A rainy Monday afternoon couldn’t dampen the excitement of Seattle Thunderbirds fans waiting to greet the Western Hockey League champions at Kent’s ShoWare Center.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of T-Birds supporters turned out to welcome the players and the Ed Chynoweth Cup home after the team’s dramatic Game 6 overtime victory in Regina, Saskatchewan, on Sunday evening, securing the first WHL title in the franchise’s 40-year history.<\/p>\n
“I heard there would be a few fans. I didn’t expect that many,” coach Steve Konowalchuk said of the turnout Monday. “That’s awesome. I know our players were a little bit surprised – not that they should be, because we have great support all year – the best fans, the loudest fans.”<\/p>\n
Konowalchuk and his players were still savoring the win nearly 24 hours later.<\/p>\n
“It sure is exciting to be able to come back late in the game,” he said. “To win the championship in overtime was a special feeling for all the players and coaches included.”<\/p>\n
T-Birds co-captain and WHL playoffs MVP Mathew Barzal said it would have been nice to win the title in front of the home crowd.<\/p>\n
“Sometimes that’s what it takes. You’ve got to win on the road,” Barzal said. “We had such a good supporting fan base that came to Saskatchewan to watch us, so it made it look like we were almost playing at home. … It is that much harder to win on away ice, so it made it that much better.<\/p>\n
“(I’m) so, so proud of this group of guys. We worked hard all year so it’s really rewarding to be able to bring a championship back to Kent.”<\/p>\n
Now, the team’s focus shifts to the next task – winning the Memorial Cup. On Wednesday, the team traveled to Windsor, Ontario, where they will play in a round-robin tournament for the Canadian Hockey League championship this weekend.<\/p>\n
The Memorial Cup starts Friday, and the T-Birds’ first game at the tournament is at noon Saturday against the Erie Otters.<\/p>\n
“We are going to kind of forget about (winning the WHL title) almost for the time being for this playoff,” T-Birds co-captain Scott Eansor said. “We really have another goal in mind. We’re not done yet. We want to keep breaking records.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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