WHL Seattle Thunderbirds

T-Birds win season opener

Published on September 23, 2005 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release


Prince George, BC - Starting a hockey season on the road is never an easy thing. For the Seattle Thunderbirds Friday night in Prince George, Bryan Bridges helped ease the load, making 41 saves against the Cougars to help the T- Birds to a 3-2 victory in front of 3,346 at the CN Centre.

"He's there for us often," T-Birds head coach Rob Sumner said of Bridges. "As a 20-year-old, that's what we expect and that is what he wants. There was some pressure on him and he really stepped up."

These two teams face off again Saturday night in the second game of a back-to-back series. Game time is 7:35. The Cougars took a 1-0 lead at 5:54 of the first period when Myles Zimmer scored a power-play goal on assists from Greg Gardner and Eric Hunter.

Mitch Fadden tied the game 1-1 at 11:20 of the first with a short-handed goal. Tyler Johnson stole the puck from the Cougars on the right side and broke down the ice with Fadden on a two-on-one break. Johnson fed Fadden with a nice pass for the tying goal.

"Johnson was a man out there," said Sumner. "On penalty killing he was huge."

Bud Holloway gave the T-Birds a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal at 18:13 of the first. Roman Tomanek bulled his way to the net and got a shot on goal. Holloway crashed the net and was able to poke the rebound past Prince George goalie Real Cyr. Scott Jackson had the second assist on the go- ahead goal.

The T-Birds outshot the Cougars 14-13 in the first period.

The T-Birds took a 3-1 lead at 11:24 of the second period on a goal by Tomanek. Clayton Barthel and Ladislav Scurko had the assists. The goal came after the T-Birds had more than a minute of continuous pressure in the Cougars zone.

"Tomanek is really crafty with the puck and he makes some really quick plays down low," said Sumner.

The Cougars cut the lead to one goal when Dan Gendur scored a power-play goal at 13:43 of the second. Ty Wishart and Evan Fuller had the assists.

In the second period the T-Birds saw a lot of the penalty box with seven penalties called on them. The Cougars outshot the T-Birds 19-5 in the second and led 32-19 in shots after two periods.

The T-Birds outshot the Cougars 13-11 in the third period but Prince George outshot Seattle overall, 42- 32.

"The end result is what we are looking for and we are happy with the start," said Sumner.

Single game tickets to the home opener against the Kamloops Blazers on October 1 at KeyArena at 7:05 p.m. can be purchased at any Ticketmaster outlet, online at www.seattlethunderbirds.com, at the T- Birds office and practice facility at Kingsgate Ice Arena in Kirkland or by calling 206-448-PUCK. Season and group tickets are also available by calling the T- Bird office at 425-869-7825.

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Western Hockey League Stories from September 23, 2005


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