Supplement published by the Auburn, Kent-Covington and Renton Reporters
T-Birds Rookies Ready to Handle Big Stage - By Andy Eide Wedman is GOAL-den - By Thom Beuning Second Year T-Birds Looking To Take Next Step - By Andy Eide
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2019-2020 FAN GUIDE
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Welcome to Kent!
…and to the 2019-20 Seattle Thunderbirds season! We are so excited to have you join us for another exciting season with the Seattle Thunderbirds. The year’s home opener will be at accesso ShoWare Center on Saturday, September 21 as the T-Birds take on the Kamloops Blazers.
This will be an exciting season under the direction of head coach Matt O’Dette, now in his third season. There will be several new faces this year, but also many key players returning. Matthew Wedman, selected by the Florida Panthers this past June in the NHL Draft, led the T-Birds in scoring last year. He is back for his final season. Henrik Rybinski, also selected by the Panthers in the NHL Draft this past June, will join Wedman up front to provide a dynamic one-two punch. Goalie Roddy Ross, selected by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2019 NHL Draft, will be counted on between the pipes, and we will watch to see him build on his impressive performance last season. The defensive trio of Tyrel Bauer, Simon Kubicek and Cade McNelly will all be ranked by NHL Central Scouting for the 2020 NHL Draft. Payton Mount, entering his second season, will also see a lot of attention from NHL Scouts this year. Watch for some rookies to have an impact this season, including forwards Kai Uchacz, Lucas Ciona and Conner Roulette, who were all selected in the 2018 Bantam Draft. Returning this year is the T-Birds’ popular
two-for-Tuesday promotion sponsored by Chick-fil-A. Fans will be able to enjoy two-forone specials on tickets, hot dogs, popcorn, soda and beer. The popular Dave and Buster’s Pub Nights are back for four select games this season. The Fred Meyer Turkey Shoot and Ham Shoot are always a fun time as well. The Fred Meyer Teddy Bear Toss presented by WARM 106.9 always sells out, so don’t miss it! All the teddy bears donated are given to local hospitals and fire and police departments to help comfort kids in stressful situations. It’s a fun night for a great cause. Kent is incredibly proud of accesso ShoWare Center. It is a state-of-the-art arena with 6,125 seats, 20 suites and Heritage Club seating. The arena offers unsurpassed hockey sightlines throughout. Don’t forget to stop by Kent Station, a contemporary, urban shopping village with a variety of dining options for pre- and postgame gatherings. I also encourage you to check out historic downtown Kent, where you’ll find more entertainment and dining choices. No matter what you choose, you’ll have more reasons to come back to Kent for your next hockey game. Go Birds!
Dana Ralph Mayor, City of Kent
2019 - 2020 SEATTLE THUNDERBIRDS
FAN GUIDE
a special supplement of Sound Publishing and Kent Reporter publisher POLLY SHEPHERD advertising LINDA STAPLES, MARIE SKOOR, CAROL GREILING, LISA YASKUS design TRACY LONG
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2019-2020 FAN GUIDE
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Downtown Free Parking Available both onsite at ShoWare Center as well as in lots in close walking distance throughout downtown Kent. Additional free parking is available across James Street at the Regional Justice Center Garage after 6:00 PM, and at the James Street Park & Ride. There is no event parking permitted at Kent Station, at Kent Commons or in the North Park Neighborhood.
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2019-2020 FAN GUIDE
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DEFENSE
DEFENSE
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DEFENSE
ZACH ASHTON
LUKE BATEMAN
TYREL BAUER
How Acquired: From the Saskatoon Blades with a fifth round pick in 2022 for Reece Harsch on Jan 2, 2019. NHL Draft: Eligible 2020 Shoots: Right Height: 5’11 Weight: 176 Birthday: Feb 9, 2001 Hometown: Calgary, AB
How Acquired: Drafted 4th round, 85th overall, in 2017 Bantam Draft. NHL Draft: Eligible 2021 Shoots: Left Height: 6’6 Weight: 209 Birthday: Sept 19, 2002 Hometown: Kamloops, BC
How Acquired: Drafted 2nd round, 41st overall, in 2017 Bantam Draft. NHL Draft: Eligible 2020 Shoots: Right Height: 6’3 Weight: 206 Birthday: March 23, 2002 Hometown: Cochrane, AB
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LEFT WING
CONNER BRUGGEN-CATE How Acquired: From the Kelowna Rockets with a 1st round pick in 2019, second round pick in 2021, and first round pick in 2021 for Jake Lee, Dillon Hamaliuk, and Cole Schwebius on May 2, 2019.
