T-Birds sign homegrown player | WHL

Published 12:02 pm Friday, December 4, 2015

A homegrown player has signed with his childhood team.

Luke Ormsby, the Seattle Thunderbirds’ ninth-round selection in the 2014 Bantam Draft, agreed to a standard player agreement with the Western Hockey League team.

Thunderbirds general manager Russ Farwell announced the deal Friday.

Ormsby, who attended T-Birds training camp this fall, is playing for the Phoenix Junior Coyotes Major Midget team. He has eight goals and two assists in 18 games.

Ormsby is expected to join the T-Birds for games in mid-December. The Coyotes do not play any games from Dec. 7 to Dec. 27.

“It’s definitely been a childhood dream of mine to play for the T-Birds,” Ormsby said. “I remember going to games at ShoWare Center and seeing Thomas Hickey play. We regularly sat near the bench and after a game one time, Hickey gave me a puck.”

Born in Port Angeles, Ormsby grew up in Bellingham and Everett. He played Sno-King minor league hockey from ages of 8 to 12, as part of Team Seattle in the association.

“Luke has had two very good training camps with us and has shown significant improvement every year,” Farwell said. “Although he was close to making our team in the fall, it was agreed another year of development and strength would be our best path for him to become a regular player.

“We are excited to add Luke to our team for next year and the fact he started his hockey while living in this area and originally coming from Port Angeles and Everett is a great part of his story. He has impressed with is determination and will be a solid Thunderbird going forward.”

On the road, then back home

The T-Birds travel to Spokane to play the Chiefs at 7:05 tonight. They return to the ShoWare Center on Saturday to take on the Tri-City Americans at 7:05 p.m.

Tickets are available online at the T-Birds website and at the ShoWare Center box office, which is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday game days at 10 a.m., and Sunday game days at noon.