Not that they get an abundance of media notice in a sports market dominated by the likes of Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch, Richard Sherman, Robinson Cano, Felix Hernandez, Nelson Cruz and Clint Dempsey.
Any room for oxygen after that is taken up by the UW Huskies and the excessive glare Americans give to high school sports.
But the Seattle Thunderbirds, who come into Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre for a two-game Western Hockey League set Monday and Tuesday against the Victoria Royals, can hold their own in terms of relative marquee value. They have a healthy dollop of it with 2013 Anaheim Ducks first-round draft pick Shea Theodore, projected 2015 top-10 NHL draft pick Mathew Barzal, projected 2015 NHL middle-round picks Ryan Gropp, Keegan Kolesar and latter-rounds tabbed Ethan Bear.
“Seattle has gone through a lot of adversity this season [injuries], but they now boast a formidable roster,” said Royals GM Cam Hope.
“They have a lot of talent and will surprise some people in the playoffs.”
The Royals and Thunderbirds are near mirror images of each other in the standings. The Thunderbirds are 31-23-8 following Saturday night’s 5-2 loss to the Portland Winterhawks at the Showare Center in Kent, Washington. The Royals, on a two-game losing skid, are 33-25-4. Both squads have yet to clinch a playoff berth, but are in strong positions to do so soon.
“Seattle is a good, skilled team and will be a big challenge for us,” said Royals head coach Dave Lowry.
The two games here Monday and Tuesday complete the four-game season series between the clubs. In the two games played in Kent, the Thunderbirds beat the Royals 5-4 on Dec. 16 but Victoria rebounded to defeat Seattle 6-3 on Feb. 15.
The latter, since it was two weeks ago, is the more relevant of the previous two meetings in Washington.
“We executed our game plan and made the most of our chances,” said Lowry, of the victory last month against the T-Birds.
That’s not something that can be said of Friday night’s abysmal 4-2 loss in Kamloops against a struggling Blazers team that had lost its previous four games and is fighting for its playoff life.
“We were coming off three consecutive hard, heavy games against Kelowna [the Royals went 1-2 against a Rockets team that leads the WHL and are No. 2 in the Canadian Hockey League] and there’s always the chance of a letdown after something like that,” said Lowry.
“We went on to play in Kamloops without emotion. The emotion was just not in that game for us. We won’t make that mistake against Seattle.”
