hanzel fired a shot from the point that bounced off the boards behind the Winnipeg goal right to Thunderbirds standout rookie centre Gracyn Sawchyn at the doorstep on the left side of the Winnipeg net.

Carson Latimer scored for the Ice on Wednesday.

Sawchyn quickly popped the puck home to give the host side a 2-1 edge.

Just over four minutes later, Ice star offensive-defenceman Ben Zloty, who turned 21-years-old in February, directed a shot on goal from the point and the rebound came out to hard working Ice left-winger Evan Friesen, who was left alone in front of the Seattle net. Friesen slipped home the equalizer that evened the score at 2-2.

With 9:06 remaining in the second, Latimer thought he scored his second of the contest to put the Ice in front 3-2 knocking a mid-level high puck home past Milic. The officials went to a video review and concluded Latimer knocked the puck home with his right glove and disallowed the goal to cause the contest to remain even at 2-2.

That set the stage for the dramatics in the third period.

The WHL final between the Ice and Thunderbirds is expected to be a heavyweight tilt.

Winnipeg topped the WHL regular season standings with a 57-10-1 mark and was rated third in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The 57 wins and 115 standings points are new franchise records for the Ice.

The Thunderbirds topped the Western Conference and finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 54-11-1-2 record. The U.S. Division champions were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. Seattle’s 54 wins and standings points total of 111 points are new regular season club records.

Daniel Hauser made 33 saves for the Ice on Wednesday.

Seattle’s roster contains 10 players who have been drafted by NHL teams and seven players who participated in the last world juniors. Winnipeg’s roster contained eight players who have been drafted by NHL teams and one player who participated in the last world juniors.

Each side has played the first four games of the WHL final with one notable absence each due to injury.

The Thunderbirds were without standout centre Jordan Gustafson, who turned 19-years-old in January. During the Thunderbirds six-game Western Conference Championship Series win over the Kamloops Blazers, it is suspected Gustafson was injured as part of the celebration for Hanzel’s overtime winner in Game 2 of that set claimed by the Thunderbirds 4-3.

The Ice were without 19-year-old defenceman Wyatt Wilson, who was injured in Game 5 of the team’s Eastern Conference semifinal series win over the Moose Jaw Warriors.

Due to the fact the Thunderbirds have never clinched a WHL Championship Series at home, it is expected the Accesso ShoWare Centre will be more raucous than normal with fans hoping to see a trophy presentation and enjoy the championship celebrations well into the night.

The Ice for their part should not be written off. If they can win Game 5, the final two games of the series will be played at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg. If needed, Game 6 is scheduled for a 7 p.m. local time start at the Canada Life Centre.

Gracyn Sawchyn scored for the Thunderbirds on Wednesday.

At the moment, the Ice are looking to just get one win to make the series shift back to Winnipeg. The Thunderbirds will be looking to get the party started on Friday night raising the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions for a second time.

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Fly Thunderbirds fly

Seattle storms past Ice 6-3 in Game 3 of WHL final

The Thunderbirds celebrated scoring six goals on Tuesday.

It was a great night to cheer for the Seattle Thunderbirds.

On Tuesday night, the Thunderbirds created numerous reasons for the 5,505 spectators in attendance at their home rink in the Accesso ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash., to cheer. Just 25 seconds into Game 3 of the WHL Championship Series, star left-winger Kyle Crnkovic scored to give the Thunderbirds a 1-0 lead.

After the Ice evened the score 1-1 a short time later, the Thunderbirds surged ahead 4-1 scoring three times in a span of 45 seconds starting at the 13:24 mark of the opening frame. The Thunderbirds rode the momentum of that surge to a 6-3 victory.

With their second straight win in the series, the Thunderbirds take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven set against the Ice. Game 4 is set for Wednesday at 7 p.m. local time at the Access ShoWare Center.

The definite final score in favour of the Thunderbirds came as a bit of a surprise as the first two games of the series played at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg were tight battles. The Ice took Game 1 this past Friday 3-2, while the Thunderbirds claimed Game 2 this past Saturday 4-2.

