Penticton eliminates Kent-based T-Birds from WHL playoffs
Published 1:02 pm Monday, April 6, 2026
The Kent-based Seattle Thunderbirds were eliminated in the first round of the Western Hockey League (WHL) playoffs for the second consecutive season.
The Penticton (British Columbia) Vees, an expansion team, beat the visiting T-Birds 6-3 on April 3 to take the best-of-seven series 4-1. Seattle lost last season in the first round to the Everett Silvertips. The T-Birds failed to make the playoffs in 2023-2024 after winning the WHL title in 2022-2023 and losing in the Canadian Hockey League’s Memorial Cup to Quebec.
“Tonight (April 4) we needed a really efficient, smart, road playoff game,” said head coach Matt O’Dette, according to the T-Birds website. “But we didn’t manage the puck well and got hemmed into our own end leading either to a goal against or a penalty. Just not quite enough execution and efficiency to keep us in the game.”
For the fourth time in the series, the Vees scored first, getting a goal at 3:42 of the opening period. The T-Birds responded with a Cameron Schmidt power play goal at 8:11, with Noah Kosick and Radim Mrtka assisting. Penticton went back on top at 17:31.
Penticton stretched its lead to 4-1 with two goals in the second period, then made it 5-1 early in the third after converting a penalty shot at 4:06. The T-birds fought back. Tai Riley scored his first of the playoffs 37 seconds later to make it 5-2. Coster Dunn and Brock England picked up the assists.
With six minutes left Seattle pulled its goaltender for an extra attacker. It paid off when Dunn scored at 14:39. The assists on the T-Birds third goal went to Matthew Gard and Sawyer Mayes.
“Definitely no quit,” said O’Dette of his team’s late push. “We kept fighting. We kept fighting the whole series. Some teams would go away down 3-0. Really proud of the group for battling right ‘til the end.”
Down two goals the T-Birds continued to push the final five minutes but eventually the Vees found the empty net and a 6-3 lead they would maintain to the final horn.
While disappointed they couldn’t advance out of the first round O’Dette looked at the positives.
“I think it was essential for our process, our development, to have the second half we did and earn ourselves a spot in the playoffs,” he said. “We got our young guys more playoff experience. They got a taste of that and that’s valuable for our group going forward.”
T-Bird extras
• Coster Dunn finishes his four-year Seattle career having earned 144 points (65 goals, 79 assists) in 235 games. He added nine more points (3 goals, 6 assists) in 13 playoff games and won an Ed Chynoweth Cup (WHL title) with the team in 2023.
• Ashton Cumby’s WHL career comes to a close after 256 games between Winnipeg, Wenatchee and Seattle. He added 21 playoff games and was an Eastern Conference champion with Winnipeg in 2023.
• Next up for the T-Birds is the WHL Prospects Draft in early May. Seattle holds the 11th pick in the first round.
• Seattle is the anchor tenant of the accesso ShoWare Center in Kent, which opened in 2009. The WHL features junior league players ages 16 to 20.