NHL Draft: Free Agent Shoots: Left Height: 6’2 Weight: 197 Birthday: Sept 13, 1999 Hometown: Langley, BC
CENTER
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GRAEME BRYKS
TYLER CARPENDALE
How Acquired: Drafted 8th round, 172nd overall, in 2016 Bantam Draft. NHL Draft: Eligible 2020 Shoots: Left Height: 6’2 Weight: 210 Birthday: Jan 22, 2001 Hometown: Edmonton, AB
How Acquired: Drafted 6th round, 125th overall, in 2015 WHL Bantam Draft. NHL Draft: Eligible 2020 Shoots: Right Height: 6’4 Weight: 202 Birthday: Jan 26, 2000 Hometown: Powell River, BC
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2019-2020 FAN GUIDE
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24 DEFENSE
LUCAS CIONA
JARED DAVIDSON
HUNTER DONOHOE
How Acquired: Drafted 2nd round, 32th overall, in 2018 Bantam Draft. NHL Draft: Eligible 2021 Shoots: Left Height: 6’2 Weight: 200 Birthday: Jan 8, 2003 Hometown: Edmonton, AB
How Acquired: Signed a WHL Standard Player Agreement on August 30, 2018. NHL Draft: Eligible 2020 Shoots: Left Height: 5’11 Weight: 182 Birthday: July 7, 2002 Hometown: Edmonton, AB
How Acquired: From Red Deer in exchange for rights to goalie
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LEFT WING MICHAEL HORON
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RIGHT WING
Louden Hogg and a conditional seventh round pick in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft.
NHL Draft: Eligible 2020 Shoots: Left Height: 6’5 Weight: 200 Birthday: July 7, 2000 Hometown: Surrey, BC
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KELTIE JERI-LEON
JAXAN KALUSKI
How Acquired: From the Lethbridge Hurricanes with Keltie
How Acquired: From the Lethbridge Hurricanes on January 1,
NHL Draft: Eligible 2020 Shoots: Left Height: 5’10 Weight: 177 Birthday: July 4, 2001 Hometown: Lethbridge, AB
NHL Draft: Eligible 2020 Shoots: Right Height: 5’11 Weight: 199 Birthday: Jan 19, 2000 Hometown: Kelowna, BC
How Acquired: From the Moose Jaw Warriors on January 10, 2018, for a sixth-pick in 2019 Bantam Draft. NHL Draft: Free Agent Shoots: Left Height: 6’0 Weight: 186 Birthday: April 27, 1999 Hometown: Lloydminster, AB
Jeri-Leon and a fourth round pick in 2019 for goalie Liam Hughes and an eighth-round pick in the 2019 Bantam Draft.
2019, with Michael Horon, and a 2019 fourth round draft pick for Liam Hughes and a 2019 eighth round draft pick.
