Seattle Thunderbirds Defeat Winnipeg Ice to Win WHL Championship

The Seattle Thunderbirds loaded up and got the job done.

Next week, they'll be headed back to Kamloops as the WHL's representative at the 2023 Memorial Cup.

Friday night, the Thunderbirds defeated the Winnipeg Ice 3-1 to win their WHL Championship series 4-1 and capture their franchise's second-ever Ed Chynoweth Cup.

In a goaltending duel where Winnipeg's Daniel Hauser and Seattle's Thomas Milic both stood tall on Friday, Sam Popowich opened the scoring for Seattle late in the second period with his second goal of the playoffs, tipping a point shot from defenseman Jeremy Hanzel.

Early in the third, Nico Myatovic added an insurance marker for Seattle on a penalty shot after he was hauled down by Winnipeg defender Graham Sward while driving the net. 

With the season on the line, the WHL's top-seeded Ice pushed back hard in the third period. 

Evan Friesen drew Winnipeg back within one at 5:02 into the period, beating a screened Milic from the slot with his seventh of the playoffs.

But that was the only puck that got past Milic. Kyle Crnkovic iced the win, so to speak, when he hit the empty net with 1:06 remaining. The final shots in the game were 38-31 for Seattle. 

The series was a clash of the WHL's two top teams, both powerhouses. Winnipeg finished first in the overall league standings with a record of 57-10-1-0 for 115 points in 68 games while Seattle was second in points and led the Western Conference at 54-11-1-2 for 111 points.

The Thunderbirds were also the league's best defensive team, surrendering just 155 goals as Milic was named top goaltender of the year. Winnipeg gave up 177 goals, third-best in the league, and was the East Division's nominee for the honor.

It was a little surprising to see a rather one-sided final. Winnipeg drew first blood with a 3-2 home-ice win before Seattle came back to win four straight games. The 2-3-2 series format allowed them to celebrate their win in front of their fans after outscoring Winnipeg 19-11 in the series.

In the earlier rounds of the playoffs, both teams dominated, losing just two games through the first three rounds. 

The Ice swept the Medicine Hat Tigers, then were pushed to six games by the Moose Jaw Warriors in Round 2 before sweeping the Saskatoon Blades in the Eastern Conference final. The Thunderbirds swept their first two opponents, the Kelowna Rockets and the Prince George Cougars. Then, matched up against the Kamloops Blazers, they kept their CHL championship hopes alive with a six-game series win in the Western Conference final.

For the Thunderbirds, the win takes care of some unfinished business from last season, when they stormed through to the WHL final before losing in six games to the Edmonton Oil Kings. 

Already with a strong roster, GM Bil La Forge left no stone unturned as he fortified his roster for another championship run. That meant long-shot trades for sharpshooters like Brad Lambert and Dylan Guenther, who didn't join the team until later in the season, and shoring up the defense by adding pillars like Luke Prokop from the champion Oil Kings and Chicago Blackhawks first-round draft pick Nolan Allan from the Prince Albert Raiders. 

The Thunderbirds' leading playoff scorers were Guenther, the Arizona Coyotes' No. 9 overall pick in 2021, and Lambert, chosen 30th by the Winnipeg Jets in 2022. The bold player acquisition strategy paid off, but the Thunderbirds' win was very much a team effort. Two other Thunderbirds also finished in the top 10 in playoff scoring: Jared Davidson, a fifth-round pick by the Montreal Canadiens in 2022, and undrafted 20-year-old defenseman Jeremy Hanzel.

For their part, the Ice's key additions were forwards Zack Ostapchuk and Carson Latimer. They finished with 15 and six points, respectively. Winnipeg's leading scorer was Buffalo Sabres' 2022 first-rounder Matthew Savoie, with 29 points. Undrafted 21-year-old defenseman Ben Zloty added 24 points from the blueline, and 20-year-old free agent Connor McClennon chipped in 23. 

Playing every minute of the post-season in net for Seattle and posting a 1.95 goals-against average and .933 save percentage, Milic was named the WHL's playoff MVP. The 20-year-old also has gold medals with Team Canada from the 2023 World Junior Championship and the 2021 World Men's Under-18 Championship but remains undrafted as he stands at just six-foot. His talent and grace under pressure could make him a draft steal in Nashville next month.

Other NHL draft-eligible Thunderbirds include fellow goaltender Scott Ratzlaff along with forwards Gracyn Sawchyn and Nico Myatovic, who are both ranked in the top 30 among North American skaters on NHL Central Scouting's final 2023 draft rankings.

Now, the stage is set for a return to Kamloops, where the Memorial Cup kicks off on May 26. The Thunderbirds will represent the WHL and will square off for the national championship against the host Blazers along with the champions from the OHL and QMJHL, with the title game set for June 4.

The Peterborough Petes currently lead the OHL championship 3-2 over the London Knights, and the Quebec Remparts hold the same lead over the Halifax Mooseheads in the QMJHL. Game 6 for both series goes Sunday.