When sixteen of the players who made up your 2023 championship roster are either no longer with you or not currently available, you go into the lab and and start mixing together a new batch of formula. For the Thunderbirds it isn't creating a new recipe, it's just mixing in new ingredients.
Now, the T-birds know at some point they'll get a few ingredients from last season's team back. Jordan Gustafson is about a month away from returning from offseason surgery. Sawyer Mynio was hurt last week but he too will return. The mystery ingredient is Kevin Korchinski.Will he return or will he remain in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks? The answer is out of their hands.
So, you go with what you know, the players who are here. You mix in the returning players with the newcomers and you get baking. Hopefully, it doesn't take long for the cake to rise. Friday in Spokane, we saw what that work in the kitchen looks like.
The T-Birds added three new players to the fold. Defenseman Braeden Wynne, a 19 year old, came over from Medicine Hat but had perviously played for Edmonton. He played 43-games with the Oil Kings in the 2021-22 season, the year they beat Seattle in the league final. Unfortunatley his debut was cut short when he was injured in the first period and did not return. It's hard to gauge his effectiveness on such a short sample size.
Another acquisition from Medicine Hat is Cru Hanas. The 18 year old left winger got into a couple of practices last week and then made his debut Friday in Spokane. It was a slow start as he got comfortable with his new linemates. But as the game progressed, he became more effective, more assertive and by the third period he was making a difference on the ice.
The third player thrown into the mix was Eric Alarie. Alarie came to the T-Birds in a deal with Moose Jaw. The 20 year old is a former first round pick in the WHL Prospects Draft, taken 22nd overall by the Warriors in 2018. Alarie was brought in for his offense. He scored nineteen goals a season ago and was a 25-goal scorer in 2021-22. With his size and offensive ability, he reminds me of Colton Dach.
Friday in Spokane he showed why Seattle went out and got him. He was affective from his very first shift, drawing a penalty with his strong, physical play. In the third period he delivered the goods, scoring the game winning goal. Not bad for someone who had been driving two days from Moose Jaw to meet the team just in time for puck drop.
To bring in Alarie, Seattle had to release two 20-year olds who were part of last year's Chynowth Cup winning squad. Both Mekai Sanders and Ashton McNelly were waived to get Seattle down to the limit of three 20 year old players. That's the business side of the WHL. The ultimate goal is winning and to win you need to score.
In his four seasons with Seattle, Sanders had scored just 20 goals and over half of those, twelve, came in the 2021-22 season. It was that season where Sanders was injured. A significant knee injury that cost him nearly a season of hockey. Before that injury he had produced twelve goals and fifteen assists in 56-games that season. Since his return from the injury he had accumulated just eleven points (5g, 6a) in 58 games and was a healthy scratch the last few games of the Memorial Cup. Only Mekai knows but I wonder how much that injury affected his game.
McNelly was never brought in here to be a goal scorer. He was brought in for his grit and physicality. He was the perfect third/fourth line guy on a deep team. He knew his role and he was a great teammate. You can accept that role from a 19-year old. But on a team lacking in offense, that is a luxury you can't afford. Seattle lost over 175 goals from last year's team. They needed an Alarie to pick up some of that offense.
With the addition of those three players, plus 19-year old defenseman Owen Boucher, who was acquired from Prince Albert a week earlier, and Luca Hauf, obtained in the offseason from Edmonton, the T-Birds have some new ingredients to mix into their recipe. There are also eight rookies new to the WHL this season. Thirteen new faces added to the team in the last three months. You also have four second year players moving into expanded roles this season.
That leaves just six players who have been with the T-Birds for two-plus seasons and two of them, Gustafson and Mynio are currently on the shelf. This doesn't include Korchinski because we don't know if he's coming back. So, it might be a slow cook to get the team all on the same page.
My Three T-Birds Stars for Friday's win in Spokane:
Third Star: G Scott Ratzlaff. The first goal he allowed was an ugly one. No question he was at fault. A minute later a second one gets by him and all of a sudden Seattle is in a 2-0 hole. A fragile psychy could have crumbled. But Ratzlaff buckled down and shut the door on the Chiefs the rest of the way. He started to look like the Ratzlaff of last December who was named WHL Goaltender of the Month. Many of his saves, especially in the third period, were highlight worthy stops. He finished with 28-saves to earn his first win of the season.
Second Star: LW Eric Alarie. Instant impact for the T-birds newest player. In addition to his offense, he was a physical presence, winning puck battles along the boards. Just missed scoring a couple more times but his first goal as a T-Birds was memorable as he drove the net and redirected a Gracyn Sawchyn pass up and under the bar for the game winner. In the few minutes I spent talking with him I think you can see he's going to be a part of the leadership group as well.
First Star: C Sam Popowich. What a start to the season for Poppy with goals in each of the first three games. He added two assists versus Spokane as well. His power play goal late in period one was huge, cutting the T-Birds deficit to 2-1 before the period ended. He then made a perfect pass to spring Antonio Martorana as he came out of the penalty box early in the second period for the tying goal. Remember, Popowich was on the ice at that time killing off a penalty, something he excels in. He added a second assist on the Nico Myatovic empty net goal.
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