Thunderbirds repeat as Western Conference champs

WHL final to start at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg

Kyle Crnkovic had the winning goal for Seattle on Monday.

It feels like it has been WHL championship or bust for the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Last year, the Thunderbirds posted a 44-18-4-2 record to sit fourth in the WHL’s Western Conference during the regular season. In playoffs, they advanced to the best-of-seven WHL Championship Series falling in six games to the Edmonton Oil Kings.

When it came to making the WHL final, Seattle was expected to be in the mix but wasn’t a favourite to get that far. During that 2022 post-season run, the Thunderbirds won six straight contests where they faced elimination.

Seattle came into this season as one of the favourites to make and win the WHL final. That favourite status only increased as they made numerous trades to load up with older high end players until trading action was halted at the WHL trade deadline on January 10.

On Monday, the Thunderbirds took another step toward getting their hands on the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champions for the first time since the days of Mathew Barzal, Ethan Bear, Keegan Kolesar, Alexander True and Scott Eansor in 2017.

Taking on the host Kamloops Blazers before 5,364 spectators at the Sandman Centre, the current Thunderbirds erased a 1-0 first period deficit to post a solid 4-2 victory in Game 6 of the WHL Western Conference Championship Series. With the win, the Thunderbirds win the best-of-seven set 4-2.

For the second straight year, they will play in the WHL final. This year’s WHL Championship Series will feature the two top teams in the 2022-23 regular season standings in the Thunderbirds and Winnipeg Ice.

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.

Jared Davidson scored his 10th goal of the current post-season.

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.

On Monday, the Ice in conjunction with the WHL and True North Sports and Entertainment announced the Ice’s home games for the WHL final will be played at the Canada Life Centre in downtown Winnipeg as opposed to the Wayne Fleming Arena on the University of Manitoba campus. The Canada Life Centre is home to the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets and the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, and both those clubs have been eliminated from their respective league post-seasons.

Game 1 of the WHL Championship Series is set for Friday at 7 p.m. local time at the Canada Life Centre and Game 2 will follow on Saturday at 6 p.m. at the same venue.

With the loss on Monday, the Blazers run through the WHL Playoffs comes to an end, but their season will go on as they host the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup. The Memorial Cup runs from May 26 to June 4 at the Sandman Centre, and the Blazers open the event hosting the QMJHL champion on May 26 at 6 p.m. local time.

The Blazers finished second overall in the WHL’s Western Conference and third overall in the WHL regular season with a 48-13-4-3 mark. The B.C. Division champions were rated ninth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

The series between the Thunderbirds and Blazers was expected to be a heavyweight title, and it didn’t disappoint going to six games. Seattle’s roster contains 10 players who have been drafted by NHL teams, while Kamloops has nine NHL drafted players on its roster. The Thunderbirds have seven players who participated in the last world juniors, and the Blazers have three players who took part in this past world juniors.

Sawyer Mynio scored a positive-bounce goal for Seattle.

As for Monday’s Game 6 clash, the Thunderbirds came out with all sorts of momentum outshooting the Blazers 13-5 in the first period. Blazers star goaltender Dylan Ernst made a number of stellar saves to keep the Thunderbirds off the scoreboard.

Despite play being in their own zone for most of the opening 20 minutes, the Blazers actually opened the game’s scoring. With 4:03 remaining in the first, Blazers right-winger Dylan Sydor wired home a midrange shot from the front of the Seattle net to the top right corner of the goal to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

The final 40 minutes was much more evenly played, and it was over that stretch where the Thunderbirds offence broke through on the scoreboard. At the 4:46 mark of the second, Thunderbirds star 20-year-old star centre Jared Davidson blew home his 10^th goal of the post-season from the middle of the left faceoff circle to even the score at 1-1. From that point, Ernst and Thunderbirds star netminder Thomas Milic slammed the door for the rest of the second frame.

The contest remained tied 1-1 until the Thunderbirds got a positive bounce at the 5:33 mark of the third. Thunderbirds sophomore defenceman Sawyer Mynio, who is a Kamloops product, took a knuckleball shot from the right side boards just above the faceoff circle that deflected off the arm of Blazers import defenceman Aapo Sarell into the Kamloops goal to give the visitors a 2-1 edge.

Right at the 10-minute mark of the third, the Thunderbirds pushed their advantage out to 3-1 thanks to the work of a pair of Seattle stars. Davidson was cycling behind the Kamloops net with the puck, came out on the right side of the goal and passed the puck across the face of the net to left-winger Kyle Crnkovic at the left post.

