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Seattle Thunderbirds
Seattle Thunderbirds
City	Kent, Washington
League	Western Hockey League
Conference	Western
Division	U.S.
Founded	1977–78
Home arena	ShoWare Center
Colours	Navy blue, green and silver;
General manager	Russ Farwell
Head coach	Rob Sumner
	Website; www.seattlethunderbirds.com
Franchise history
1971–73	Vancouver Nats
1973–77	Kamloops Chiefs
1977–85	Seattle Breakers
1985-present	Seattle Thunderbirds

The Seattle Thunderbirds are a junior ice hockey team based in the Seattle suburb of Kent, Washington. They are part of the U.S. Division of the Western Hockey League, and play in the ShoWare Center. Several National Hockey League players started with the Thunderbirds, most notably Petr Nedved, Chris Osgood, and Patrick Marleau.

The team is coached by Rob Sumner and the general manager is Russ Farwell. Farwell is well known for acquiring Eric Lindros from the Quebec Nordiques during his tenure as the GM for the Philadelphia Flyers.

[edit] History

[edit] Canadian founding

The team was founded in 1971 as the Vancouver Nats of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL) but moved to Kamloops, British Columbia to become the Kamloops Chiefs in 1973.

[edit] Seattle Breakers

In 1977 the team moved to Seattle and was renamed the Seattle Breakers. The Breakers played in the Seattle Center Ice Arena, known to most local fans as the Mercer Street Arena, which had a seating capacity of 4,139. Through eight seasons, the Breakers finished with a record of 225-319-32 and playoff record of 11-21, although they twice played in the West Division Finals. [1]

[edit] The Modern Era

After the 1984-1985 season, the Breakers were sold to new owners and renamed the Seattle Thunderbirds.

The 1986-1987 season saw the addition of Glen Goodall, who would remain with the team through 1990. Goodall would go on to set the Western Hockey League career records for most games (399), goals (262), assists (311) and points (573). He is still the leader in games played and goals.[2] His jersey, number 10, is the only one to be retired by the Thunderbirds.

The 1989-1990 season was the best regular season in Thunderbird history, and arguably the greatest team the franchise has ever iced. Seattle finished the season at 52-17-3, which included a 43-9 record in their final 52 games and the #1 ranking in the final Canadian Hockey League Regular Season Top Ten poll. The team finished 33-2-1 at home tying a WHL record for most home wins. Goodall won the Most Valuable Player award finishing with 76 goals and 87 assists for 163 points, and Petr Nedved won Rookie of the Year. Seattle placed 3 scorers in the top 6 in the league Glen Goodall 2nd with 163 points, Victor Gervais 3rd with 160 points and Petr Nedved 6th with 145 points. Peter Kasowski came over in a trade from Swift Current and finished 13th with 129 points. Goaltender Danny Lorenz finished his career with a WHL record most career saves and minutes played. The team was so popular that they began to play home games in the Seattle Center Coliseum, which could seat over 12,000 for hockey and was frequently sold out. The Thunderbirds defeated the Tri-City Americans 5 games to 2 in the division semifinals, before losing to the eventual Western Hockey League Champion Kamloops Blazers 5 games to 1 in the division finals.

In 1992 the Thunderbirds hosted the Canadian Hockey League championship, the Memorial Cup, but lost in the semi-finals.

The 1996-1997 team, led by Patrick Marleau, finished the season with a record of 41-27-4. They won the Western Conference by beating the Prince George Cougars 4 games to 2. Seattle was beaten by Lethbridge 4 games to 0 in the WHL championship series.

The 2002-2003 season saw the team advance to the conference finals on the back of Brooks Laich, who was named the Western Conference MVP with 41 goals and 94 points. After convincing wins in the early rounds of the playoffs, the Thunderbirds lost to the Kelowna Rockets four games to one. [3]

[edit] Stadiums

The Thunderbirds originally played in the Mercer Street Arena before moving to the Seattle Center Coliseum (later renamed the Key Arena). Unfortunately, the Key Arena was ill-suited for hockey, as the sight lines were designed for basketball and the ice surface was so far off center that the scoreboard hung over the Thunderbirds' offensive zone instead of center ice. In 2009, the team moved from the Key Arena in Seattle to the newly built Showare Center, 30 miles south in Kent, Washington, where they became the anchor tenant. [4]

[edit] Logo

The team's logo depicts a Native American carving of a thunderbird with the word "Seattle" etched into it, framed by two hockey sticks. [5].