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2019-2020 FAN GUIDE
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40
RIGHT WING
DEFENSE
GOALIE
SIMON KUBICEK
ANDREJ KUKUCA
BLAKE LYDA
How Acquired: Drafted in second round, 89th overall, in 2018 Import Draft. NHL Draft: Eligible 2020 Shoots: Right Height: 6’2 Weight: 185 Birthday: Dec 19, 2001 Hometown: Jindrichuv Hradec, Czech Republic
How Acquired: Drafted in first round, 29th overall, in the 2018 WHL Import Draft. NHL Draft: Free Agent Shoots: Right Height: 6’2 Weight: 188 Birthday: Nov 14, 1999 Hometown: Trencin, Slovakia
How Acquired: From the Everett Silvertips for a third round pick in 2021 Bantam Draft on May 2, 2019. NHL Draft: Eligible 2020 Shoots: Left Height: 6’2 Weight: 162 Birthday: May 21, 2002 Hometown: Edmonton, AB
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DEFENSE
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GOALIE
RIGHT WING
CADE MCNELLY
THOMAS MILIC
PAYTON MOUNT
How Acquired: Signed a WHL Standard Player Agreement in August 2017 NHL Draft: Eligible 2020 Shoots: Left Height: 6’3 Weight: 195 Birthday: Oct 17, 2001 Hometown: Westlock, AB
How Acquired: Drafted, 3rd round, 51st overall, in 2018 Bantam Draft. NHL Draft: Eligible 2021 Shoots: Left Height: 6’0 Weight: 153 Birthday: April 14, 2003 Hometown: Coquitlam, BC
How Acquired: Drafted 1st round, 19th overall, in 2017 Bantam Draft. NHL Draft: Eligible 2020 Shoots: Right Height: 5’9 Weight: 184 Birthday: Jan 19, 2002 Hometown: Victoria, BC
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2019-2020 FAN GUIDE
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SAM POPOWICH
MATTHEW REMPE
How Acquired: Drafted 5th round, 91st overall, in 2018 Bantam Draft. NHL Draft: Eligible 2021 Height: 5’8 Weight: 161 Shoots: Right Birthday: May 21, 2003 Hometown: Camrose, AB
How Acquired: Signed a WHL Standard Player Agreement August 29, 2018 NHL Draft: Eligible 2020 Shoots: Right Height: 6’8 Weight: 206 Birthday: June 29, 2002 Hometown: Calgary, AB
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CONNER ROULETTE How Acquired: Drafted 2nd round, 34th overall, in 2018 Bantam Draft. NHL Draft: Eligible 2021 Shoots: Left Height: 5’11 Weight: 158 Birthday: May 13, 2003 Hometown: Winnipeg, MB
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CENTER
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HENRIK RYBINSKI How Acquired: From the Medicine Hat Tigers on January 4, 2019, for the rights to defenseman Aidan Brook, a 2019 second round bantam pick, and a 2020 third round bantam pick
NHL Draft: By the Florida Panthers, 5th round, 126th overall, in 2019 NHL Draft. Height: 6’2 Weight: 185 Shoots: Right Birthday: June 26, 2001 Hometown: Vancouver, BC
GOALIE RODDY ROSS How Acquired: Signed a WHL Standard Player Agreement on January 1, 2019.
NHL Draft: By the Philadelphia Flyers, 6th round, 169th
overall, in the 2019 NHL Draft.
Height: 6’3 Weight: 184 Shoots: Left Birthday: July 4, 2000 Hometown: Meadow Lake, SK
15 RIGHT WING
MEKAI SANDERS How Acquired: Drafted, 9th round, 186th overall, in 2018. NHL Draft: Eligible 2021 Shoots: Right Height: 5’9 Weight: 163 Birthday: March 8, 2003 Hometown: Gig Harbor, WA
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28
LEFT WING
11
CENTER
RIGHT WING
REID SCHAEFER
BARON THOMPSON
KAI UCHACZ
How Acquired: Drafted 8th round, 164th overall, in 2018 Bantam Draft. NHL Draft: Eligible 2021 Shoots: Left Height: 6’2 Weight: 197 Birthday: Sept 21, 2003 Hometown: Spruce Grove, AB
How Acquired: Listed by the T-Birds in the summer of 2019 NHL Draft: Free Agent Shoots: Right Height: 6’5 Weight: 245 Birthday: Feb 19, 1999 Hometown: Lakeville, MN
How Acquired: Drafted 1st round, 10th overall, in 2018 Bantam Draft. NHL Draft: Eligible 2021 Shoots: Right Height: 6’1 Weight: 185 Birthday: June 24, 2003 Hometown: De Winton, AB
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CENTER
DEFENSE
MATTHEW WEDMAN How Acquired: Drafted 2nd round, 38th overall in 2014. NHL Draft: By the Florida Panthers, 7th round, 199th overall, in 2019 NHL Draft. Shoots: Left Height: 6’3 Weight: 209 Birthday: May 25, 1999 Hometown: Edmonton, AB
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27
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OWEN WILLIAMS
BRENDAN WILLAMSON
BRECON WOOD
How Acquired: From the Regina Pats with a second-round pick in 2019 on January 10, 2018, for defenseman Aaron Hyman NHL Draft: Eligible 2020 Shoots: Left Height: 6’1 Weight: 195 Birthday: Sept 26, 2000 Hometown: Delta, BC
How Acquired: From the Everett Silvertips with Sean Rich-
How Acquired: From the Moose Jaw Warriors for 2020 seventh round pick on Oct 30, 2018. NHL Draft: Eligible 2020 Shoots: Left Height: 6’2 Weight: 182 Birthday: Dec 5, 2000 Hometown: Edmonton, AB
ards, a second-round pick in the 2019 Bantam Draft, a third-round pick in the 2021 Bantam Draft and a conditional fourth round pick in the 2022 Bantam Draft for Zack Andrusiak
NHL Draft: Eligible 2020 Shoots: Left Height: 6’0 Birthday: May 4, 2002 Hometown: Chilliwack, BC
Weight: 173