On Tuesday, the Thunderbirds came out looking to play a track meet rush up and down the ice type of contest that usually favours the Ice. Shortly after the opening faceoff, Thunderbirds offensive-defenceman Jeremy Hanzel passed the puck from deep in his own zone to Crnkovic at centre ice to start a rush into the Winnipeg zone.

Crnkovic passed the puck over to linemate and Seattle captain Lucas Ciona, and the two forwards found themselves on a two-one-one break into the offensive zone. Ciona made a backhand pass to Crnkovic, who was rushing down the left side of the Winnipeg net, and Crnkovic fired home the puck to the top left corner of the Winnipeg goal to give the hosts a 1-0 edge 25 seconds into the contest.

The Thunderbirds faithful at the Accesso ShoWare Center were raucous after Crnkovic’s goal. Just 62 seconds later, the Ice took all of the air out of the building.

Jeremy Hanzel had a two goals and an assist on Tuesday.

Thunderbirds defenceman Bryce Pickford was controlling the puck just inside his own blue-line, but he had it stolen off him by Ice star centre Conor Geekie. Geekie broke in on the left side of the Seattle goal along with linemate Carson Latimer on a two against the goalie break.

Geekie put a pass across the front of the Seattle net to Latimer at the right side of the goal. Latimer tapped the puck into an open cage to even the score at 1-1.

Following Latimer’s goal, the Ice applied all sorts of pressure in the Seattle zone looking to go ahead on the scoreboard. That pressure included a breakaway chance by Ice star centre Matthew Savoie, but he was turned away by Thunderbirds star netminder Thomas Milic.

At the 13:24 mark of the opening frame, momentum proceeded to swing in the Thunderbirds favour in a big way. With Seattle working on the power play, Hanzel skated the puck to the top of the left faceoff circle and blew a shot home to the top left corner of the Winnipeg net through a screen to give the Thunderbirds a 2-1 lead.

Just 23 seconds later, the Thunderbirds pushed their lead out to 3-1. Thunderbirds left-winger Reid Schaefer had the puck at the left side boards in his one zone and he hit linemate in star centre Brad Lambert skating down the right wing with a long stretch pass just before the Winnipeg blue-line.

Lambert blew past Ice star defenceman Ben Zloty, cut across the front of the Winnipeg net and put home a backhand shot to give the host side a two-goal edge.

The Thunderbirds capped the surge scoring on a beauty transition rush 22 seconds later that was finished by a goal from star 20-year-old centre Jared Davidson. 

Davidson received a backhand pass at the left side of the Winnipeg net from linemate Nico Myatovic and snapped a shot past the glove hand of Ice star netminder Daniel Hauser to give the host side a 4-1 edge. The tally was the 11^th goal of the post-season for Davidson.

Zach Benson had a goal and an assist for the Ice on Tuesday.

The noise at the Accesso ShoWare Center was deafening after Davidson’s tally. The Ice called a timeout after Davidson’s goal in order to regroup. When the first period came to an end, Winnipeg held a 14-10 edge in shots on goal but trailed 4-1 on the scoreboard.

The Thunderbirds were intent on not allowing the Ice to get back into the contest over the final 40 minutes. At the 8:09 mark of the second, Seattle scored for the second time on the power play to go up 5-1.

Thunderbirds star right-winger Dylan Guenther collected the rebound of a Lambert shot at the left side of the Winnipeg net and popped home his 15^th tally of the post-season to give Seattle a four-goal advantage.

At the 13:42 mark of the second, Ice star right-winger Zach Benson scored with the two sides playing four-versus-four due to off-setting penalties to cut the Thunderbirds lead to 5-2. Benson tapped home a puck at the left side of the Seattle goal converting a beauty set up pass from Savoie.

With 1:35 remaining in the second, Hanzel blasted home a midrange shot to push the Thunderbirds advantage out to 6-2 completing a personal three-point night with two goals and one assist.

The Ice pulled Hauser for the start of the third period. He turned away 16-of-22 shots to take the setback in net for the Ice. Mason Beaupit walled off all 11 shots he faced playing the entire third frame.

