T-Birds earn spot in Memorial Cup semis with 6-1 win over Kamloops
WINNIPEG, CANADA - MAY 13: Luke Prokop #6 of the Seattle Thunderbirds skates during the second period against the Winnipeg Ice in Game Two of the 2023 WHL Championship Series at Canada Life Centre on May 13, 2023 in Winnipeg, Canada. (Photo by Jonath
Kyle Crnkovic scored his fourth goal of the tournament with six different players scoring goals for the Seattle Thunderbirds as they earned a spot in the semifinals of the Memorial Cup with a 6-1 victory over the Kamloops Blazers on Wednesday night.
Lucas Ciona, Jared Davidson, Jordan Gustafson, Luke Prokop and Colton Dach also scored for Seattle as they downed their WHL rival to reach Friday night's semifinal.
"That's clearly our best game of the tournament," head coach Matt O'Dette said.
Seattle will face the winner of Thursday night's tiebreaker game between the Blazers and the Peterborough Petes, who are the champions of the Ontario Hockey League. The Thunderbirds beat the Blazers in six games in the WHL Western Conference Final in early May as part of their path to the Memorial Cup.
Ryan Hofer scored the only goal of the night for Kamloops as Thomas Milic made 30 saves on 31 shots for the Thunderbirds in the victory.
"I think we've done a really good job throughout the whole season, playoffs, and the tournament so far of letting Thomas see (the puck)," Prokop said. "Doing our job boxing out because we know if he can see the puck he's going to stop it 10 times out of 10. He's an unbelievable goaltender."
The Québec Remparts, the champion of the Québec Major Junior Hockey League, awaits an opponent from the semifinal after beating Seattle and Kamloops to advance to the final.
Seattle beat Peterborough 6-3 and lost to Québec 3-1 during the round-robin portion of the tournament. They'll get a day off on Thursday as either opponent they'd face have to play in the tiebreaker Thursday night.
"Rest is huge, especially in this tournament," Prokop said. "This time of year, guys are banged up, a lot of injuries and nagging stuff going on and so it's nice for the guys to get a little bit of rest and regroup for the next game."
Against the Blazers, the Thunderbirds applied the majority of the early pressure before breaking through first on the scoreboard.
Dylan Guenther was left alone in front of the net just 17 seconds in only to be denied by Kamloops goaltender Dylan Ernst. Just a minute later, a shot from Jared Davidson slammed off the post and out.
Then just over four minutes into the contest, Ciona gave Seattle the lead. A backhand shot from Davidson rebounded off Ernst and was left loose in front of the crease. Ciona chipped the puck over a sprawled out Ernst to give the Thunderbirds a 1-0 lead.
Kamloops answered with just over nine minutes left in the opening period. Kamloops intercepted a Dach pass out to center ice and created a rush chance into the Seattle zone. Hofer snapped a wrist shot by the blocker side of Milic to make it a 1-1 game.
Milic did come up with a few big stops to keep the game tied, which included a blocker save on a clean look for Fraser Minten between the circles.
The Blazers were keeping Seattle's offense in check through the early stages of the second period. Ernst made a pair of saves on Guenther and another on Reid Schaefer on a power play chance to keep the game tied. Brad Lambert was then denied on a chance during a stretch of 4-on-4 play.
Davidson then gave Seattle the lead with a power play goal. With Logan Bairos in the box for kneeing Davidson, the Thunderbirds caught Kamloops in a line change with Davidson unattended at the Blazers blue line. A Guenther pass ahead gave Davidson a clean skate into the offensive zone before he fired a wrist shot from the left circle by the glove hand of Ernst for a 2-1 lead.
Eight seconds later it was a 3-1 Seattle lead. Aapo Sarell lost control of the puck behind the Blazers net with Crnkovic in place to pounce on the mistake. He found an open Gustafson in front of the net for a quick strike by Ernst for a 3-1 Seattle advantage.
Ernst delivered a big save on Gustafson late in the second period to keep the lead at just two. Then right after the ensuing face-off a Crnkovic shot deflected off Ernst into the air before landing just outside the goal line with Schaefer unable to get a stick on the loose puck before Ernst covered to escape another prime Thunderbirds chance.
However, Seattle managed to crack Ernst again in the third period. Crnkovic delivered his fourth goal of the tournament to extend the lead to 4-1. A shot from high atop the offensive zone found its way by Ernst as the Blazers goalie was slightly out of position.
Crnkovic scored a hat trick in Seattle's opening victory over Peterborough.
Prokop got in on the scoring just over a minute later as he fired a loose puck by Ernst for a 5-1 lead. Then with Schaefer exiting the box after a penalty, the Thunderbirds immediately created a rush chance with Dach powering a puck through Ernst for another goal.
"We played our style of game and it’s very hard for teams to compete with us when we do that," Prokop said. "We play a very well-rounded 200-foot game and it’s difficult for teams to keep up with that."
It's the second time in three all-time appearances in the Memorial Cup that the Thunderbirds have reached the semifinals. As tournament host in 1992, Seattle lost to Kamloops in the semifinal before the Blazers went on to beat the Sault Ste. Marie in the final.