
T-Birds End Season by Shutting out Chiefs
May 10, 2021 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release
KENT - The Seattle Thunderbirds ended the 2020-21 season with a 3-0 shutout of the Spokane Chiefs at accesso ShoWare Center Sunday night.
This was the last game of Keltie Jeri-Leon's WHL career. Jeri-Leon, the only 20-year old on the T-Birds roster, played 250 games in the WHL with the T-Birds, Tri-City Americans, Kamloops Blazers, and Lethbridge Hurricanes and had 58 goals and 52 assists for 110 points in his career. He played 120 games with the T-Birds and had 43 goals and 35 assists for 78 points.
The T-Birds played a special Thank You video for Jeri-Leon during the first media timeout of the first period.
Goalie Jackson Berry and Scott Ratzlaff combined to make 21 saves to shutout the Chiefs.
Seattle finishes the abbreviated 2020-21 season in third place in the U.S. Division with a 10-12-0-1 record.
Seattle took a 1-0 lead 33 seconds into the second period on a power-play goal by Jeri-Leon. Jared Davidson moved the puck from the right wall to Kevin Korchinski at center ice. Korchinski found Jeri-Leon in the left circle. Jeri-Leon beat Spokane goalie Mason Beaupoit over the right shoulder for his 17th goal of the season.
Mekai Sanders scored his first goal of the season at 10:53 of the second on a delayed penalty call to put the T-Birds up 2-0. Spencer Penner passed the puck to Henrik Rybinski coming off the bench as an extra attacker. Rybinski faked a shot and slid the puck to Sanders to the left of the goal. Sanders swept the puck through Beaupoit for the goal.
Sam Oremba scored a power-play goal at 15:53 of the second to give the T-Birds a 3-0 lead after two periods. Jeremy Hanzel took a shot that was blocked followed by Oremba getting a shot off that Beaupoit stopped. The puck went into the left corner where Jeri-Leon got it. Jeri-Leon drove hard to the net but the puck was poked away. Oremba got the loose puck in the low left circle and put it over Beaupoit for his second goal of the season.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period - No scoring. Penalties - Cheveldayoff, Spo (boarding), 18:02. Penner, Sea (unsportsmanlike conduct), 18:02. Toporowski, Spo (), 20:00.
Second period - 1, Jeri-Leon 17 (Korchinski, Davidson), :33 (pp). 2, Seattle, Sanders 1 (Rybinski, Penner), 10:53. 3, Seattle, Oremba 2 (Jeri-Leon, Hanzel), 15:57 (pp). Penalties - Rybinski, Sea (hooking), 5:31. Leduc, Spo (cross checking), 13:53.
Third period - No scoring. Penalties - Schaefer, Sea (tripping), 3:25. Bateman, Sea (tripping), 9:29. Popowich, Sea (delay of game), 13:18. Weinstein, Spo (delay of game), 13:18. Toporowski, Spo (checking to the head), 17:34. Berry, Sea (major-fighting, 10-minute misconduct), 19:29. Beaupoit, Spo (major-fighting, 10-minute misconduct), 19:29.
Shots on goal - Seattle 14-24-20 58, Spokane 9-5-7 21. Goalies - Seattle, Berry 21 shots-21 saves (4-8-0-1), Ratzlaff 0-0; Spokane, Beaupoit 58-55 (3-5-2-0), Arnold 0-0. Power plays - Seattle 2-3; Spokane 0-3. Referees - Jarrod Bowman, Erik Freeman. Linesmen - Eric McLaughlin, Cameron Wetmore.
Western Hockey League Stories from May 10, 2021
- Hiring New Head Coach at Top of GM Sutter's To-Do List - Red Deer Rebels
- Sutter Praises Central Division Teams for Handling COVID Situation and Completing Season; Rebels Boss Saw Gradual Improvement from Team - Red Deer Rebels
- WHL Announces RE/MAX B.C. Hub Team of the Week - WHL
- Jarvis Named WHL Player of the Week Presented by Journie Rewards - Portland Winterhawks
- Winterhawks Forward Jarvis Named WHL Player of the Week presented by Journie Rewards - WHL
- Cougars Goaltender Gauthier Named WHL Goaltender of the Week - WHL
- Blades Ownership Acquires NLL's Saskatchewan Rush - Saskatoon Blades
- Nijhoff Earns Rick Rypien Memorial Award as Pats Unsung Hero - Regina Pats
- Americans Fall in Final Home Game of the Season - Tri-City Americans
- Late Push Falls Short for Cougars - Prince George Cougars
- Rockets snap three game losing streak with win over Cougars - Kelowna Rockets
- T-Birds End Season by Shutting out Chiefs - Seattle Thunderbirds
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
Other Recent Seattle Thunderbirds Stories
- Three T-Birds Selected in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft
- Two T-Birds Selected in the First Round
- Two T-Birds Selected in the First Round of the NHL Entry Draft
- Thunderbirds Announce Regular Season Schedule for the 2025-26 Season
- Thunderbirds Pre-Season Schedule for 2025-26 Season

