Expect to see a bigger, more physical Seattle Thunderbirds team this season.
That’s the word from head coach Rob Sumner, of a team that had a rocky season last year due to its relative youth, size and experience.
“We played a lot of 16- and 17-year-olds in their first season last year,” Sumner acknowledged Sept. 14 from the team’s home ice at ShoWare. “We played them a lot, and we played them in key situations, and so we’re hoping to have squeezed two years of development into one.”
That whole age thing? Sumner is expecting it to be a conversation topic of the past.
“There was a lot of talk about our age last year, and we were young, but I think we’re now a little more experienced,” he said.
“I think we’re going to be a much more physical team and I think we’re gonna play a more aggressive style.”
Some of the T-Birds’ early successes this season may be bearing that out.
Although they lost their first outing Sept. 3 to Portland, 4-1, followed by a 4-3 loss to Spokane the following night, the T-Birds came back to win three straight preseason games to Lethridge, Kootenay and Everett this past weekend, at the Red Lion Tournament in Kennewick.
The T-Birds will have their last two preseason games this weekend, heading up to Everett Friday to take on the Silvertips, and – most importantly to local fans – playing Portland Saturday at ShoWare.
Saturday’s game starts 7 p.m., and tickets are $10 in advance, or $12 at the door – a lot less than standard coverage for regular-season games, which start in the $20s.
The T-Birds should have taken away some things from their losing matchup with Portland this year.
“We didn’t play very well,” Sumner said, noting it was their first time out. “We were standing around quite a bit, and we didn’t have our pace where it needs to be.”
This time around, he added, “We’re just going to play physical. We’re going to try to play a real fast-paced, physical game against Portland.”
The T-Birds are seeing promise in their returning players, as well as some newer ones.
Sumner noted that defender Brenden Dillon “really stands out on defense,” as well as top draft-pick returner Calvin Pickard in the goal. Center Charles Wells also has had some good outings so far.
Among the promising newcomers, the T-Birds have some key players from Europe this year.
Marcel Nobles, from Germany “is a tremendous forward for us,” Sumner said. “It looks like he’s really going to lead the way offensively.”
And 6-foot, 5-inch Dave Sutter of Switzerland has been generating buzz on defense.
Sumner described him as “really a presence on the blue line.”
Coming up
The T-Birds open the regular season against the Everett Silvertips 7:35 p.m. Sept. 24 at Comcast Arena in Everett. The T-Birds’ home opener is 7:05 p.m. Sept. 25 at against long-time rivals the Portland Winterhawks. The T-Birds will wrap up their opening weekend in Kennewick against the Tri-City Americans 5 p.m. Sept. 26 at the Toyota Center.
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