T-Birds Tamed by Wild
Wenatchee, Wash. – The Thunderbirds are still looking for their first win of the new season after dropping a 7-1 decision Saturday to the Wenatchee Wild at the Town Toyota Center. The T-Birds are back on the road next Friday when the travel to Kamloops to face the Blazers at the Sandman Centre.
“Not a good game,” remarked head coach Matt O’Dette of his team’s effort. “When you have a schedule where you’re playing back-to-back and the other team is fresher, you have to play a really efficient game, and we struggled to do so tonight.”
The Thunderbirds (0-1-1-0) got off to a slow start, falling behind 2-0 after the first period. “We didn’t execute simple passes, we had trouble skating the puck up to the line,” O’Dette explained. “Puck management, not being able to transition pucks cleanly, staying out of the penalty box, all these things led to us taxing ourselves, it led to penalties.”
The T-Birds seemed to get on track with a strong start to the second period, leading to a goal from Kaleb Hartmann to cut the deficit to 2-1. Nishaan Parmar and Kazden Mathies had the assists. The T-Birds didn’t build off the momentum though and Wenatchee would score five unanswered goals the rest of the way.
“The first half of the second period was really good,” said O’Dette. “It was how we needed to play in that situation. We snapped to attention and got the big goal. But then we had a turnover as our D were changing and they countered and got the third goal. That was the turning point in the game.”
Seattle played opening weekend with seven regulars missing from the lineup either due to injury or away at NHL training camps. O’Dette said that’s no excuse for playing poorly. Instead he said it’s an opportunity for younger players to step into bigger roles.
“One hundred percent. That’s the message to our guys.” He emphasized. “We need the young guys to take advantage of this opportunity they have.”
O’Dette did say he believes some of the missing players will start trickling back and they could have a few players back in time for next Friday’s game in Kamloops.
T-BIRDS EXTRAS
The Thunderbirds home opener is September 28th at the accesso ShoWare Center. They will host Wenatchee at 6:05 p.m. Tickets are available online at seattlethunderbird.com
Goalie Jaxson Dikur made his WHL debut Saturday against the Wild when he replaced starter Grayson Malinoski in net to start the third period. He ended up making eight saves on ten shots. Dikur was a fifth-round pick by Seattle in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft.
Boxscore: Seattle Thunderbirds at Wenatchee Wild – Saturday, September 21, 2024 (chl.ca)
