Who's Next?

For the second time in less then a decade, the Seattle Thunderbirds franchise is at a crossroads.  The team is in search of a head coach to lead them going forward. The situation today is both eerily similar and vastly different then it was in the spring of 2011.

In the spring of 2011, the T-bird had just finished up their second consecutive non-playoff season.  As a result General Manager Russ Farwell parted company with head coach Rob Sumner after seven years behind the bench.  They were an older team that year but lacked more then a few top end players.  The team knew that they would still have some veterans back the next season but would be transitioning over the course of the next couple of years and becoming younger and more reliant on that young talent.

And now, here we are today in another transition period, after the man who replaced Sumner, Steve Konowalchuk leaves for a job in the NHL.  Instead of coming off back-to-back non playoff years though, the T-birds are coming off consecutive appearances in the league's championship series, including winning it all this spring.  But like 2011, while the team still has some quality veterans returning for next season, over the next couple of years they will be transitioning, becoming younger and more reliant on that young talent.

In the spring of 2011 they captured lightning in a bottle and found the perfect marriage between coach and roster when they chose Konowalchuk to lead them from the bottom of the WHL standings to the top.  Each season under his leadership they got better and as we noted above, it culminated in the franchise's first ever Chynoweth Cup.

The question becomes, can they capture lightning a second time because this next hire is just as important as the last.  The core group of players who helped lead the franchise to its greatest successes is now gone.  Younger players are standing by ready to take their place.  The S.S. Thunderbird needs a captain to get them all rowing in unison and in the right direction.

Over the course of his coaching tenure with the T-birds it seemed that the organization brought in players who fit what Konowalchuk wanted for his roster. While that may have some truth to it, let's give the players credit for adapting to his coaching style and the coach credit for adapting his systems to the talent he had on his roster.  He convinced his players they could succeed with his style.  That's the trick isn't it?  To find that perfect balance between player talent and coaching acumen.  Konowalchuk was able to find that balance.

My memory is a bit sketchy but what I seem to recall from the Konowalchuk hire back in the spring of 2011 is that he wasn't necessarily aggressively seeking the job.  That instead Farwell identified him as someone who would fit well as a head coach at the WHL level and he convinced him to take the position.  Farwell, to use a word you here a lot in politics when political parties are seeking out candidates, "vetted" Kono.

I like that word, "vetted".  It means to investigate someone thoroughly, especially in order to ensure that they are suitable for a job.  I'm guessing Farwell has already received dozens and dozens of inquiries into the T-birds coaching vacancy. Once again, he must do some vetting of those candidates.  Once again he has to find the perfect match between roster and coach.  Once again he has to find that one candidate out their who has that "it" factor that separates the also-rans, the run-of-the-mill coach, the average coach from the great one who can lead a roster of young men to be their best.  He doesn't have to find a Konowalchuk clone, just someone with the same Konowalchuk qualities.

The time frame to make the hire is much smaller then it was in 2011.  Konowalchuk's decision to move on came well into the offseason.  Most teams, at all levels, have completed their hires for next season. T-birds training camp is just two months away. So yes, there is a sense of urgency but Farwell has been around the block a few times.  He knows he can't rush to make this hire just for the sake of hiring someone.  Getting it right is more important than getting it done.

For the second time in less then a decade the T-birds franchise is at a crossroads.  Which path will they choose as they move forward?

Kono is Gono

You know the old expression, "Time flies when you're having fun?"  Well the last six seasons of Seattle Thunderbirds hockey have seemingly flown by in an instant.  They've been six fun years.  I had a front row seat watching this team come out of a couple of seasons of a non-playoff funk and build towards a championship caliber team.  Winning hockey is fun hockey and it's a lot more fun to be around a winning atmosphere.

Steve Konowalchuk made it that way. Oh, it wasn't all fun and games with Kono at the helm.  He demanded a lot from his players.  He ran tough, grueling practices.  At times he was matter-of-fact brutally honest with his players and that included high NHL draft picks.  But he did it without throwing any one player under the bus.  In the locker room, on the bench or on the team bus was as far as it went.  Never in a radio interview, never in the newspaper or on any blog on the internet.

He stressed that to be a champion you had to practice like a champion, you had to train like a champion.  It wasn't just about the sixty minutes on game nights.  It was also about what you did leading up to game nights to prepare yourself.  He constantly emphasized to his team you can't take shortcuts.  That was something he never did as a player, and never did during his T-birds coaching tenure.

