Fresh Ice

And just like that, the last piece of the Thunderbirds 2017 WHL Championship roster is gone. Thursday night Seattle traded Matthew Wedman to the Kelowna Rockets in exchange for a first, second and fifth round draft pick. The picks are spread out over three drafts, but don't be fooled, that is an impressive return for the 20 year old center in his last year in the league. It adds to a growing number of stockpiled high draft picks General Manager Bil La Forge has accumulated in the past 12 months. More on that later.

First, trading away the captain, the last piece of a championship team, and a player the team helped to develop into an NHL draft pick, is not an easy endeavor. I'm not normally around when these deals go down. But I'm glad I was for this one and the one last New Year's Eve that saw the T-birds trade away two other players from that Chynoweth Cup winning team, Zack Andrusiak and Reece Harsch. I had a chance to shake their hands and wish them well. They will always be remembered as not just T-birds, but T-birds champions. They were all part of a special group of young men. Wedman will always be celebrated for his overtime, conference championship, series clinching goal against the Rockets. It sent Seattle to the league championship in 2016, ending a 20 year absence. He was just 16 years old back then. Over the next three years we watched him grow into manhood, become a potent offensive weapon and a leader. Once a T-bird, always a T-birds.

With Wedman gone Seattle took the ice for a pair of games this past weekend in Victoria. With newcomer Max Patterson arriving just in time, the T-birds played a solid, physical sixty minutes Friday night and came out with a well earned 4-1 win. The follow up effort Saturday night was close but not as complete. Whistle happy officiating was partly responsible, taking any flow away from the game for either team. No hockey game should ever feature 18 power plays but this one did. Seattle's strength is 5-on-5 hockey and the penalties denied them that element much of the game. In the end the T-birds took a 3-1 loss. I think, beyond the parade to the box, Seattle's struggle to finish chances hurt them. You could probably count at least eight high quality scoring chances that went awry.

Overall Seattle was able to play the T-bird way in those two games on Vancouver Island. They played a heavy game where they were finishing all their checks. They did a good job of getting pucks in deep and making the Royals defenseman have to play the puck deep in their own zone and pay a physical price for doing it. They got under the skin of a few of those Royals players. It was interesting to read the comments of Victoria Head Coach Dan Price after the two game set, talking about how his players were battered and bruised and had the marks to show for it. the Thunderbirds left their calling card.

Now the team gets set for a five game schedule over an eight day stretch that will take them into the Christmas break, with all five games against U.S. Division opponents. Seattle currently sits six points out of a playoff spot. They'd like to close that gap before heading home for the holidays. Yes, despite that Wedman deal, this team is still aiming for the postseason. They don't care they're one of the youngest teams in the league, giving large minutes to seven rookies. The organization believes in their talent and believes they will continue to get better with each passing game. The trades may be more about the future, but the team is playing for today.

As for the trade, as we mentioned the T-birds have amassed a lot of top-of-the-draft picks. With the haul from the Wedman trade added in, they now currently have six first-round and six-second round selections in their arsenal for the next four drafts. That doesn't even take into account their other picks in the third round and beyond. For example, over that same span the T-birds are currently in possession of 13 picks combined in the third, fourth and fifth rounds. Most of those picks are going be in the 2021, '22 and '23 drafts, just as this current group of young players is maturing. The T-birds can make selections with those picks when the time comes, or trade them for top end established talent augmenting this current group when they are ready to challenge for a deep playoff run.

If you believe that a rebuild, or reload, whatever you want to call it, begins after one group reaches the apex, as did the 2017 team, then you have to take into account what began as that 2017 team was raising the Cup. Just a week or so earlier that spring, Seattle drafted Payton Mount, Ty Bauer and Luke Bateman. The next spring they selected Kai Uchacz, Lucas Ciona, Conner Roulette, Thomas Milic, Sam Popowich, Reid Schaefer and Mekai Sanders. In the most recent draft they used two first round picks on Jordan Gustafson and Kevin Korchinski and a second rounder on Spencer Penner. They chose nine other players in last spring's draft and some of those will end up signing a well. They've listed and signed players like Cade McNelly, Matt Rempe and Jared Davidson while trading for youngster like Brendan Williamson, Zach Ashton, Henrik Rybinski and Blake Lyda. They'll continue to list and recruit more players to supplement that group.

This is the core they are building around. From 2017 until the 2023 draft rolls around, Seattle will have used as many as 20 first and second round draft picks alone to build this roster up while also building for the future. They'll do that by using those draft picks to select players, or trade those picks to acquire players already in the league. The goal isn't to compete for one championship, but to compete for multiple titles. La Forge has a plan and that plan is to make this team a contender every year.

My T-birds Three Stars for the Weekend:

Third Star: C Max Patterson. Acquired from Everett to fill the 20 year old vacancy created by the Wedman trade, Patterson jumped off the plane and onto the ice and had a solid debut weekend as a T-bird. Without benefit of a practice with his new line mates, he made the transition seem effortless, creating instant chemistry with Andrej Kukuca and Payton Mount. In the two games he won 31 of his 48 faceoffs. He was a physical force, and according to head coach Matt O'Dette, a vocal leader.

Second Star: C Henrik Rybinski. Now centering Seattle's top line, with Keltie Jeri-Leon and Conner Roulette on his wings, he was not just the T-birds best skater both nights, he was the best skater for either team in the two games in Victoria. He potted a goal each night and set his wingers up for multiple scoring chances. When he came to Seattle last January he wanted to play center, but Seattle wasn't sure if he could win a faceoff, so he played on the wing. On the weekend he won 22 of his 28 draws. He's a center.

First Star: G Blake Lyda. That ten goals against game in Kamloops? It has to be looked at now as a fluke, an aberration, a total team collapse and not a goalie issue. In his four games surrounding that outing, he's surrendered just five goals against on 122 shots and earned his first two WHL wins. This weekend he stopped 35 of 36 shots Friday in the 4-1 win. He then stopped 11 of 11 in relief of Roddy Ross Saturday. For those counting at home, that is 46 saves on 47 shots up in Victoria. You can't erase that 10-goal game. It goes on his permanent record, but take it out of the equation and in the other four outings the past month, he has a 2-1-0-0 record, a 1.45 GAA and a SPCT of .959.