{"id":60387,"date":"2022-09-23T14:58:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-23T21:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/sports\/high-expectations-for-seattle-thunderbirds-in-western-hockey-league\/"},"modified":"2022-09-23T14:58:00","modified_gmt":"2022-09-23T21:58:00","slug":"high-expectations-for-seattle-thunderbirds-in-western-hockey-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/sports\/high-expectations-for-seattle-thunderbirds-in-western-hockey-league\/","title":{"rendered":"High expectations for Seattle Thunderbirds in Western Hockey League"},"content":{"rendered":"
The expectations are high this Western Hockey League (WHL) season for the Kent-based Seattle <\/a>Thunderbirds<\/a>.<\/p>\n The T-Birds, who open the season Friday night, Sept. 23 against the Vancouver Giants in Langley, British Columbia, won the WHL Western Conference title in 2022 and received the No. 3 preseason ranking in the 60-team Canadian Hockey League (CHL).<\/p>\n The T-Birds play the second game of the season in their home opener at 6:05 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1 against Vancouver at the accesso ShoWare Center. Tickets are $50 for glass, $48 for club, $35 for center ice, $30 for north end or south end and $2o for north zone. Get tickets at tickets.seattlethunderbirds.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n “We feel like we return a good group of players, lots of depth and talent up front and our goaltending’s obviously very solid,” said Seattle Coach Matt O’Dette in a YouTube interview. “Those two areas will be strengths of ours. Our defense is a little bit on the younger side but we feel there is an abundance of talent and lot of upside there led by Kevin Korchinski.”<\/p>\n Korchinski, 18, is one of three Seattle players selected in the 2022 NHL Draft. The defenseman had 61 assists and 65 points in the 2021-2022 WHL regular season and was the first WHL player chosen in the draft when the Chicago Blackhawks took him in the first round, seventh overall.<\/p>\n Forward Reid Schaefer, 19, was taken in the first round, 32nd overall, by the Edmonton Oilers. He had 32 goals, 26 assists and 58 points last season.<\/p>\n Forward Jared Davidson, 20, went in the fifth round of the draft to the Montreal Canadiens. He led the T-Birds with 89 points on 42 goals and 47 assists.<\/p>\n Seattle strengthened its offense earlier this month when it traded for forward Kyle Crnkovic, 20, of the Saskatoon Blades in exchange for Dallas Stars prospect Conner Roulette. Crnkovic finished fifth in scoring last season in the WHL with 94 points.<\/p>\n