[edit] Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties OTL = Overtime losses Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Points	Finish	Playoffs
1977–78	72	32	28	12	–	359	316	76	4th West	Out of playoffs
1978–79	72	21	40	11	–	299	334	53	4th West	Out of playoffs
1979–80	72	29	41	2	–	297	364	60	3rd West	Lost West Division final
1980–81	72	26	46	0	–	318	393	52	3rd West	Lost West Division semi-final
1981–82	72	36	34	2	–	339	310	74	3rd West	Lost West Division final
1982–83	72	24	47	1	–	319	418	49	4th West	Lost West Division semi-final
1983–84	72	32	39	1	–	350	379	65	4th West	Lost West Division semi-final
1984–85	72	25	44	3	–	320	416	53	5th West	Out of playoffs
1985–86	72	27	43	2	–	373	413	56	4th West	Lost West Division semi-final
1986–87	72	21	47	4	–	328	430	46	5th West	Out of playoffs
1987–88	72	25	46	2	–	313	436	52	5th West	Out of playoffs
1988–89	72	33	35	4	–	315	276	70	5th West	Out of playoffs
1989–90	72	52	17	3	–	444	295	107	2nd West	Lost West Division final
1990–91	72	42	26	4	–	319	317	88	3rd West	Lost West Division semi-final
1991–92	72	33	34	5	–	292	285	71	4th West	Lost West Division final
1992–93	72	31	38	3	–	234	292	65	4th West	Lost West Division quarter-final
1993–94	72	32	37	3	–	283	312	67	4th West	Lost West Division semi-final
1994–95	72	42	28	2	–	319	282	83	3rd West	Eliminated in round-robin
1995–96	72	29	36	7	–	255	281	65	5th West	Lost West Division quarter-final
1996–97	72	41	27	4	–	311	249	86	2nd West	Lost final
1997–98	72	31	35	6	–	286	278	68	6th West	Lost West Division quarter-final
1998–99	72	37	24	11	–	279	236	85	3rd West	Lost West Division semi-final
1999–00	72	34	30	8	3	250	221	80	3rd West	Lost West Division semi-final
2000–01	72	30	33	8	1	262	299	69	6th West	Lost West Division semi-final
2001–02	72	21	40	6	5	235	313	53	4th U. S.	Lost Western Conference semi-final
2002–03	72	44	22	3	3	280	224	94	1st U. S.	Lost Western Conference final
2003–04	72	24	31	8	9	192	198	65	5th U. S.	Out of playoffs
2004–05	72	43	24	2	3	204	144	91	1st U. S.	Lost Western Conference semi-final
Season	GP	W	L	OTL	SOL	GF	GA	Points	Finish	Playoffs
2005–06	72	35	31	1	5	186	211	76	2nd U. S.	Lost Western Conference quarter-final
2006–07	72	37	21	3	11	209	186	88	3rd U. S.	Lost Western Conference semi-final
2007–08	72	42	23	5	2	241	179	91	3rd U. S.	Lost Western Conference semi-final
2008–09	72	35	32	1	4	222	234	75	3rd U. S.	Lost Western Conference quarter-final

[edit] Team records

Statistic	Total	Season
Team records for a single season
Most points	107	1989–90
Most wins	52	1989–90
Most goals for	444	1989–90
Least goals for	186	2005–06
Least goals against	144	2004–05
Most goals against	436	1987–88

Statistic	Player	Total	Season
Individual player records for a single season
Most goals	Glen Goodall	76	1989–90
Most assists	Victor Gervais	96	1989–90
Most points	Glen Goodall	163	1989–90
Most points (rookie)	Petr Nedved	145	1989–90
Most points (defenseman)	Craig Channell	88	1981–82
Most penalty minutes	Mitch Wilson	436	1981–82
Most shutouts (goalie)	Bryan Bridges	13	2004–05
Best GAA (goalie)	Bryan Bridges	1.79	2004–05
Goalies = minimum 1500 minutes played

[edit] Career records

Most goals, individual: 262 – Glen Goodall, 1984–90
Most assists, individual: 311 – Glen Goodall, 1984–90
Most points, individual: 573 – Glen Goodall, 1984–90
Most penalty minutes, individual: 929 – Phil Stanger, 1980–83
Best goals against average, goaltender: 2.28 – Bryan Bridges, 2003–06
Most shutouts, goaltender: 20 – Bryan Bridges, 2003–06
Most saves, goaltender: 6958 – Danny Lorenz, 1986–89
Most games played, Goaltender: 224 – Danny Lorenz, 1986–89

[edit] NHL alumni

Totals include both the Seattle Thunderbirds and Seattle Breakers.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Seattle Thunderbirds official homepage

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