He took losses hard but instead of letting a defeat eat away at him, he used it as motivation, as fuel to make himself a better coach and make his players a better team.  He passed that along to his players. That's a big reason why, in his final season behind the T-birds bench, his team captured the franchise's first ever WHL Championship.   Individually he may not have had the deepest, or most talented roster, but he had the best team.  He got players to buy into their roles.

Not a lot of coaches get to leave on their own terms.  What's the adage?   Coaches are hired to be fired.  But Konowalchuk leaves the T-birds as a champion, heading back to the NHL as an assistant coach with the Anaheim Ducks after six seasons in Kent.  He leaves with a resume filled with more accomplishments then any previous coach in Thunderbirds history.  If you ask those who've been around the team the past six years for one word to describe him I think 10 out of 10 would say "competitor".   He has a drive to succeed at whatever he does.  He has set the bar high for who ever takes over.

But there is nothing left for him to prove at this level, he's reached the mountain top of the WHL.  By next October, seven banners will hang from the ShoWare Center rafters.  It took well over 30 years to earn the first three.  Konowalchuk brought the next four into the building in just six years.  He helped create a winning culture.

It seems it was just yesterday that I was interviewing Kono up in the Heritage Bank Lounge at the ShoWare Center after he had been announced as the T-birds new head coach shortly after the 2010-11 season had ended.  A lot of ice has melted since then, and there were hundreds of off mic chats and on the record interviews along with countless bus rides and team meals along the way.  Yep, time flies when you're having fun.

A Real True-per

The annual CHL Import Draft took place Wednesday morning and as expected, Seattle used one of their two allotted picks. The T-birds, selecting 56th overall in the first round of the two round draft, chose Russian winger Nikita Malukhin.  Malukhin is a 2000-born player, listed at 6'2" and 202 lbs., going into his 17 year old season. With Sami Moilanen in the fold, the T-birds passed on their second pick.

Statistical information on Malukhin is limited.  He apparently played for Kazan Irbis in the Russian Junior League last season, tallying six points (2g, 4a) and was a +4 in just 28 games played.  It would appear Kazan is the name of the town and Irbis is a trucking company that sponsored the team.  Kazan is located approximately 11 hours east of Moscow on the Volga river. 

According to Google,  "Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1.2 million, it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia.".  So, now you know.

Thunderbirds General Manager Russ Farwell indicated in comments made after the draft that Malukhan will report to the T-birds saying "He is excited to be coming to the WHL".  Farwell described Malukhan as a skilled forward with good size and that he has real potential to be an exciting forward in the WHL.

To get a better sense of the kind of player the T-birds latest Import selection is, you can watch this video clip of him scoring a goal:  http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x59ibgk.  But to get a better idea, we'll have to wait for training camp in late August.

What does this mean for the big picture?  Well, as we've suspected ever since the T-birds season ended at the Memorial Cup in Windsor back in late May, Alexander True will not be returning for his 20 year old season with Seattle.  In fact Farwell told mynorthwest.com blogger, and my partner on the radio broadcasts, Tim Pigulski, that True's agent informed him that he was close to signing a pro contract.  So, instead, the T-birds two imports will be the 17 year old Malukhan and 18 year old Moilanen, who will return for his second season. 

It makes since. The T-birds are going into a reload/rebuild process and will be much younger next season.  Drafting Malukhan gives them a player they can add to the rebuild, someone who could potentially be with the organization for three seasons much like True was after they selected him in the 2014 Import Draft out of Denmark.  

Malukhan will be added into the mix of 2000 and 2001 born players who will make up the bulk of the roster for the next three years. And there will be plenty of "bulk" among those 2000-born forwards with Malukhan, 6'3" 202 lb. center Tyler Carpendale and 6'1", 201 lb. left wing Dillon Hamaliuk.  Remember, those are their current heights and weights.  I'm sure all three have yet to finish growing.  Heck, that trio of 17 year olds just might be your third line.

So we can now officially say goodbye to True.  It's still possible he could play another year for the T-birds.  Think back to the Roberts Lipsbergs situation a couple of seasons ago when he was brought back from the pro ranks as a 20 year old to replace the injured Justin Hickman for the second half of the 2014-15 season.  But for that to happen the T-birds would have to suffer a significant injury to one of their 20s plus jettison one of either Malukhan or Moilanen.  That's what you call the worst-case-scenario.