Crnkovic, who turned 21-years-old in February, made a backdoor tap into an empty cage to give the Thunderbirds their two-goal edge. Right after Crnkovic’s goal, the Blazers called a timeout in order to regroup.

The Blazers came with a big push back after the timeout. The host side got a break when Thunderbirds star defenceman Nolan Allan was given a hooking penalty with 2:33 remaining in the third.

Jeremy Hanzel has been strong in the post-season for Seattle.

Kamloops pulled Ernst for an extra attacker for a six-versus-four skaters advantage on the power play. The Blazers scored a beauty tick-tack-toe goal off a rush on that power play to cut the Thunderbirds lead to 3-2 with 1:43 remaining in the third.

Star 20-year-old centre Ryan Hofer bought the puck up centre ice and passed it to the left wing to star left-winger Daylan Kuefler. Kuefler passed the puck across the face of the Seattle net to star right-winger Matthew Seminoff on the right wing, and Seminoff covered the backdoor feed to pull the Blazers to within one goal of drawing even on the scoreboard. The tally was Seminoff’s 10th goal of the post-season.

The Thunderbirds snuffed out the potential rally, when 19-year-old standout left-winger Reid Schaefer scored an empty net goal with a shot from deep in his own zone with 38.1 seconds remaining in the third to round out the 4-2 final score.

Milic made 28 saves to pick up the win in goal for the Thunderbirds. Ernst turned away 39-of-42 shots to take the setback in net for the Blazers.

The Thunderbirds were without standout centre Jordan Gustafson for a fourth straight game. It is suspected Gustafson was injured as part of the celebration for Jeremy Hanzel’s overtime winner in Game 2 of the series claimed by the Thunderbirds 4-3. The Blazers were without defenceman Ryan Michael.

The Seattle side won’t get to enjoy the series win over the Blazers for long. The Thunderbirds have three off days before opening the WHL final against the Ice in Winnipeg on Friday.

In those three days off, the Thunderbirds will travel to the Manitoba capital. The Ice will have enjoyed eight off days since sweeping the Saskatoon Blades in the Eastern Conference Championship Series before hosting Game 1 of the WHL final.

Reid Schaefer had a long distance empty-net goal on Monday.

With that noted, winning the WHL title was a goal of both the Thunderbirds and the Ice at the start of the campaign. Now, they will play for a prize that only one can win.

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 retake control of Western Conference final

Blazers trail series 3-1 after 8-4 loss in Game 4

Jared Davidson had a Gordie Howe hat trick on Thursday.

It appears a Game 3 loss is going to be just a stumble for the Seattle Thunderbirds.

On Tuesday, the Thunderbirds suffered their first setback in the WHL Playoffs dropping a 4-1 decision in Game 3 to the host Kamloops Blazers at the Sandman Centre in the Western Conference Championship Series. With the Game 3 victory, the Blazers cut the Thunderbirds lead in the best-of-seven series to 2-1.

On Thursday in Game 4 in Kamloops, the Thunderbirds took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission, saw the Blazers even the score at 3-3 the 11:21 mark of the second and rolled off three straight goals to cruise to an eventual 8-4 victory to disappoint almost all of the 5,506 spectators in attendance at the Sandman Centre. With the win, the Thunderbirds take a 3-1 lead in the series.

The Thunderbirds will attempt to close out the series on Saturday when they host Game 5 at the Accesso ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash., at 6 p.m. local time. If the Blazers are able to win Game 5, they would push the series to a Game 6 to be held in Kamloops on Monday at the Sandman Centre at 7 p.m. local time.

In Game 4 on Thursday, the Thunderbirds were powered by a big night from star centre Dylan Guenther, who had a hat trick and an assist. He opened the game’s scoring on a beauty setup pass from linemate Brad Lambert at the 3:09 mark of the opening frame.

Lambert had the puck at the left side boards in the Kamloops and put a backdoor pass across the face of the Blazers net to Guenther at the right post. Guenther popped the puck into an empty cage to give the visitors their one-goal edge.

Olen Zellweger.

This series between the Thunderbirds and Blazers has had its rough moments. Just 35 seconds after Guenther’s opening goal, Thunderbirds star centre Jared Davidson nailed Blazers centre Fraser Minten with a big open ice hit.