Winnipeg rounded out the game’s scoring with a power-play goal coming with 7:48 remaining in the third. Ice centre Zack Ostapchuk tapped home a sweet backdoor setup from Benson at the left side of the Seattle net to close out the 6-3 final outcome.

Milic stopped 35 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Thunderbirds.

Colton Dach had a pair of assists for the Thunderbirds on Tuesday.

Crnkovic, Lambert and Guenther each had an assist to go with their respective goals. Thunderbirds power forward Colton Dach had a pair of assists on Tuesday. Benson had a two-point night for the Ice with one goal and one assist.

The WHL final between the Ice and Thunderbirds is expected to be a heavyweight tilt.

Winnipeg topped the WHL regular season standings with a 57-10-1 mark and was rated third in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The 57 wins and 115 standings points are new franchise records for the Ice.

The Thunderbirds topped the Western Conference and finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 54-11-1-2 record. The U.S. Division champions were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. Seattle’s 54 wins and standings points total of 111 points are new regular season club records.

Seattle’s roster contains 10 players who have been drafted by NHL teams and seven players who participated in the last world juniors. Winnipeg’s roster contained eight players who have been drafted by NHL teams and one player who participated in the last world juniors.

Each side has played the first three games of the WHL final with one notable absence each due to injury.

The Thunderbirds were without standout centre Jordan Gustafson, who turned 19-years-old in January. During the Thunderbirds six-game Western Conference Championship Series win over the Kamloops Blazers, it is suspected Gustafson was injured as part of the celebration for Hanzel’s overtime winner in Game 2 of that set claimed by the Thunderbirds 4-3.

The Ice were without 19-year-old defenceman Wyatt Wilson, who was injured in Game 5 of the team’s Eastern Conference semifinal series win over the Moose Jaw Warriors.

Dylan Guenther had a goal and an assist for Seattle on Tuesday.

Tuesday night ended up being a great one for the Thunderbirds and their fans. You can expect the Ice won’t dwell on that contest and make a big push back in Game 4. This WHL final should have a few more twists and turns before the Ed Chynoweth Cup is ultimately presented to the series winner.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Thunderbirds cash in on Ice gifts in Game 2 of WHL final

Seattle claims 4-2 victory to even series at 1-1

Brad Lambert, centre, reacts to scoring his second goal in Game 2.

WINNIPEG, Man. – The Seattle Thunderbirds are always willing to receive gifts, and the Winnipeg Ice – to their detriment – were in a giving mood.

On Saturday in Game 2 of the WHL Championship Series, the Thunderbirds gained control of the contest cashing in on a pair of Ice giveaways that turned a 1-1 tie in the third quickly into a 3-1 score in favour of Seattle. That swing of events allowed the Thunderbirds to pull out a 4-2 victory to the disappointment of most of the 5,691 spectators at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg.

“It was a much better game for us,” said Thunderbirds head coach Matt O’Dette, whose squad dropped a 3-2 decision in Game 1 of the series one night earlier. “I thought we played more to our identity and executed the game plan the way we need to.

Brad Lambert scored twice for Seattle on Saturday.

“It was night and day compared to last night. There were some spurts we could have been better, but overall, we were much happier with the effort in the game tonight.”

The win allowed the Thunderbirds to even the best-of-seven series 1-1. The Thunderbirds will host the next three games of the series at the Accesso ShoWare Centre in Kent, Wash.

Games 3 and 4 are slated for Tuesday and Wednesday respectively at 7 p.m. local time. After a day off on Thursday, Game 5 will go Friday for another 7 p.m. local time start.

Ice head coach James Patrick said the loss in Game 2 on Saturday was tough to take due to the fact that errors by his squad led directly to the Thunderbirds being able to pull out victory.

Brad Lambert does the fly by after scoring his first goal in Game 2.

“I thought tonight our puck management hurt us,” said Patrick. “It wasn’t our defending.

“It wasn’t our D-zone coverage. It was strictly our puck management that gave them some opportunities that they capitalized on.”

The Thunderbirds and Ice entered the third period of Saturday’s clash locked in a 1-1 draw. After what seemed like a cautious start to the frame, the complexion of the contest changed quickly.