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2019-2020 FAN GUIDE
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T-Birds Rookies Ready to Handle Big Stage By Andy Eide, 710 ESPN Seattle mynorthwest.com/category/thunderbirds
It’s been a while since the Seattle Thunderbirds have had an incoming rookie class with as much potential as the 2018 Bantam Draftees bring with them into this season. Perhaps since the 2012 class, one that included names like Barzal, Kolesar, and Bear, has the team, the media, and the fans been this excited about a group of players. Those 2012 names were scratched into Thunderbirds lore in bold ink. They’re players whose names will always be remembered for bringing the franchise its first Western Hockey League Championship. That’s a tough standard to try to match up to. But, for Kai Uchacz, Lucas Ciona, Conner Roulette, and Mekai Sanders, that’s what is laying in front of them as they begin their rookie seasons in the WHL with the Thunderbirds. The accolades are warranted.
Conner Roulette (Photo credit: Brian Liesse/Seattle Thunderbirds)
Uchacz is a 6-foot center from De Winton, Alberta that Seattle selected with its first pick in the 2018 Bantam Draft. He has the size and the skill to be a top line center in the WHL who does everything at a high level. Ciona was Seattle’s second pick in the 2018 Draft and already is built like a WHL player. Listed at 6-foot-2 he is a big, strong power forward who also knows how to shoot the puck. With Roulette, the Thunderbirds have a dynamic scoring winger. Playing for the Winnipeg Thrashers last season, Seattle’s second pick in the second round averaged over two points per game and then went on to win a gold medal for Canada at the World Ball Hockey Championships. Sanders was taken in the ninth round and hails from Gig Harbor. The local product is loaded with speed and should become a fan favorite, not only because of his hometown connection, but also for his style of play. “You stay pretty busy with all the training to earn your hype,” Sanders says of the expectations. “You’ve got to block all that out and focus on you. Do the best you can.” Playing in the WHL at 16-years-old is not an easy task and there will be growing pains for all four players, as for every rookie. It won’t always be pretty, and mistakes will happen. It’s how they handle those mistakes that is the important thing and will ultimately help in their development. “You have the team and they have your back,” Roulette says. “You’re not going to make a mistake and come off the ice banging your stick or whatever. You just go out next shift and keep going shift by shift. Make every shift count and just being that mentally prepared.” Having the player’s backs starts behind the bench. Head coach Matt O’Dette has been around promising rookies before and seen them make rookie mistakes. “There’s still going to be a learning curve for sure,” O’Dette says. “We’re obviously excited about these guys but at the same time we want to make sure we are curbing the amount of pressure
Kai Uchacz (Photo credit: Brian Liesse/Seattle Thunderbirds)
we’re putting on them. We want to make sure we put them in situations where they’re going to have success.” The four rookies were in camp with the Thunderbirds last fall and got a taste of what the WHL was like. Uchacz, Ciona, and Roulette all got called up for a brief look last year as well. Uchacz stayed in Seattle the longest. He played in five regular season games and got another in the playoff series with the Vancouver Giants. On the season’s last day, he got on the board with the first WHL goal of his career against the Portland Winterhawks. It’s an experience that should help him coming into this season. “It was good to get away from home and feel what it’s going to be like,” Uchacz says. “Getting up with the team and learning the little details to help me coming into camp was good. I’m really excited. I’m itching for every moment I can.” Knowing that this coming season they would be able to stick with the team, the focus shifted for all four guys heading into fall’s training camp. They were in camp for more than the experience. They were in camp to prepare for what they hope will be a full season in the WHL with the Thunderbirds. It reflected in how they prepared over the summer. “I was working extra hard to get bigger and stronger and faster to keep up with the older guys,” Ciona says. “Overall it was a fun summer for me, getting to work out and skate around.” CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
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2019-2020 FAN GUIDE CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE
Lucas Ciona (Photo credit: Brian Liesse/Seattle Thunderbirds)
