Thunderbirds beat Kamloops 4-2 in Game 6 to advance to WHL Championship

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Forward Jared Davidson of the Seattle Thunderbirds carries the puck in the offensive zone during Game 5 of the WHL Western Conference Championship against the Kamloops Blazers on May 6, 2023.  (photo by Brian Liesse / Seattle Thunderbirds)

Jared Davidson scored his 23rd career playoff goal and Kyle Crnkovic delivered the game-winning tally in the third period as the Seattle Thunderbirds beat the Kamloops Blazers 4-2 in Game 6 to earn a spot in the WHL Championship for a second straight year.

Kamloops native Sawyer Minio also scored and Reid Schaefer delivered an empty net goal with 39 seconds remaining to clinch Seattle's return appearance in the WHL Championship. It's the fourth trip to the championship series in the last eight years for the Thunderbirds. Seattle won the Ed Chynoweth Cup in the 2016-17 season by defeating the Regina Pats in the championship series.

The Thunderbirds had to withstand an early goal from Kamloops before rallying for a trip of unanswered goals to take a commanding lead with 10 minutes left to play. The Blazers got a power play goal from Matthew Seminoff with 1:43 left to play to cut Seattle's lead to 3-2, but Schaefer's empty net tally just over a minute later clinched the Thunderbirds' spot in the final.

Dylan Sydor gave the Blazers the lead with 4:03 left in the opening period. His shot through traffice beat Seattle goaltender Thomas Milic to the high glove side for a 1-0 Kamloops lead.

Davidson tied the score for Seattle in the second period. Gracyn Sawchyn won a puck battle along the wall and Davidson snapped a quick shot from the left circle inside the post past Dylan Ernst to pull the Thunderbirds level with 15:14 left in the period.

Minio's shot came from distance to give the Thunderbirds the lead. A soft wrist shot from beyond the right circle sailed through bodies and into the top left corner of the net as Seattle took a 2-1 lead with 14:27 left to play.

Davidson had a hand in the game-winning goal as well. He carried the puck behind the Kamloops net and found Crnkovic on the backdoor for a tap-in finish to make it a 3-1 game with exactly ten minutes remaining.

Seminoff – the Dallas Stars draftee that scored two goals in Game 5 to force a return trip to Kamloops – buried a cross-ice pass from Daylan Kuefler on the power play to cut the lead. However, Schaefer's goal clinched the trip back to the final for a second straight season. The Thunderbirds had to knock off Kamloops in last year's Western Conference final as well to advance to the championship series.

Seattle will face the Winnipeg Ice and a trio of NHL first-round draft picks Matthew Savoie, Conor Geekie and Carson Lambos in the WHL Championship. Geekie is the younger brother of Seattle Kraken forward Morgan Geekie.

The Ice have a total of nine NHL draftees currently on their roster. The Thunderbirds bring ten NHL draft picks to the championship series, which includes five first-round picks in Dylan Guenther, Brad Lambert, Kevin Korchinski, Nolan Allen and Schaefer.

The winner of the WHL Championship will serve as the league's representative in the Memorial Cup later this month. They will join the winners of the Ontario Hockey League (Peterborough Petes or London Knights), the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (Quebec Ramparts or Halifax Mooseheads) and the Blazers, who gain entry to the four-team field due to being the host venue.

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