Seattle Thunderbirds to name new head coach June 16 | Western Hockey League

Published 3:06 pm Wednesday, June 15, 2011

The Seattle Thunderbirds junior hockey team will name their new head coach in a 3 p.m. press conference Thursday in the Club Lounge at the ShoWare Center in Kent, according to a Wednesday T-Birds media release.

Fans are encouraged to attend the press conference. Those attending should park and enter ShoWare Center from the east-side doors.

Seattle fired coach Rob Sumner in March after the 2010-11 season.

The T-Birds missed the Western Hockey League playoffs for the second straight season. They finished with a record of 27-35-5-5. Seattle had only three wins in 20 games during a stretch in the middle of the season.

The T-Birds placed ninth out of 10 teams in the Western Conference. The top eight advanced to the playoffs. The T-Birds won eight more games this season compared to last year.

Sumner was the head coach of the T-Birds for seven years.