Not only are the rookies dealing with a tougher league filled with older and bigger players, but they will have to get used to being far away from home for the first time. Leaving home at 16 can be tough, but it’s something that all junior hockey players have to lean into at some point in their hockey careers. The Thunderbirds try to make that adjustment easy. They are placed with caring billets who give them a home away from the rink for them to retreat to. “My billets are awesome,” Ciona says. “They’re nice people. Being away from home is tough but I think I’ll get used to it. I’m focused on hockey and I’m happy to be here every day. There’s so much technology so it’s barely like I’m away.” Being away from home, playing against older players, and dealing with high expectations. These are the challenges facing Seattle’s rookie class. If they navigate it successfully, the Thunderbirds will be in for an exciting ride over the coming seasons. It all begins for them on what will be an exciting Opening Night, a night that will be step one in their careers. For Thunderbirds updates all season long, follow Andy on Twitter @andyeide
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Mekai Sanders (Photo credit: Brian Liesse/Seattle Thunderbirds)
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2019-2020 FAN GUIDE
Wedman is GOAL-den By Thom Beuning, T-Birds play-by-play voice thombeuningsinthecorners.blogspot.com/ When Matthew Wedman was selected in the seventh round of the 2019 NHL draft by the Florida Panthers, he became the 13th player from the Thunderbirds 2017 WHL Championship roster to either be drafted by an NHL team or sign a professional contract. The Edmonton native’s 77 point performance last season put him on the radar of NHL teams ahead of the draft last spring. If not drafted he still was most likely going to camp this fall with an NHL club. Getting selected in his final year of draft eligibility though, fulfilled a life-long goal. “Yeah, you dream about that growing up. Playing hockey as a kid and (then) seeing your name up there on the TV screen is a feeling you can’t describe.” Having been away from his house most of that second day of the draft, he returned just in time to click on the television and hear his name called from the stage in Vancouver. Perhaps Wedman had gone undrafted in his first two years of eligibility in part because he was on a roster with those other 12 players and had to bide his time while they occupied the spotlight. Truth be told though, “Weds”, as his teammates
Matthew Wedman (Photo credit: Brian Liesse/Seattle Thunderbirds)
call him, had played a significant role on the team going back to his days as a 16-year old rookie in 2015-16 when he played in 70 of 72 games, registering 14 points. He then made himself a hero in the playoffs In the spring of 2016 Seattle entered Game Four of the 2016 Western Conference Championship series against Kelowna needing a win to complete a four-game sweep of the Rockets and advance to the WHL Championship Series against Brandon. They had a full-throated accesso ShoWare Center crowd behind them. But when the T-Birds fell behind, 4-2, with only six minutes left in the third period, it seemed the series was destined to head back to Kelowna for Game Five. With time ticking down, Head Coach Steve Konowalchuk pulled goaltender Landon Bow from his crease in favor of an extra skater. With their own net empty, Seattle scored twice, the second with just three seconds left, tying the game and forcing the contest into overtime. The first extra period solved nothing and shortening his bench by double shifting his top forwards left Konowalchuk with players whose energy was nearly spent. It was more of the same in the second overtime period. Konowalchuk needed fresh legs. He looked down his bench and found them attached to Wedman. The 16-year old had barely played since the second period. “I did have one shift (earlier) in the second overtime”. That, Wedman says, helped get his legs going again. “I definitely had some fresh legs, that’s for sure.” Nearly eight minutes into the double OT, Wedman jumped back over the boards. Taking a pass from Ryan Gropp, he gathered up the puck at center ice, flying down the left wing and rushing past a tired Rockets defenseman. He swooped in on his target, cutting across the goal mouth and shoved the puck past Kelowna’s
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sprawling goalie. His one postseason goal that year and it was a game winner, a series clincher and one of the most important in franchise history. It sent the T-Birds to the Championship for the first time since 1997. Of all the players on that team who would probably be expected to be the hero, it was a young, gangly rookie who grabbed the spotlight. As Wedman recalls, “We were joking about it before the first overtime, actually. (Mat) Barzal said, I got ten thousand to one odds that Weds scores this goal.” Wedman thinks there is a debt due. “To this day, he owes me ten grand.” He then laughed and added that Barzal, now a star player with the NHL’s New York Islanders, can probably afford it. Wedman’s playoff impact didn’t stop there. Fast forward to the spring of 2017. Seattle is back in the playoffs and back in the Championship series. It’s Mother’s Day and they’re at the Brandt Centre in Regina for