For the first time in franchise history, the Seattle Thunderbirds have opened the season with four consecutive wins. The closest they had come to this previously was the 1998-99 season when they started 3-0-1 (remember ties?).
The Thunderbirds will try to make it 5-0 when they host the Medicine Hat Tigers Tuesday at the accesso ShoWare center. It won't be easy. So far on their trip through the Pacific Northwest, the Tigers are giving the U.S. Division all they can handle. Friday they handed Everett their first loss of the season with a 6-3 win. They then took Portland to overtime Saturday before falling, 4-3.
Funny thing about the T-bird hot start? They've been far from perfect and we definitely haven't seen them play their best hockey yet. In fact, far from it. There's lots of room for improvement. Every game has been a nailbiter and Seattle's sheer talent advantage has pushed them over the top.
What are the issues in the early going? Well, for one they haven't had a lot of time together as a group. With so many players away at NHL camps they didn't get a chance to spend a great deal of time together working on their systems, their special teams or their chemistry.
Also, as head coach Matt O'Dette has said, they are working on reestablishing their identity that made them such a tough out the second half of last season and through their long playoff run. Even with so many returning players, they are not the same team that went all the way to Game Six of the WHL Championship Series back in June.
Six key components from the roster of the 2022 Western Conference Championship team are no longer here, including three of your top six defensemen (Bauer, Knazko and Gottfried) and three of your top six forwards (Rybinski, Svejkovsky and Rempe). That's both a loss of a lot of offensive weapons and leadership.
Do they have the talent to replace those players? Yes, but it takes time to get those players acclimated to the Thunderbirds way. They have eleven new faces on the team to start the season and outside of Kyle Crnkovic, they are all young (18 years old and younger) and mostly inexperienced at the WHL level.
With the loss of those veteran d-men from a season ago, Seattle's back end is young. Most nights there are two if not three rookie defensemen in the lineup including two 16 year olds. The eye tests will tell you those two are going to be elite d-men by the time their WHL careers are over but right now they are going through growing pains. They're going to make mistakes as they get their on the job training. In the end, the good will far outweigh the bad.
I would also expect that Seattle will get their opponents best effort every night. There is a target on the Thunderbirds back. They're the defending conference champs and they are ranked in the top five of the CHL Top Ten Poll. Opposing teams want to knock you off your perch.
Meanwhile, there are times when Seattle is not getting out of their own way. They are taking too many penalties. They survived it this weekend with the two road wins, but that was playing with fire. The T-birds strength last season was puck possession and dominating at 5-on-5. It was a relentless forecheck that would wear an opponent down, forcing them into taking penalties. That's what they need to reestablish.
And again, not to beat a dead horse, but the T-birds are not yet whole. They still have room on the roster for a third 20 year old. They currently have room for a second Import. With the recent trade of Sam Oremba they now have the draft capital (two* 2023 first round picks and two 2024 first round picks) to fill those spots with high end talent. Of course if Brad Lambert shows up at some point they solve the Import situation (and their stock of first round picks is reduced to three). While that is looking less and less likely, it's not a closed door.
My T-birds Three Stars for the Weekend:
Third Star: W Lucas Ciona. Ciona came up big on three goals this weekend. He set up Jordan Gustafson's goal in Kelowna Friday with a nice give and go feed out of the corner. Saturday he made a strong drive to the net before dishing the puck off to Gracyn Sawchyn on Seattle's second goal against Vancouver. Then in overtime, he retrieved a puck and got it back on the sticks of the team's playmakers. He then went to the net to screen the goalie on the game winning goal.
Second Star: G Scott Ratzlaff. Seattle continues to give up way too many Grade A scoring chances, even if they're not giving up a lot of shots in total. Saturday in Langley Ratzlaff was making big time saves, especially as Seattle paraded to the penalty box and gave the Giants eight power play chances.
First Star: D Kevin Korchinski. Back from NHL training camp with the Chicago Blackhawks and he picks up four points (1g, 3a) in his first two games, including an overtime game winner. With a team going through early season growing pains, he can be a difference maker. When the puck is on his stick, you expect something good to happen. A nice security blanket to have.
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