More then a year into a pandemic has seemed like a lifetime but a 24 game hockey season has come and gone in a flash. Still, it was better to have something than nothing at all. Let's look back.
As I've reiterated time and time again, the Thunderbirds made a conscious decision to go young, once it was determined this would be such a short season. They opted to use these two dozen games to develop their team of the future. Had this been a normal 68 game campaign with a postseason Seattle probably goes with an older roster.
No doubt they would have carried at least three and not just one 20-year old. And it's doubtful we would have seen 12 rookies on the team. But with no playoffs to fight for, going with the youth route made the most sense for a team that has accumulated a lot of young, promising talent over the past couple of years.
But even making the decision to go young didn't necessarily go as planned. Because of things like injuries, the T-Birds ended up younger than even they expected.
It started somewhere between December and early February when goalie Blake Lyda made the decision to no longer pursue a hockey career. Remember, Lyda had played in a few games last fall with the AJHL's Spruce Grove Saints, with an eye on being ready whenever the WHL season got the green light. He was expected to split time with Thomas Milic, maybe even get more starts, so the team could bring Milic along slowly. Somewhere along the way he had a change of heart. It happens, but suddenly Seattle was in the market for a second goalie to pair with Milic, who now became the number one option in net.
They were able to pick up Jackson Berry, who had been released by the Moose Jaw Warriors after playing in parts of just five games last season. More importantly the T-Birds didn't have to expend any draft capital to get him. His numbers aren't going to wow you, but under difficult circumstances, Berry gave Seattle a chance to win nearly every game he played in, especially after he was pressed into the number one job when Milic made the final roster for Team Canada's gold medal winning U18 squad. Milic would be absent for the second half of the season.
In an ideal world Lyda would have stuck with it. Seattle would then have then listed Berry and brought him in as a third goalie, so that when Milic left for Texas, Berry would become Lyda's backup, rather then having to bring 15-year old Scott Ratzlaff down from Canada. But as we've discovered, this is not an ideal world. So, if back in January you had Jackson Berry getting the most time in the crease for Seattle this season on your pandemic hockey bingo card, congratulation!
In the end, the two goalies projected to man the crease for Seattle, Lyda and Milic, played in only nine of 23 contests and those nine games all belonged to Milic.
On to the forwards. Late in training camp back in mid-March, just a few days before opening night, Seattle had to rightfully dismiss two players from the roster due to "inappropriate racial comments and actions". Those two players were going to figure prominently in Seattle's top nine forward group not only this season, but for the next two seasons as well. It's different than the Lyda situation but once again, before the puck even dropped on the season, two more players the T-Birds were counting on, were out, including a former first round pick.
Then, eight games into the season the T-Birds lost second line center Matt Rempe, an NHL drafted player, to a season ending lower body injury. A few games later their best offensive player, Conner Roulette left to join his teammate Milic in Texas with Team Canada's U18 team. They would then lose another top six forward, Payton Mount, to an upper body injury for seven of the last eight games, including the final three.
That means that five of the team's projected top nine forwards would miss a combined 80 games. And the defensive group, while mostly intact, didn't go unscathed either as Cade McNelly missed four games to either illness or suspension. The biggest affect of this was that, combined with the absences in the forward group, it meant Seattle played a number of games with just 17 dressed skaters, one under the limit.
Yet despite that adversity, the Thunderbirds still won 10 of their 23 games. And that's what this shortened season should be remembered for. The WHL team with the youngest roster, utilizing six rookie forwards, three rookie defensemen and three rookie goalies, nearly won half their games! They were two games above .500 when the injury bug hit. And 10 of their 12 losses, plus the shootout loss, were to two teams, Everett and Portland, with a combined record of 31-12-3-0.
Seattle finished third in the U.S. Division, ahead of two older teams. They pitched two shutouts against a Spokane team featuring the leading scorer in the entire WHL a season ago, Adam Beckman. They won six of their 10 games with a either a 16-year old or 15-year old in net. They got 48 points (14g, 34a) in those 23 games from their nine rookie forwards and defensemen.
One of those rookies, 16-year old Nico Myatovic, wasn't even supposed to be here this season. He joined the team at the midway point due to the depleted roster, and ended up scoring three goals. 2020 first round draft pick, 2005 born Sam Oremba, wasn't even guaranteed to see the ice but ended up playing the final 15 games and registered five points (2g, 3a).
More importantly, after enduring a six game losing streak, Seattle finished the season strong, earning points in four of their final five games, compiling a 3-1-0-1 record. In the process they outshot their opponents 191-137 over that span, and three times held the opposing team to fewer than 30 shots.
This team was like a lizard or a salamander. When they lost a limb, they grew a new one. A Rempe goes down, a Myatovic steps up. Lose a Roultette, grow an Oremba. So while we anxiously look toward the future, let's not be too hasty to forget this season, even if it was gone in the blink of an eye.
My T-Birds three stars for the Season of Covid:
Third Star: C Jared Davidson. Voted the team's Most Improved Player, Davidson stepped in to the void created by Rempe's injury. He took over the number two center role. He jumped seamlessly onto the top power play unit and he played with the confidence earned from the coaching staff. With 19 points, he finished third on the club in scoring and his nine goals were second most including two game winners. His goal, assist and point totals were all career bests.
Second Star: W Keltie Jeri-Leon. The team's lone 20-year old did exactly what he was supposed to do, lead. Lead in scoring, lead on the ice and lead in the locker room. His 17 goals wasn't just the most on the team, but it put him among the league leaders in that category. When the T-Birds season ended Sunday he was tied for second. The Thunderbirds made the decision to go young but they kept Jeri-Leon so the ship could have a rudder.
First Star: C Henrik Rybinski. He was not just Seattle's best player every night but most games he was the best player on the ice. Relentless is the best way to describe him. He leaves it all on the ice every game, every shift. He led the team in scoring but he also led in fuel spent. Former head coach Steve Konowalchuk used to preach about using up all your fuel stores. You can recharge when the game is over. What are you saving it for? Current head coach Matt O'Dette is from the same school. Rybinski is the textbook example of their kind of player.