At the 5:02 mark of the third, the Ice got careless with the puck in their own zone, and it proved costly. First, Ice veteran 19-year-old defenceman Karter Prosofsky made a bad clearing pass out of his own zone and turned the puck over to Thunderbirds star centre Brad Lambert just inside the Winnipeg blue-line.

Zach Benson scored twice for the Ice on Saturday.

Lambert powered toward the Winnipeg net and drove home a shot to the top left corner of the goal to give the Thunderbirds a 2-1 lead. The 19-year-old’s goal marked the first time the Thunderbirds held a lead in any game of the series with the Ice.

Just eight seconds later, the Ice veteran 19-year-old defenceman Graham Sward made a bad pass behind their own net that was gathered up by Thunderbirds star right-winger Dylan Guenther. Guenther set up behind the Winnipeg net and centred a pass out to standout left-winger Reid Schaefer.

Reid Schaefer had a goal and an assist for Seattle in Game 2.

Schaefer wired a shot past Hauser to give the Thunderbirds a 3-1 advantage.

“It is hard times, but you definitely don’t want to hand these guys anything,” said Ice captain Carson Lambos. “We’re going to go over the video and be better next game.”

The Ice tried to battle back. Just over three minutes after the Thunderbirds two quick tallies, there was a scramble in front of the Seattle goal, and the Ice’s top line connected on a tick-tack-toe passing play that resulted in a goal that cut the Thunderbirds lead to 3-2.

Ice star left-winger Connor McClennon and Ice star centre Matthew Savoie combined to set up Ice star right-winger Zach Benson for his second tally of the contest to trim Seattle’s lead to one goal.

Dylan Guenther had two assists for Seattle in Game 2.

Inside of the final three minutes of the third before the Ice could pull their netminder for an extra attacker, Lambert struck again for the Thunderbirds. Guenther made a high looping pass from deep in his zone to centre ice that took a positive bounce for the visitors past Ice import left-winger Vladislav Shilo.

Lambert got past Shilo, corralled the puck and jetted into the Winnipeg zone on a breakaway. Lambert snapped a shot to the top right corner of the Winnipeg net for his second tally of the night that put a capper on the Thunderbirds 4-2 victory. Guenther picked up his second assist of the contest on Lambert’s second goal and finished with a plus-three rating in the plus-minus department.

Daniel Hauser makes one of his 35 saves in goal for the Ice.

The two-goal night was a special one for Lambert, who also picked up an assist on Seattle’s first goal. Born in Lahti, Finland, Lambert has a signed NHL entry-level contract with the Winnipeg Jets after being selected by them in the first round and 30^th overall in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.

Lambert started the 2022-23 campaign in Winnipeg playing for the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. He played for Finland at world juniors and was assigned to the WHL’s Thunderbirds shortly after his return from that tournament. The skilled centre was pleased to return to Winnipeg and have a big night.

“It is obviously special just to be playing for the WHL championship,” said Lambert. “It is unbelievable.

Carson Lambos starts a rush up ice for the Ice.

“Not many guys get the opportunity, so we’re just trying to make the most of it. For it to be in Winnipeg, obviously, it adds a little more to it.”

In the first period of Saturday’s clash, the Ice broke through on the scoreboard at the 4:11 mark when Benson blew home a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle to top right corner of the Seattle goal to give the hosts a 1-0 edge.

At the 5:57 mark of the opening frame, Thunderbirds star left-winger Kyle Crnkovic was given a double minor for high sticking, and that infraction will trigger an automatic review by the WHL office for a possible suspension.

The Ice had pressure and chances on the four minute power play, but they couldn’t get the puck past Thunderbirds star netminder Thomas Milic.

Jeremy Hanzel had Seattle’s first goal on Saturday.

Inside the final seconds of the first, the Ice turned the puck over to Thunderbirds star 20-year-old centre Jared Davidson deep in the Winnipeg zone. Davidson was turned away on a point blank chance by Ice star netminder Daniel Hauser.

