T-Birds Season Comes to an End
April 8, 2025 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release
KENT, Wash. - The Seattle Thunderbirds dropped a 1-0 double overtime decision to the Everett Silvertips in Game Six of their first-round playoff series Friday at the accesso ShoWare Center. With the loss the T-Birds are eliminated from the postseason as Everett wins the best of seven matchup, four games to two.
The only goal of the game came at 13:43 of the second extra period. Combined the two teams put up 115 shots in nearly 95 minutes of hockey, as the two goaltenders combined for 114 saves.
"Really proud of the team," said head coach Matt O'Dette after the gut-wrenching defeat. "We said this was an opportunity to show what we were made of, and I thought we did that. Our guys battled extremely hard and were just a bounce away from taking this to game seven."
The T-Birds outshot Everett on the night, 57 to 48, the first time in the series they ended up with more shots than the Silvertips. "No shots a bad shot," remarked O'Dette of his team's concerted effort to funnel pucks on net. "Both goalies played well. Scotty (T-Birds goalie Scott Ratzlaff) was amazing. Their guy made the saves that he needed to, bent but didn't break."
The loss marked the end of the WHL careers for Seattle's three twenty-year-olds, Nathan Pilling, Brayden Schuurman and Hayden Pakkala. Meanwhile, it was most likely the last game as a Thunderbird for Ratzlaff. Though he is eligible for one more season in the WHL, he is a signed prospect of the NHL's Buffalo Sabres and will most likely play professionally somewhere in their system next season.
"Lots to be proud of and lots to be excited about moving forward," expressed O'Dette of his young team. "To see that growth, the way the guys played and handled themselves in a very intense, stressful playoff series, that was really impressive. For us to make it to the playoffs and have this experience for our young players is really valuable."
T-BIRDS EXTRAS
This was Seattle's longest playoff game since Game Four of the 2016 Western Conference Final, a game the T-Birds won 5-4 over Kelowna. That game lasted until 7:52 of the second overtime.
Braeden Cootes led the team in playoff scoring with six points on two goals and six assists. Cootes and defenseman Radim Mrtka are expected to be first round picks in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft this summer.
Ratzlaff ended the post season with a .919 SVS, facing forty or more shots in all six games of the series.
Western Hockey League Stories from April 8, 2025
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- T-Birds Season Comes to an End - Seattle Thunderbirds
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