Blazers standout left-winger Daylan Kuefler immediately came in to fight Davidson. Both players were given fighting majors and Kuefler received a minor for unsportsmanlike conduct. Seattle wasn’t able to score on the ensuing power play.

The Thunderbirds pushed their edge out to 2-0, when offensive-defenceman Kevin Korchinski fired home a shot from the left point in the Kamloops zone with 8:12 remaining in the first. Blazers star right-winger Matthew Seminoff tallied on the power play deflecting home a shot from Caedan Bankier with 1:57 remaining in the first to cut the Seattle lead to 2-1.

In the dying seconds of the opening frame, Guenther stole the puck from a couple of Blazers at the left side boards just inside the Kamloops zone. Guenther proceeded to drive hard to the Kamloops net and snapped home his second goal of the night with 1.7 seconds remaining in the frame to give the Thunderbirds a 3-1 lead.

The Blazers didn’t go away. Just 72 seconds in the second, star offensive-defenceman Olen Zellweger scored his 10^th goal of the post-season to cut the Thunderbirds lead to 3-2.

At the 2:38 mark of the frame, the Blazers thought they evened the score at 3-3 with a power-play goal from captain and star centre Logan Stankoven. The officials immediate waved off the goal giving a penalty to Zellweger for goaltender interference.

Dylan Guenther.

During what turned into a net scramble, Zellweger pushed Thunderbirds star goaltender Thomas Milic to the ground. Thunderbirds Jeremy Hanzel pushed Zellweger toward Milic, but the officials ruled Zellweger took an extra liberty with the shot he gave Milic.

The Thunderbirds weren’t able to score on the ensuing power play. At the 11:21 mark of the third Zellweger scored his second of the night and 11^th of the post-season to even the score 3-3.

Just two minutes and nine seconds later, Thunderbirds star left-winger Kyle Crnkovic fired home a goal from the right slot to put the visitors back out in front 4-3.

Seattle opened the third pushing their advantage out to 6-3 with goals coming from the sticks of Davidson and Bryce Pickford. Blazers right-winger Dylan Sydor scored with 7:59 remaining in the third to cut the Seattle lead to 6-4.

Just 2:18 after Sydor’s tally, Guenther completed his hat trick netting his 14^th of the post-season to give Seattle a 7-4 lead. Thunderbirds left-winger Reid Schaefer rounded out the game’s scoring with an empty-net tally with 5:04 remaining in the third.

Davidson had an assist on Schaefer’s tally to complete the Gordie Howe hat trick with a goal, an assist and one fight. On top of getting the Gordie Howe hat trick, Davidson’s tally allowed him to tie the Thunderbirds record for career post-season goals at 21 with Scott Eansor, who played for the Thunderbirds from 2013 to 2017 helping them win a WHL title in 2017.

Milic stopped 36 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Thunderbirds. Dylan Ernst turned away 33-of-40 shots to take the setback in net for the Blazers.

The series between the Thunderbirds and Blazers was expected to be a heavyweight battle.

Kevin Korchinski scored for the Thunderbirds on Thursday.

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.

The Blazers finished second overall in the Western Conference and third overall in the WHL regular season with a 48-13-4-3 mark. The B.C. Division champions were rated ninth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.

Seattle’s roster contains 10 players who have been drafted by NHL teams, while Kamloops has nine NHL drafted players on their roster. The Thunderbirds have seven players who participated in the last world juniors, and the Blazers have three players who took part in this past world juniors.

The Thunderbirds were without standout centre Jordan Gustafson for a second straight game. It is suspected Gustafson was injured as part of the celebration for Hanzel’s overtime winner in Game 2 of the series claimed by the Thunderbirds 4-3. The Blazers were without defencemen Logan Bairos and Ryan Michael.

The winner of the series between the Thunderbirds and Blazers advances to face the Winnipeg Ice in the best-of-seven WHL Championship Series. The Ice swept the Saskatoon Blades 4-0 in a best-of-seven Eastern Conference Championship Series.

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.

Kyle Crnkovic scored for the Thunderbirds on Thursday.

On Thursday, the Ice announced they will host Game 1 of the WHL final on Friday, May 12 at 7 p.m. local time and Game 2 on Saturday, May 13 at 6 p.m. local time. Both contest will be held at the Wayne Fleming Arena.

As it stands right now, the Thunderbirds are one win away from going to Winnipeg.

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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If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.