Thundersbirds are WHL’s best Memorial Cup hope since 2014

Kyle Crnkovic had a hat trick for the Thunderbirds on Saturday.

If the Seattle Thunderbirds aren’t able to win the Memorial Cup, the WHL as a league might have to look into what supernatural forces it has to appease to be able to capture major junior hockey’s biggest prize.

When it comes to winning the storied trophy that is given to the CHL champion, the WHL as a league still seems to be haunted by the “Curse of the Drop.”

For the superstitious types, that event took place on May 25, 2008 after the WHL champion Spokane Chiefs downed the host Kitchener Rangers 4-1 in the Memorial Cup tournament’s championship game. It marked the second time the Chiefs captured the Memorial Cup to become CHL champions.

After winning the title in 2008, Chiefs captain Chris Bruton accepted the Memorial Cup. Bruton turned and was going to give the Memorial Cup to defenceman Trevor Glass. Glass, who was in his 19-year-old season at the time, was with the Medicine Hat Tigers the previous campaign when they won the WHL title and fell 3-1 in the Memorial Cup championship game to the host Vancouver Giants.

As Bruton reached out to hand the Memorial Cup to Glass, the trophy separated at the neck and fell to the ice to the shock of spectators in Kitchener, Ont.

Since that Chiefs win, only one WHL club has won the Memorial Cup coming with an Edmonton Oil Kings victory in 2014. Edmonton was playing to honour the memory of former player Kristians Pelss, who was with the Oil Kings 2012 WHL championship team and passed away in June of 2013 due to a recreation diving accident.

The WHL is currently in its longest drought as a league of not being able to win the Memorial Cup spanning six seasons from 2015 to 2019 and 2022. The Memorial Cup tournament wasn’t contested in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Nolan Allan had a goal for Seattle on Saturday.

The current drought saw WHL championship winning teams go on a stretch of losing 14 straight contests at the Memorial Cup tournament. That streak came to an end on June 22, 2022, when the Oil Kings downed the host Saint John Sea Dogs 4-3 in overtime in Saint John, N.B., as part of round robin play.

This year’s Thunderbirds WHL title winning squad is the deepest team from the western major junior circuit that has appeared in the Memorial Cup since the Oil Kings winner in 2014.

On Saturday, the Thunderbirds hit the ice at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops, B.C., for their first action at this year’s Memorial Cup in round robin play. During that contest, the Thunderbirds showed off a microcosm of their positive traits that should serve them well in pursuit of a first CHL title in franchise history.

The Thunderbirds downed the OHL champion Peterborough Petes 6-3 in a clash that was tighter than the final score would suggest.

Peterborough skated out of the first period with a 1-0 lead off a breakaway goal by left-winger J.R. Avon. The Thunderbirds showed poise and didn’t panic. Just 39 seconds into the second, Seattle captain Lucas Ciona potted home a loose puck in the crease of the Peterborough net to even the score at 1-1.

With 4:07 remaining in the second, Petes centre Owen Beck scored a beauty on an end-to-end rush to put the OHL champions up 2-1. The Thunderbirds answered back 52 seconds later when 21-year-old star left-winger Kyle Crnkovic blew home a shot to the top left corner of the Peterborough net to even the score at 2-2.

After a tighter checking opening 40 minutes, the Thunderbirds blew the game wide open in the third. Crnkovic netted his second of the contest and star defenceman Nolan Allan potted a marker 82 seconds after that tally to give the Thunderbirds a 4-2 edge.

Lucas Ciona had a goal for Seattle on Saturday.

Allan, who has a signed three-year NHL entry-level contract with the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks, is relied on for his sound work defensively. He has offensive skill and showed it off sniping home a bad angle shot low in the Peterborough zone between the legs of Petes netminder Michael Simpson.

Petes 20-year-old right-winger Avery Hayes scored on the power play with 6:04 remaining in the third to cut the Seattle lead to 4-3. The Thunderbirds sealed victory with centre Jordan Gustafson scoring with 3:15 remaining in the third and Crnkovic picking up an empty-net tally to complete his hat trick with 1:34 remaining in the third to round out the 6-3 Seattle win.

Thomas Milic stopped 23 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Thunderbirds. Simpson turned away 34-of-39 shots to take the setback in net for the Petes.

At the moment, the Thunderbirds are skating through their best campaign in team history. They 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. In the WHL Playoffs, the Thunderbird proceeded to win the league title posting a 16-3 mark.

After falling to the Oil Kings in six games in the best-of-seven WHL final in 2022, the Thunderbirds additions via the trade route included Crnkovic, Allan, Brad Lambert, Dylan Guenther, Luke Prokop and Colton Dach. Seattle general manager Bil La Forge pushed all the chips to the centre of the table to win right now.

Dylan Guenther was a big trade pick up for the Thunderbirds.

The trade additions bolstered a Seattle side that returned 15 players this season who were on the club’s playoff roster in 2022. Some of the key returnees included Milic, Ciona, Gustafson, Jared Davidson, Reid Schaefer, Nico Myatovic, Kevin Korchinski and Jeremy Hanzel. Seattle also benefitted from Gracyn Sawchyn putting up a pile of points as a rookie.

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. With all that noted, the Thunderbirds are still going to have to earn everything they get at the Memorial Cup.

The QMJHL champion Quebec Remparts opened the Memorial Cup in impressive fashion downing the host Kamloops Blazers 8-3 on Friday. The Remparts have put together their own impressive campaign finishing first overall in the QMJHL regular season standings with a 53-12-1-2 record and were rated fifth in the final CHL Top 10 Rankings.

Hockey legend Patrick Roy is the Remparts head coach and general manager. He is an icon in the province of Quebec being tabbed with the nickname “Saint Patrick.”

Roy is as ultra-competitive a person you will find, and his teams are always well prepared for opposing clubs. It is speculated this will be the 57-year-old’s last ride with the Remparts before he departs for a potential head coaching position in the NHL. That might give the Remparts another emotional edge to win the Memorial Cup.

On top of that, the Petes and Blazers could bounce back and still be factors in how the Memorial Cup plays out. Those clubs will meet Sunday at 3 p.m. local time at the Sandman Centre. The Thunderbirds and Remparts will go at on Monday at 6 p.m. local time at the Sandman Centre.

The Blazers could be the WHL club that ends that circuit’s Memorial Cup drought.

Kevin Korchinski has been a mainstay on defence for Seattle.

Still with the way things look at the moment, the Thunderbirds are the WHL’s best bet for capturing the top prize in major junior hockey.

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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