Most Western Hockey League fans and media members did not project the Seattle Thunderbirds as 2022 Western Conference Champions about to start playing for their second league title since 2017.
The Everett Silvertips, Portland Winterhawks and Kamloops Blazers all attracted the preseason and regular season accolades in the Western Conference. But Everett was knocked out in the first round while the Thunderbirds defeated Portland and Kamloops in two seven-game series to become Western Conference champs.
Next up: Seattle has advanced to take on the Edmonton Oil Kings for the Ed Chynoweth Cup in the WHL final series. The victor earns a trip to the Memorial Cup, which determines the champion of the elite juniors Canadian Hockey League comprised of the WHL, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and Ontario Hockey League (Kraken 2021 third-round draft choice Ryan Winterton and his Hamilton squad is in that league's final).
Thunderbirds in WHL Final
While other Western Hockey League teams in the U.S. Division and overall conference were expected to be there, it's Seattle who is playing for the elite junior league's championship
The WHL Championship Series starts in Edmonton Friday night at 6 p.m. and moves to the accesso ShoWare Center for Games 3 and 4 Tuesday and Wednesday. Tickets for the ShoWare Center games can be purchased on the
Thunderbirds website here
. Game 1 Friday and Game 2 Sunday (3 p.m.) can be watched by subscription (daily or series pass) at CHL.com.
Seattle arrived in Edmonton by winning all five elimination games it played to become the first WHL team in history to win two Game 7 road games. But that doesn't mean the Thunderbirds are just happy to be one of two WHL teams vying for the Memorial Cup opportunity.
"We are here to win," said Seattle coach Matt O'Dette before the team headed to Alberta. "You set goals at the start of the year. We're never satisfied. We're always looking for the next challenge and this is the ultimate goal.
"We've worked extremely hard to get here. Getting here is not enough. We want to finish the job and bring home the championships."
It wasn't an easy road for the Thunderbirds. The squad suffered a number of injuries during the regular season. They leaned on their depth in the forward group and defensive corps to uncover ways to win. The experience of regular-season adversity paid off as the Thunderbirds came back from being down 3-games-to-1 in the second round against Portland and won the final two games against Kamloops in the Conference final.
It all resulted in them hoisting the Western Conference championship trophy Tuesday in Kamloops after a 3-2 win against the Blazers.
"That's a special feeling," said Thunderbirds captain Tyrel Bauer. "We have a great group that's been through a lot, and we've been through it together. To come out with a big win like that, a big game to punch our ticket into the finals, it's pretty special. It's one we will remember for a while."
Bauer is the leader of the Thunderbirds group. He was drafted in the 2020 NHL Draft by the Winnipeg Jets and signed his entry-level contract with Winnipeg on Monday. While that's an accomplishment, Bauer is not answering questions about it until after the Championship Series. He's locked in.
Bauer is one of seven NHL-signed or drafted prospects on the Seattle roster. Plus, the Thunderbirds boast three more players who will most likely be drafted in the first three rounds of this July's NHL Draft. It's a deep team that will face a stout and to-date dominant Edmonton Oil Kings club.
"That's what it takes in the playoffs," O'Dette said. "You need every guy contributing, pulling the same direction, and that's what we've had, you know, different guys step up at different times. [Forward] Nico Myatovic, for example, played some great hockey for us, so has [defenseman] Jeremy Hanzel. It's been a top to bottom effort from our team and you don't get here without everybody chipping in."
Junior hockey often comes down to the older players. Two of Seattle's 20-year-olds have been huge. Henrik Rybinski (Washington Capitals prospect) and Lucas Svejkovksy (Pittsburgh Penguins) have played on a line together, forming the Thunderbirds' best scoring group.
Svejkovksy has tallied nine goals and Rybinski has 18 points in 16 playoff games to date. Undrafted 19-year-old and linemate Jared Davidson leads the Thunderbirds with 11 postseason goals alongside Rybinski and Svejkovksy.
On the blue line, Seattle features defenseman Kevin Korchinski, who is projected to be a first-round pick in the upcoming NHL Draft, as well as forwards Reid Schaefer and Jordan Gustafson who are also projected to be selected in July.
Behind it all is goalie Thomas Milic who has posted a .925 save percentage in the postseason and won some big games.
"Obviously, the intensity's increased a whole other level," said Milic, when asked about the WHL Championship Series. "But you know, I think our relentless style of play has been proven to be effective against every team we've faced so far."
What about the Oil Kings? The same prognosticators surprised by the Thunderbirds run are not at all surprised to see Edmonton playing for a WHL Championship. The Oil Kings were supposed to be here and are going to present a steep challenge for Seattle.
Edmonton won the WHL's Central Division with 50 wins in the regular season and is 12-1 in the playoffs. They've scored nearly 4.5 goals per game in the postseason, which included five-game dispatching of the Winnipeg ICE featuring projected first-round draft choices Matthew Savoie and Conor Geekie (yes, Morgan's younger brother).
The Oil Kings have a ton of offense upfront from the likes of Dylan Guenther (drafted by the Arizona Coyotes), Josh Williams, Justin Sourdiff (Florida Panthers) and Jake Neighbours (St. Louis Blues). They all score regularly. Seattle's defensemen, led by team captain Bauer, will have to be at their best.
The Oil Kings D-men are a physical bunch, led by former Thunderbird, Simon Kubicek, and Kaiden Guhle (Montreal Canadiens). In goal, the Oil Kings feature Detroit Red Wings prospect Sebastian Cossa (the 15th overall pick in last summer's 2021 NHL Draft), who has three shutouts so far in the playoffs.
"You can get caught up sometimes, worrying about the opposition a little bit too much," O'Dette said. "We want to make sure we're playing our game and getting on the path that leads to success for our team.
"That's going to be important, focusing on our habits and our identity. Of course, there are details and things we have to worry about from the opposition. But you know, first and foremost, we want to make sure we're playing with our good habits and the style of play that we need to be successful."