Just 1:24 into the second, the Thunderbirds pulled even on the scoreboard at 1-1, when offensive-defenceman Jeremy Hanzel one-timed home a shot from the right point. Hanzel converted a beauty setup pass from Schaefer.

That set the stage for the dramatics in the third.

Milic stopped 29 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Thunderbirds. Hauser turned away 35 shots to take the setback in net for the Ice, who had won their previous eight straight post-season games.

The Thunderbirds celebrate a goal from Jeremy Hanzel (#4).

Benson said Hauser gives his club a chance to win every time he takes up position between the pipes of the Winnipeg net.

“He (Hauser) is unreal,” said Benson. “He has been a rock back there all season for us.

“He is one of the best goalies in the league for a reason. He has been outstanding this series and whole playoffs.”

The WHL final between the Ice and Thunderbirds is expected to be a heavyweight tilt.

Winnipeg topped the WHL regular season standings with a 57-10-1 mark and was rated third in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. The 57 wins and 115 standings points are new franchise records for the Ice.

Thomas Milic makes one of his 29 saves in goal for Seattle.

The Thunderbirds topped the Western Conference and finished second overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 54-11-1-2 record. The U.S. Division champions were rated fourth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings. Seattle’s 54 wins and standings points total of 111 points are new regular season club records.

Seattle’s roster contains 10 players who have been drafted by NHL teams and seven players who participated in the last world juniors. Winnipeg’s roster contained eight players who have been drafted by NHL teams and one player who participated in the last world juniors.

Each side has played the first two contests of the WHL final with one notable absence due to injury.

The fans at the Canada Life Centre cheer on the Ice.

The Thunderbirds were without standout centre Jordan Gustafson. 

During the Thunderbirds six-game Western Conference Championship Series win over the Kamloops Blazers, it is suspected Gustafson was injured as part of the celebration for Hanzel’s overtime winner in Game 2 of that set claimed by the Thunderbirds 4-3.

The Ice were without 19-year-old defenceman Wyatt Wilson, who was injured in Game 5 of the team’s Eastern Conference semifinal series win over the Moose Jaw Warriors.

Last season, the Thunderbirds made it to the WHL final and fell in six games to the Edmonton Oil Kings. 

Owen Pedersen sets up in the offensive zone for the Ice.

The Ice made it to the Eastern Conference Championship Series and fell in five games to the Oil Kings.

With that noted, the Thunderbirds have the benefit of being in the WHL final a year ago. On top of returning players from that squad, they added Guenther and defenceman Luke Prokop via the trade route from the Oil Kings, and Guenther and Prokop were important in helping Edmonton win the WHL title in 2022.

“We pretty fortunate to have that experience,” said Milic, who backstopped the Thunderbirds to the WHL final for two straight seasons. “At the end of the day, it is still the same game.

Seattle D Nolan Allan, left, battles Winnipeg RW Zach Benson.

“A lot of guys we’re played with and against also have the same experience. I think it definitely helps mostly just knowing how to handle different situations that come up in playoffs. You’re going to be tired.

“You’re body is going to start breaking down. You just know how to manage things like that, and also how to manage highs and lows during games and during series as well. Just having a short memory is really important.”

Now the focus shifts to Game 3 on Tuesday in Kent, Wash., for a 7 p.m. local time start at the Accesso ShoWare Center. Patrick said his Ice squad won’t dwell on the Game 2 loss.

“We knew it was going to be a long series,” said Patrick. “You’re going to have to put in a lot of work.

Kevin Korchinski brings the puck up ice for the Thunderbirds.

“It is not going to be easy. We’ll learn from this. We’ll move on.

“We’ll be ready for Game 3.”

O’Dette said his Thunderbirds are looking forward to playing at home, but they know they have to be at their best to keep pulling out wins.

“We’re just looking towards the next game,” said O’Dette. “We’re going to be excited to be in front of our home fans.

“Having last change, yes, it is nice to have that. They have some dangerous guys, and you want to make sure you have the right guys on the ice. Playoffs at home or on the road, I think it is a little bit less of a factor.

The Thunderbirds enjoy departing Winnipeg with a win.

“We’ll need to be ready bottom line.”

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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