Top 19 Seattle Thunderbirds; A subjective list you will certainly disagree with!

Oh, the dog days of summer, well, spring, I guess. Anyway, the Thunderbirds season has come to an end. We see overagers move on and we look forward to fresh faces coming in. For me, after every season, I think back on what kind of legacy players have left.

Over the next couple of months, I will be engaging in what I can only describe as terribly lazy journalism, by doing a top 19 Thunderbirds list! Aren’t you excited for a completely subjective list you will no doubt disagree with? Cool, me too.

You may ask yourself, “Well, Jesse, what kind of criteria are you using to measure these players?” I’m glad you asked. It will be a mixture of a couple of things. One is tenure. The amount of time the player has spent with the franchise. Two, impact to the organization at the time they played for Seattle. Three, individual statistics and awards. Four, their career post-Western Hockey League. Finally, what they meant to you, the fans. It would be easy just to look at a stat-line and say “Well, they’re the best” but I’m not going to do that. I’ll also mention, with every rule, there is an exception, and we’re going to see that rule immediately.

In the number 19 spot, we have goaltender, Carl Stankowski. I know, I know, I’ve already ignored one of my criteria, but I just had to have him on this list. May we take this time to look back on the summer/fall of 2016. The Thunderbirds were coming off a trip the WHL Championship series where they had lost in five games to a very good Brandon Wheat Kings team. Most of the core was coming back, or at least we thought they were, in time. The biggest question mark for the team was between the pipes. Logan Flodell seemed to be the heir apparent to graduating Landon Bow, who was acquired near the deadline the previous year and was hugely instrumental in getting Seattle to within three wins of their first WHL title.

Carl Stankowski

Through training camp and the pre-season, it became a three-horse race; Logan Flodell, Ryan Gilchrist, and rookie Phenom, Carl Stankowski. Flodell struggled throughout the pre-season and questions about his ability to backstop a team with championship aspirations began to come up with each allowed goal. However, another story was the emergence of a young, seemingly unflappable, Stankowski. He was the best of the three goaltenders, and it wasn’t even close. He secured at minimum the backup position by the end of the Everett invitational tournament. Seattle moved Flodell to Saskatoon and acquired overage goaltender, Rylan Toth from Red Deer and it seemed questions in net were all but solved. Unfortunately, as would be the trend of the season for Seattle and Carl specifically, injuries began to pile up.

Stankowski was selected to represent Canada in the U17 tournament in November of 2016. Unfortunately, he would suffer an injury that would see him sidelined for most of the regular season. Stankowski would return to the team, clear of his injury and ready to play near the playoffs.

On Sunday February 19th, overager and starting goaltender for the T-birds, Rylan Toth left a game against Portland after the first period, and would not return until Game 1 of the Memorial Cup in Windsor, Ontario. This opened the door for what can only be described as a herculean effort and would catapult Stankowski into franchise lore.

Game 1 vs. Tri-City. Already missing co-captain, Mathew Barzal (more on him later in the series), Seattle coach, Steve Konowalchuk, announced that rookie, Carl Stankowski had been given the nod to start the series. It was during this game that fans and media folk alike took notice to the youngster. Not only did he present with veteran like skill, but poise as well. It was during the third period of this game where Seattle would give up four breakaways while on the power play and Stankowski stopped all but one, including a penalty-shot. His legend would grow as the playoffs marched on.

The second round saw Seattle dispatch rival, Everett in a four-game sweep, where the dynamic goaltender outplayed possibly the greatest goaltender the WHL has ever seen in Carter Hart. Stankowski’s biggest challenge to date, would come in the Western Conference Final against Kelowna. Kelowna boasted a roster with future pro-level talent like Kole Lind, Nick Merkley, Dillion Dube and Reid Gardiner. Yet again, Stankowski stood tall and helped Seattle to a second consecutive Western Conference Crown.

photo-Brian Liesse

The WHL Championship series saw Seattle return to face the Eastern Conference power house and top ranked team in the CHL, the Regina Pats. The first two games saw tight checking and a split in The Queen City. The following three games in Seattle (Kent, for all you geography purists), Seattle exploded and Regina became undone. Stankowski battled tough in game three despite a 3-2 loss and then shut the door the rest of the series. Stankowski allowed eight total goals through the next three games and Seattle celebrated its first league championship after an Alexander True (we’ll talk about him more too) overtime goal in Game 6.  Stankowski finished the playoffs with an outrageous 16-4 record, with a .911 save percentage.

After an underwhelming performance at the Memorial Cup, Seattle fans were excited for the future with a legitimate star in the making in Stankowski. This reality would never materialize, however. After missing the entire 2017-2018 season, it was revealed that Carl had a rare autoimmune disease called Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS). This is a condition that produces inflammatory Arthritis, to which there is no cure. He was dealt to his hometown team, the Calgary Hitmen ahead of the 2018-2019 season.

Carl Stankowski

Carl was put on this list because of his amazing run to a title during his 16-year-old season. A feat which has rarely been accomplished by others. Not only is he the youngest goaltender to win with Seattle, he is the only one to do so. His impact on the franchise is unquestioned and his cool demeanor and what he accomplished despite only having a handful of WHL games under his belt is just awe inspiring. All Thunderbirds fans remember him fondly and there is a constant reminder of his success hangs from the rafters of the Accesso ShoWare Center for time immemorial.