Game 6 against the Pats. The T-Birds are up in the series 3-2, needing just a win to capture their first ever Ed Chynoweth Cup. Once again, it’s the third period and, once again, the T-Birds find themselves trailing by two goals with just six minutes remaining. Time to put the heavy hitters on the ice, no? But one more time, in a pivotal moment in franchise history, Konowalchuk calls Wedman’s number. It’s a now 17-year old, but still young Wedman getting the call. He outbattles a Pats player along the boards to the left of the Regina net to free up the puck and get it back to the point. A shot is blocked but it is Wedman jumping into the slot, fighting for the loose puck. Knocked to the ice, sprawled out, he sweeps his stick at the puck, preventing a Regina player from getting enough on it to clear the zone. Ethan Bear scoops it up just inside the blue line and feeds Gropp. Wedman, back on his skates, drives to the net occupies a defender and some of the goalie’s attention too. Gropp snaps a shot and scores. Seattle pulls within one. A few minutes later they score on the power play to tie it. The rest, we know. In overtime Alexander True buries his own rebound and for the first time, Seattle hoists the Cup. But without that Wedman effort to help set up the second goal, there may not be a tying third goal let alone an overtime winner. If not for Wedman’s effort to help create goal number two, the series may have gone to Game Seven and a there may have been a very different outcome. Wedman says he has gone back and watched video of that shift. “I never realized I did so much on that play. I was just trying to do my role and provide some opportunity for my team“. In some CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
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ways it was similar to scoring the goal the previous spring against Kelowna. “I wasn’t getting a lot of ice that game and I knew I needed to make an impact. I knew I just needed to win the battles and get the puck to the guys who could score the goals.” Maybe it is easy to be the young, unexpected hero when you are surrounded by a bucket full of older players, many of them who have been NHL drafted or are on the verge of signing pro contracts. Wedman certainly gives that group credit for helping him develop as a player. Maybe they did all the heavy lifting and Wedman was just in the right place at the right time to finish up their hard work? How do you measure that? Well one way is to see how Wedman performs when those players are gone. How does he respond when they have moved on to the next level and the surrounding cast is no longer so deep? Can he still rise to the
occasion when Barzal is off winning the NHL Rookie of the Year award or True is in the San Jose Sharks system leading their AHL affiliate in scoring? Does he fade into the background or does he pick up the mantel and fill their void? In the two seasons since Seattle laid claim to the Chynoweth Cup, Wedman has appeared in 138 of a possible 140 regular season games. Over that span he earned 124 points and is a plus player (+19). In the second half last season, when an injury to captain Nolan Volcan threatened to derail the team’s playoff push, Wedman knew he had to take up more of the scoring load. “With Volcan injured last year I felt I needed to put a little more pressure on myself to score more goals and provide more offense. I think that extra push to do that really helped.” After New Year’s, Wedman ended up scoring 28 goals over a 31 games span. CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
Matthew Wedman (Photo credit: Brian Liesse/Seattle Thunderbirds)
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As a result, on March 16th heading into the final regular season home game, against the Portland Winterhawks, he sat on 39 goals. Only five T-Birds players over the past two decades had hit the 40-goal plateau and no one since Prab Rai did it in 2009-10. “It was definitely on my mind a little bit going into that game against Portland. I remember I hit a couple of posts in the first period and I was gripping my stick a bit tight.” With the opening period winding down Seattle was on a power play. At the 19:28 mark Wedman once more put his name into the pages of the Thunderbirds history book. “I was lucky enough to get a good bounce on the power play and it was a good feeling to put that puck in the net.” He had his 40th goal. It’s safe to say, Matthew Wedman did not fade into the background. As a young player he learned and benefitted from older players. Now the tables have turned. He is the veteran looking to lead a young team. He gives credit to last season’s young supporting cast in helping him reach career milestones and fulfilling his goal of being drafted into the NHL. This season’s club may be even younger but once again, he is ready to lead. Thom Beuning is the radio play-by-play voice of the Seattle Thunderbirds. This season Thom can be heard calling all games on 1090 KJR. Follow him on Twitter at @thombeuning.
