Franchise Playoff History:
The Thunderbirds and Giants have only matched up in the playoffs once previous to this year. They met in the second round of the 2007 WHL Playoffs with Vancouver taking the series in five games en route to winning the Memorial Cup on home ice.
2018-19 Head-To-Head:
Season Series: 2-2-0-0
Both teams scored 11 goals each.
The two teams faced off four times during the regular season with Seattle winning the first two games (3-1, 5-1) and Vancouver taking the last two (4-2, 5-1).
Matthew Wedman led Seattle in goals in the four games with three goals and an assist while captain Nolan Volcan put up two goals and two assists.
Overage forward Davis Koch had five assists, including three of them in the teams’ most recent meeting on March 12 which Vancouver won 5-1. 17-year-old Lukas Svejkovsky had three goals and one assist in four games.
Koch led the team in scoring with 78 points (28G, 50A) in 67 games and NHL top prospect Bowen Byram followed with 71 points (26G, 45A) in 67 games.
Matthew Wedman led the Thunderbirds in scoring with 77 points (40G, 37A) in 66 games to go with 110 penalty minutes.
Noah Philp had 75 points (26G, 49A) in 56 games for second on the team.
2018-19 Season:
Vancouver: (48-15-3-2) 101 points, 228 Goals For, 162 Goals Against. Allowed the third least amount of goals in the entire WHL and had the second best penalty kill in the league with an 84.9%. Finished first in the Western Conference.
Seattle: (31-29-6-2) 70 points, 231 Goals For, 245 Goals Against. Ended the season on a 7-1-1-1 run and led the WHL in penalty minutes with 1046.
Storylines To Watch:
The Giants’ goaltending needs to continue to be dependable. Trent Miner and David Tendeck have arguably been the best goaltending tandem in the WHL this season with both of them finishing in the top five in GAA (Miner 3rd with 1.98, Tendeck 4th with 2.48) and top ten in shutouts (Tendeck 3rd with four, Miner sixth with three). The two split the team’s 48 wins right down the middle with 24 a piece. Tendeck, an Arizona Coyotes prospect, finished the year with a 24-10-2-1 record with a 2.48 GAA and a .911 save percentage with four shutouts. Miner, who is expected to hear his name called come June, posted a 24-5-1-1 record with a 1.98 GAA and a .924 save percentage with three shutouts.
For Seattle, it’s using their playoff and big game experience to their advantage. The Thunderbirds are icing a roster with 233 WHL playoff games combined while the Giants have 166 games. There are still four remaining players from the 2017 WHL championship team (Wedman, Volcan, Tyszka, and Lee), which could be crucial in high pressure situations that come with a playoff series. The most penalized team in the league will need to stay disciplined against the league’s fourth best power play.
How They Match Up:
The Giants have only seen one game from the Thunderbirds’ current goaltending duo as since-traded Liam Hughes started the first three of the four game season series. That game had both Seattle goalies in action with Roddy Ross being pulled after five goals on 17 shots, while 17-year-old Cole Schwebius stopped seven of seven shots in relief.
The teams’ goals for have been almost identical, with Seattle scoring three more goals, but the difference has been being able to keep pucks out of their nets. Seattle has let in 83 more goals in front of two rookie netminders for the majority of the season.
The season series has been air tight in regards to offence and record which makes this series a must-watch. Expect a high paced game from both teams and potential high offence games as previously shown this season.
DUBNetwork Prediction: Giants in six games.
