Uploaded: 2022-02-22T11:57:09-08:00
Channel: Curtis Crabtree

LANGLEY, BC - NOVEMBER 12: Mathew Barzal #13 of the Seattle Thunderbirds plays the puck against the Vancouver Giants during the third period of their WHL game at the Langley Events Centre on November 12, 2016 in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. (Ph …

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SEATTLE - Before becoming a two-time All-Star and a Calder Trophy winner in the NHL, Mathew Barzal was leading the Seattle Thunderbirds to the WHL title in 2017. Now with the New York Islanders, Barzal is making his return to the Puget Sound region Tuesday night to face the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena.

"I know tomorrow night there's probably going to be a bunch of Thunderbird fans," Barzal told reporters on Monday afternoon after the team's skate at Climate Pledge Arena. "I texted our assistant coach from when I was playing here, and it sounds like the whole Seattle Thunderbirds team and staff are coming. It's just awesome to be back."

Barzal spent four seasons with the Thunderbirds before moving up to the NHL level full-time with the Islanders. Kraken forward Alexander True and Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Ethan Bear were also members of the Thunderbirds' championship roster. But Barzal was the star that had been the 16th overall pick in the 2015 NHL entry draft by the Islanders. Barzal was named MVP of the WHL playoffs after their title run with 25 points (seven goals, 18 assists) in 16 games en route to the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

"Just that feeling you get when you have history in a certain spot," Barzal said. "When we won that championship there was this euphoric feeling that I got, and we got as a team. We felt like we worked so hard for four years to accomplish that in my 19-(year old) year. A bunch of my good friends and teammates that year, we came up at 16, 17, 18, and then we won at 19, so it was super rewarding."

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After graduating to the Islanders, Barzal won the Calder Trophy as the best rookie in the NHL for the 2017-18 season as he scored 85 points with 22 goals and 63 assists in his debut campaign.

The Islanders were initially set to be in Seattle on January 4. However, the matchup was postponed amid several schedule changes across the league due to COVID-19. The Kraken faced the Islanders on the road earlier this month, earning their first shutout victory in team history behind 19 saves from Philipp Grubauer and goals from Jared McCann, Vince Dunn and Mason Appleton.

Barzal has 12 goals and 21 assists in 42 games played for the Islanders this season. He was teammates with Kraken All-Star selection Jordan Eberle for the last four seasons with the Islanders and will get his first chance to face him in the new Climate Pledge Arena on Tuesday night.

"I mean it is unbelievable," Barzal said of the arena. "The standing area up top with the light shining through. It's similar in seating and the way it's built to UBS [Arena], but I mean the kind of a Seattle highlight I guess with the light coming in kind of makes it a little bit outdoors-y with the big window there and people can see through. So I hadn't seen it but [Eberle] told me that it was an unreal building and it definitely is."

Barzal, 24, is a native of Coquitlam, British Columbia.

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