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2019-2020 FAN GUIDE
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2019-2020 FAN GUIDE
www.seattlethunderbirds.com
Second Year TBirds Looking To Take Next Step By Andy Eide, 710 ESPN Seattle mynorthwest.com/category/thunderbirds
Every player in the WHL has that moment. That moment during their rookie year where they’re welcomed into the league. That moment that they realize the intensity, skill, and speed have been dialed up three or four notches. Thunderbirds forward Payton Mount, remembers his moment well. “My 15-year-old year, in the playoffs, when I got blown up in Everett,” he says. “That was probably a good awaking to what this league is and to be prepared for it.” Like Mount, that eye-awaking moment can be taking a big hit. But it can also be little things, like an older player racing past you, or lifting your stick, or out positioning you in front of the net. It’s what rookie seasons are all about, it’s about
Payton Mount (Photo credit: Brian Liesse/Seattle Thunderbirds)
learning. The WHL is a development league and as players like Mount, Tyrel Bauer, Simon Kubicek, Cade McNelly, and Jared Davidson head into their second full years with Seattle, they’re looking to take the next step in their development. “Older guys that are going into their second year know what it takes,” Thunderbirds head coach Matt O’Dette says. “They’ve put in the work in the off-season to give themselves an opportunity to make that big step. Rookie seasons, there’s a lot of feeling it out. You’re away from home for the first time. I think that level of comfort from doing it for a full season and knowing what it’s all about, that will help guys.” They all contributed in their first season and now in their second year, more is expected from these guys. Bauer shined on Seattle’s back end. The
6-foot-3 defender from Calgary played in 64 games for the Thunderbirds last year and logged a ton of ice time. His fellow blue liner, Kubicek, was picked up in the Import Draft and the Czech showed off a big slapper as he scored nine goals and 28 points. Mount, Seattle’s 2017 first-round draft pick, played on the power play and made big strides by using his high-level hockey sense and offensive instincts. Heading into year number two in the WHL, they all have set themselves up on an impressive trajectory as they steam into their NHL Draft years. “We have that first year under our belt, and we know a little more what it takes in the league,” Bauer says. “Obviously, going into our draft year it’s a big year for us individually, but we have to realize that individual success comes from team success so we’re just trying to do whatever we can to help the team.” Bauer is one of the guys that will be getting attention from NHL scouts. His poise, skill, and physical play in a tough position last season was impressive. It caught the eye of Hockey Canada this summer as he was invited to his home country’s U18 Hlinka-Gretzky camp. The camp featured 44 of the top players from Canada under the age of 18. While he didn’t make the team, getting the invite says a lot about how he is viewed outside of Seattle. “I think that gives Ty a big boost of confidence,” O’Dette says. “To be in a Hockey Canada camp like that, with the best players for his age group in the world, regardless of the outcome, that’s a huge confidence boost for him, and a motivator. He knows that he belongs with that group and that motivates him to raise his game even more.” Confidence is a big factor in playing well. It can come from various places and sources. In last spring’s first-round playoff series with the Vancouver Giants, Mount had a big Game 3 in the accesso ShoWare Center. He scored twice, both on the power play, for the first time in his WHL career. It would end up being one of the final games he, and the Thunderbirds, would play last year and sent him into the off season with a good feeling. “It always makes you feel better for yourself when you score goals,” Mount says. “In that type of situation, I was just trying to help the team win. It was a crucial game and luckily I got two.” The second-year players are a year wiser and moving forward will become part of Seattle’s veteran core. They will become mentors to the younger CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
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guys. Guys who are rookies like they once were. Guys who are going to have their moment at some point this season. Bauer remembers the players who helped him get through his rookie year well. “On the back end, (Jarrett) Tyszka, he helped us all out,” he says. “If I look back a couple years it was (Turner Ottenbreit) and (Austin) Strand when I was up here a little. They helped a lot figuring out what it takes in the league. And then all the older guys, (Nolan Volcan), (Noah Philp), both those guys were great mentors, great leaders and they welcomed us.” Guys like Mount and Bauer will now pay forward the help they got while also taking the next big step in their own development. It’s the cycle that is junior hockey and if it goes well, the Thunderbirds will be off to a strong season and bright future. For Thunderbirds updates all season long, follow Andy on Twitter @andyeide
Tyrel Bauer (Photo credit: Brian Liesse/Seattle Thunderbirds)
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