We've mentioned on this blog recently the Fab Five who led the T-birds the past four years (Barzal, Bear, Eansor, Gropp and Kolesar).  True was also a big part of that core group, though he only played three seasons in Kent.  He deserves similar recognition as those five for bringing the T-birds their first ever WHL Championship.

In his three seasons with the T-birds True registered 84 points (45g, 39a) in 169 regular season games.  He was at his best though in the playoffs.  In 44 postseason games he produced 34 points (20g, 14a).  In 11 Championship Series games, going back to the Final last spring against Brandon, True scored eight goals and none were bigger then his game winning overtime goal in Game 6 of the 2017 WHL Championship Series versus Regina.  It is the biggest goal in franchise history, earning Seattle their first Chynoweth Cup.  Additionally, three times while a Thunderbird True also represented Denmark at the World Junior Championships.

I'd still like to see True get a crack at an NHL training camp.  Maybe he will this fall.  He's attending the San Jose Sharks Development Camp the first week of July.  He's certainly more then capable of playing professionally in Europe but I think he has the frame and skill for a pro career here in North America.  He's a solid face-off guy and strong on the penalty kill.

The big Dane gave the T-birds three tremendous seasons and his last goal as a T-bird gave Seattle fans a first ever championship.  The image of him standing and watching his game winner hit the back of the net while Regina players are sprawled down on the ice all around him, will be etched in our memories forever.

Tyszka Takes the Fifth

Seattle Thunderbirds defenseman Jarret Tyszka becomes the latest member of the organization to hear his name called at the NHL Entry Draft.  The Langley, B.C. native went in the fifth round, 149th overall, to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday in Chicago.

Tyszka, of course, will attend the Canadiens development/rookie camp this summer then will be off to main camp in September.  After that, it is back to Kent for his third season and a bigger role with the Thunderbirds.

Tyszka's selection continues a recent trend.  Seattle has had a defenseman chosen by an NHL team every other year over the past five years. In 2013 it was Shea Theodore going in Round One to Anaheim. Two years later, 2015, it was Ethan Bear being selected in the fifth round by Edmonton and now here in 2017 Tyszka is picked by the Canadiens. 

So, with that in mind, now that Las Vegas has a team in the NHL, I might go down to catch a game and while there, put a few dollars down on, oh, maybe Jake Lee to be selected in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. 

Speaking of Las Vegas, the Golden Knights have a bit of a Thunderbirds flavor to their roster.  Former T-bird goalie Calvin Pickard was selected in the expansion draft off the Colorado Avalanche roster, the aforementioned Theodore was picked up by the Knights in a trade with the Ducks and on Day Two of the NHL draft, Las Vegas traded a second round pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Keegan Kolesar.

Along with Tyszka, 216 other players were chosen in this weekend's NHL Draft.  That seems like a lot but in reality it's not, when you consider their are now 31 NHL teams.  Among those eligible to be drafted more probably didn't hear their name called then did with each team having, on average, just seven selections

Among those not chosen was draft eligible T-birds Finnish winger Sami Moilanen.  I saw a number of mock drafts that projected him as a sixth round pick but in the end, he was passed over. His size probably worked against him.  I would not be surprised though to hear he gets invited to some team's rookie camp this summer.   Moilanen was a bit of an unkown coming into this season, his first in North America, but with an extended playoff run with Seattle he should have gotten enough scouts' eyes on him that one team will give him an invite.  NHL teams are always looking for that diamond in the rough.

I saw a stat that says only 12 percent of players drafted in rounds 3 through 7 ever have a meaningful NHL career, which for the sake of their study was considered to be 200-plus games.  Even being a first round pick is no guarantee of success at the NHL level.  In some draft year's less then 50-percent of first round picks have made a career at the NHL level.

Seattle's Director of Player Personnel Cal Filson was among the members of the T-birds staff who were in Chicago this weekend for the NHL Draft.  No doubt he was there to talk with players and/or their agents ahead of next week's CHL Import Draft.  The Import draft is slated for Wednesday at 8 a.m. Seattle time.  The T-birds have the 56th pick in Round One. 

Both of Seattle's current Import players are eligible to return for next season but the prevailing thought is that Alexander True, who would occupy both a 20 year old roster spot and an Import roster spot, is ready to move on to the pro ranks.  If Seattle makes a selection with that 56th pick Wednesday, that would certainly mean True will not be returning to Kent.

There is also no indication that Moilanen won't return for another season with the T-birds, so I wouldn't anticipate Seattle using their second round pick Tuesday which is 116th overall.