Thunderbird Hero in Town

The fans in their jerseys, purchased years ago, showed up early Tuesday night before the New York Islanders-Kraken game at Climate Pledge Arena. During warmups, the south corner of the arena was populated with those Seattle Thunderbirds jerseys. Most of them were Kraken fans but they gathered at this location to see former Thunderbirds forward Mathew Barzal.
Barzal is in his fifth season with New York but after he was the top name in Seattle hockey. He posted four spectacular seasons with the Thunderbirds, culminating in a Western Hockey League championship in 2017. The next season he was in the NHL with the Islanders and won the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year.

"It's cool to be back here," Barzal said after the Islanders practiced at Climate Pledge Arena on Monday. "I know tomorrow night there's probably going to be a bunch of Thunderbirds fans and I texted our assistant coach from when I was playing here, I think the whole Seattle Thunderbirds team is coming and all the staff. It's honestly just awesome to be back and there's just that feeling you get when you have history in a certain spot."
The current Thunderbirds were at the game Tuesday both to see an important alumnus of the program while also taking in a game at Climate Pledge Arena prior to their game Saturday night on the same ice. The players, and the fans in those jerseys, will be back to play the Everett Silvertips in the "Battle of the Sound" Saturday at 6 p.m. It's the first WHL matchup under the arena's historic roof since 2008.

Fans of both teams-and all Kraken fans who want to see future NHLers currently competing for the two WHL squads-
can purchase tickets here
. Tickets start at $40 with a portion of the proceeds to the Ronald McDonald House.
Immediately following the Thunderbirds-Silvertips game will be the 23rd annual Hockey Challenge to benefit the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Western Washington and Alaska (RMHC) Celebrity All-Star game. The Hockey Challenge began in 1998, when Microsoft employees took an in-house hockey rivalry public to raise money for RMHC.
The 2020 Hockey Challenge raised $200,000 for the RMHC, making the grand total $6.6 million over the course of 22 years.
Saturday's game will be a showcase of not only two top teams in the WHL and the U.S. Division but a chance to see the high-quality of play is one of the top developmenrtal leagues in the world. There will be players on the ice Saturday who will return to Climate Pledge Arena as a professional in the near future.
Everett defenseman Olen Zellweger is a second-round pick of the Anaheim Ducks and is leading the WHL in defensemen scoring. Seattle has six NHL-drafted players and two players, defenseman Kevin Korchinksi and forward Jordan Gustafson, who are highly ranked prospects for this year's NHL Draft.

Fans of the two teams bond with these players and a similar scene as Tuesday night will unfold when they ultimately make their return to Seattle. The WHL jerseys will be out in force again. These players are the local hockey heroes that supporters will follow throughout their hockey journey.
It's a two-way street and the players never forget their junior careers. Players enter the league at 16 and leave at 19 or 20. Those are impactful years in anyone's life and players who go through it will tell you it was some of the best times they had playing hockey.
You could see it in Barzal, Tuesday night. During warmups he was looking into the crowd, smiling and waiving at fans. He handed over several pucks to the crowd, his former fanbase, and he was the last player from either team to head to the dressing room. He was soaking it all in.
Barzal normally plays fast but there was a noticeable jump in his game Tuesday.
"It seemed like he was pretty excited to be back here in Seattle, a lot of Thunderbirds jerseys with 'Barzal' on them," said New York's Zach Parise after the game, discussing NYI coach Barry Trotz moving the veteran Parise Tuesday morning to play with Barzal on the top line. "He was flying right from the beginning. When you're playing with him, he's got that ability to escape out of the neutral zone and enter the zone with [puck] possession … He's a really fun guy to play with."
Barzal ended the night with an assist in the Islanders 5-2 win, plus several of those signature zone entries to create other scoring chances. His forechecking prowess-a part of his game he worked on here in Seattle as a juniors star-led to scoring chances too.
Saturday's Battle of the Sound features two teams that have developed a fierce rivalry. There will be no love lost on the ice, but for the local fans in attendance, there will be nothing but devotion for their team and their favorite players. You could see it Tuesday and it will be in abundance Saturday during warmups and the game. Doors open at 5 p.m.
Fans can buy tickets here for the "Battle of the Sound."