Thunderbirds advance to semi-final after win over Kamloops
The Seattle Thunderbirds booked their spot in the semi-final of the 2023 Memorial Cup presented by Kia after a 6-1 win over the Kamloops Blazers Wednesday.
Six different players scored as Lucas Ciona (CGY), jared Davidson (MTL), Jordan Gustafson (VGK), Kyle Crnkovic, Luke Prokop (NSH) and Colton Dach (CHI) found the back of the net. The T-Birds’ Thomas Milic stopped 30 shots while Dylan Ernst turned aside 36 shots. Ryan Hofer (WSH) had Kamloops’ lone goal.
“That was clearly our best game of the tournament,” head coach Matt O’Dette said.
#GoHabsGo prospect Jared Davidson picks his spot glove side!🚨 #MemorialCup pic.twitter.com/N7fX7KdeV9
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) June 1, 2023
Captain Ciona opened the scoring just 4:02 into the game as he found a loose puck out front and buried it high for his second of the tournament. Hofer equalized at 10:50 with a snipe from the right circle off of a Kevin Korchinski (CHI) turnover before Seattle went on to score five unanswered.
A pair of goals in eight seconds from Davidson and Gustafson at 6:39 pushed the lead to 3-1 after 40 minutes before Crnkovic’s fourth of the competition at 5:33 of the third extended the lead.
Prokop Brad Lambert’s (WPG) pass out front at 6:37 as he scored in the Memorial Cup for a second straight year before Dach completed the scoring at 14:28 with a power move to the net for his first.
Power move by #Blackhawks prospect Colton Dach to drive to the net 😤 #MemorialCup pic.twitter.com/PW0nSaJiei
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) June 1, 2023
“We played our style of game and it’s very hard for teams to compete with us when we do that,” Prokop said. “We play a very well-rounded 200-foot game and it’s difficult for teams to keep up with that.”
Seattle will play the winner of Thursday’s tiebreaker between Kamloops and Peterborough in Friday’s semi-final. It’s the first tiebreaker at a Memorial Cup since 2015.
“Rest is huge, especially in this tournament,” Prokop said. “At this of year, guys are banged up, lots of injuries, nagging stuff going on so it’s nice for the guys to get a little bit of rest and regroup for the next game.”
