Seattle Thunderbirds seeking biggest title in junior hockey in Memorial Cup

With a WHL Championship already in hand, the Seattle Thunderbirds are off to chase the biggest prize in junior hockey in the Memorial Cup.

The four-team round-robin tournament set to begin on Saturday in Kamloops, British Columbia features the champions of the three Canadian Hockey Leagues with the host team Kamloops Blazers rounding out the field.

The Thunderbirds earned their spot in the Memorial Cup by defeating the Winnipeg Ice in the WHL Championship series. They’ll be joined by the Peterborough Petes, who won the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) crown, and the Quebec Remparts, who won the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) title.

"The team's excited," head coach Matt O’Dette said. "We're not satisfied. Obviously, we're happy with our championship, but there's more to win and it would be unbelievable to win the Memorial Cup and end on that note."

Of the 60 teams that make up the CHL, Seattle is one of just four teams left competing for the top club level prize in junior hockey. It’s the third trip to the Memorial Cup for the Thunderbirds. They earned a spot by winning the WHL title in 2017 and also served as the host team for the 1992 tournament at the Seattle Center Coliseum (now Climate Pledge Arena).

"It's an amazing tournament," defenseman Luke Prokop said. "You know, there's a lot of media buzz around it and a lot of fans come from all over the country. It's junior hockey and a spectacle and it's the best tournament and the best time of year to play."

Prokop is the only member of the team to have previously played in the Memorial Cup. Prokop and forward Dylan Guenther were a part of the Edmonton Oil Kings team that beat Seattle in the WHL Championship last year to earn a bid to the tournament. However, Guenther was injured in the series against the Thunderbirds and unable to play in the Memorial Cup.

Edmonton was unable to advance out of the round-robin stage without Guenther available. Prokop and Guenther were then both traded to Seattle this season as the Thunderbirds loaded up for a WHL title chase.

"That's kind of the junior player's dream is the opportunity to play in that and it's a different style. So it's going to be a lot of fun," Guenther said.

"I know he’s pumped," Prokop said of Guenther. "He was a huge part of our team last year, probably our best forward, most talented forward and for him to go out in the finals like that, you could just see in his face how badly he wanted to be out there. And at the tournament as well, too, you see him in the stands and he was kind of all doom and  gloom. He wasn't playing, couldn't help the team out, especially since we weren't doing so well. So I know he's excited to kind of get his little bit of revenge, I guess and get back at it."

Unlike their Edmonton last year, the Thunderbirds are entering the tournament healthy and on a roll. Jordan Gustafson returned to the lineup for Seattle’s clinching Game 5 against Winnipeg after missing seven games due to an injury. Assuming Gustafson remains in the lineup for the tournament, the Thunderbirds will have their full roster at their disposal.

Seattle also closed out its victory in five games over Winnipeg while Quebec and Peterborough both needed six games to win their league titles. It gave the Thunderbirds a couple extra days of rest before traveling to Kamloops.

"We're pretty fortunate to have some of those advantages," goaltender Thomas Milic said. "Not just being healthy but having a few extra days with our series only going to five games and then having the tournament on the western side of the country. We're definitely going to use that to our advantage here."

Seattle rolled through the WHL playoffs en route to the Ed Chynoweth Cup. It took just 19 games for the Thunderbirds to get the 16 total wins needed to win the title. They delivered back-to-back sweeps of the Kelowna Rockets and Prince George Cougars to reach the conference finals, where they met the Blazers. Kamloops managed to get a pair of victories against Seattle but fell in six games.

After losing Game 1 of the championship series in Winnipeg 3-2, Seattle then ran off four straight wins to win the WHL crown.

"We really bonded as a team and became brothers in this group," center Jared Davidson said. "So being able to have that bond is really important for the way you're playing and it's kind of peaking at the right time."

"When you come so close last year, it's heartbreaking," added winger Reid Schaefer. "Went into that last offseason and we knew what we wanted. We built a team around a championship team, and we went for it. That's what we did here."

The Thunderbirds arguably bring the most talented team to Kamloops as well. Seattle has 10 players on their roster already drafted by NHL teams with five being first round selections in Guenther, and forwards Brad Lambert and Reid Schaefer, and defensemen Kevin Korchinski and Nolan Allan. An additional six players are listed by NHL Central Scouting among the top North American players in this year’s draft class with forwards Nico Myatovic and Gracyn Sawchyn, and defenseman Sawyer Mynio all expected to be taken in the upper half of the draft.

Kamloops is second among teams in the tournament with nine NHL draft picks, Peterborough has eight and Quebec seven. Peterborough and Quebec each have two first-round selections on their rosters in Brennan Othmann and Chase Stillman for Peterborough, and Zachary Bolduc and Nathan Gaucher for Quebec.

Quebec also has star power on its coaching staff with Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy as the team’s head coach/general manager and 15-year NHL veteran Simon Gagné as an assistant.

Even if Seattle does have an overall talent edge, the variance of a brief tournament format could be a factor. After round-robin play, the team with the best record advances to the championship game. A semi-final is held between the second and third place teams with the victor advancing to the final as well.

While talent will generally win out over a seven-game series, an early loss in the Memorial Cup could be difficult to recover from.

"In a short term competition like this, anything can happen," Milic said. Of course, it would be helpful to have a little bit of luck in some games, but you know, anything can happen. So I think my biggest thing is just expect the unexpected and be ready to play our style of play and set the tone every game."

The Thunderbirds open their tournament against Peterborough on Saturday at 3 p.m. PT. They’ll face Quebec on Monday at 6 p.m. PT and Kamloops on Wednesday at 6 p.m. PT.

A tiebreaker game (if necessary) for third place would be on Thursday with the semifinal on Friday and the championship game on Sunday, June 4.