T-Birds Drop First Road Game
WHL Seattle Thunderbirds

T-Birds Drop First Road Game

Published on September 27, 2025 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release


KAMLOOPS, B.C. -Grayson Malinoski made 49 saves but the Seattle Thunderbirds fell, 4-3, to the Kamloops Blazers Friday at the Sandman Centre. These same two teams will face off against each other again Saturday in Kamloops. The T-Birds next home game is Friday, October 3rd, when they host the Blazers at the accesso ShoWare Center.

"Good start again, staking ourselves to a lead," said head coach Matt O'Dette. "But we immediately fell off the path with our habits and all the little things we need to do to be successful."

The Thunderbirds did score twice in the games first five minutes to grab the early lead. Brock England scored his third goal of the young season at the 2:07 mark, assisted by Grayson Tash and Brendan Rudolph. Coster Dunn followed with his first of year at 4:51 on an Antonio Martorana assist.

Kamloops pushed back to tie it with goals seven minutes apart and it was a 2-2 game going into the firsts intermission.

The T-Birds (1-1-0-0) got the lead back at 4:08 of period two as Hyde Davidson sniped his first of the campaign with the assists going to Dunn and Martorana. The Blazers tied it with a power play goal at 14:17 and the two teams went to the third period tied at 3-3.

The Kamloops winning goal came with just over three minutes left in the game. Seattle pulled the goalie for the extra attacker but, despite chances, could not find the equalizer.

The 49 saves were a career high for Malinoski. Three times last season he posted 41 save games. "He stood tall for us," remarked O'Dette of his second year netminder. "He gave us a chance to win. We didn't play well in front of him."

The T-Birds went the entire game without a power play while the Blazers were 1-for-4 with the man advantage. "I thought we got outplayed," explained O'Dette. "When you're not putting yourself in opportunities to draw penalties, you don't get any."

There was a scary moment late in the second period when a Kamloops player, Vit Zahejsky, took a hit and fell hard into the boards. He was stretched off the ice with an apparent lower body injury. There was no update available on his condition immediately after the game.

T-BIRDS EXTRAS

The Game marked the return to the Seattle lineup of Coster Dunn, who spent the last few weeks at the training camp with the NHL's Utah Mammoth.

Braeden Cootes, Radim Mrtka and Ashton Cumby remain in training camp with their respective NHL teams.

Defenseman Ethan Creran, a 2023 10th round draft pick of the Thunderbirds, made his WHL debut Friday.

Check out the Seattle Thunderbirds Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from September 27, 2025


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