Loaded with 10 players already drafted by NHL teams and the top two goaltenders in the WHL, the Seattle Thunderbirds are a junior hockey juggernaut set to begin a Memorial Cup run as the playoffs get underway on Friday. FOX13
Heading into the final week of the regular season, the Seattle Thunderbrids are red hot winners of 18 of their last 20 games. For five months, FOX 13 News Anchor Bill Wixey and Photojournalist Michael Driver were embedded with the team working on this 30 minute special.After making a run to the Western Hockey League's Championship Series as an underdog last season, theNHL
"All those guys coming in, piece by piece, it's like 'OK, now we're really going for it, we've got a real genuine shot,'" goaltender Scott Ratzlaff said. "So I think it's nice to kind of just bring all the puzzle pieces together to go for that run."Prokop was acquired from Edmonton in November, Allen from Prince Albert in December, and Dach from Kelowna in January.
Guenther scored the game-winning goal for Team Canada in the IIHF World Junior Championships in January in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Guenther was joined by Thunderbirds teammates Korchinski, Allan, Schaefer, Dach and goaltender Thomas Milic in leading Canada to the gold medal. Since joining Seattle, Guenther has racked up 29 points with 13 goals and 16 assists in 20 games played for Seattle. His 1.45 points per game trails only the 1.46 points per game of Lambert for the best mark on the team.
In addition to the talent along their skaters, Milic and Ratzlaff have been terrific in goal for the Thunderbirds as well. Milic leads the WHL with a .928 save percentage and a 2.08 goals against average. Ratzlaff finished the year second to Milic with a 2.15 goals against average and was fourth in the league in save percentage at .918.
"This is what you want as a coach. You want to have a team like this, a team that can make a run at a championship," O'Dette said.
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