Steve Konowalchuk has spent the last five years as the Seattle Thunderbirds coach, building his team for a chance to win a Western Hockey League championship.
The T-Birds get the opportunity to bring home their first Ed Chynoweth Cup when they open the best-of-seven-game WHL championship series against the Brandon Wheat Kings on Friday. Game 1 face-off is 6 p.m. at Brandon, Manitoba.
“It’s been rewarding for me to see where we are, but I won’t be too happy if we don’t finish this up,” Konowalchuk said.
The former WHL and National Hockey League left winger was an assistant coach for the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, when the Thunderbirds hired him in 2011.
“I wanted to come here to work with younger players and to be a head coach,” he said. “I wanted to make more of my own decisions. I thought it would be a good challenge coming here. I came in with the goal of trying to build a team to be able to do this and be a part of an organization that can do this.”
Konowalchuk wasn’t looking for a career move when the Thunderbirds approached him.
“As soon as I came and looked at the job, with the community and the rink, you know you have the setup the players want to be a part of,” he said. “You know you can get the players that can help you win.”
The 43-year-old Konowalchuk, who lives in Maple Valley with his family, has enjoyed the team’s success this season from a coach’s perspective. The T-Birds won the U.S. Division for the first time since 2005 and had the second most regular-season wins (45) in franchise history.
“For me, as coach, it is fun to see the players have so much fun,” he said. “When we won the division, to see how excited they were, to be able to accomplish that, I think as a coach that is where you get your enjoyment.”
As a player, Konowalchuk was a part of the 1998 Washington Capitals team that played for the Stanley Cup. The Capitals were swept by the Detroit Red Wings, but Konowalchuk recalls the excitement of playing on the big stage. He understands what his Thunderbird players are going through now.
“It is exciting to accomplish something that hasn’t been done here for a while,” Konowalchuk said of the T-Birds’ first trip to the WHL finals since 1997. “I know the first step there in the regular season was to win the division, so they guys could get a banner. … The next step is the playoffs, to get to the finals, to try to get to the Memorial Cup. That’s been the goal, and it’s fun for our guys. I know they are going to remember it for a long time, and with the banner’s up there in the rafters, they will always know they are part of the team. That being said, they want to add to it.”
The winner of the WHL title plays for the Memorial Cup, which is a trophy awarded annually to the Canadian Hockey League champion. The T-Birds had one appearance in the Memorial Cup tournament in 1992, as the host team, but have never won it.
Konowalchuk doesn’t have plans to leave the T-Birds anytime soon.
“The kids aren’t going to get the most out the coach if the passion is not there,” he said. “You have be able to come to the rink and have passion. Right now, I still have a lot of passion here. For now, I am enjoying it, and I don’t plan on changing.
“We love it here,” he said. “It feels like home.”
Facing Brandon
The Thunderbirds head into the WHL finals with a 12-1 record in this year’s playoffs. Seattle swept Prince George and Kelowna in the first and third rounds, respectively. The team’s only playoff loss was to Everett in the first game of the second round.
“I think if you would have said we would roll though with only losing one game in three rounds, that is hard to do,” Konowalchuk said. “A lot of our guys have played real hard. They have stayed emotionally pretty even-keeled. They just keep playing the same way each day. I think that is why we are able to do that.”
The T-Birds hope to keep that momentum going into the final series, Konowalchuk said.
“I think we keep preparing the way we have all year,” Konowalchuk said. “You don’t want to change anything. The regular season is practice to make sure you are playing your best hockey in the playoffs and have your routine down. You make small little adjustments as you go, but really it’s another series, and we are having the same routine.”
The Wheat Kings are a strong team offensively, Konowalchuk said.
“We are going to have to make sure we are real good away from the puck and we’re playing hard without the puck and try to limit their chances,” he said.
WHL FINALS
Seattle vs. Brandon
The skinny: The Thunderbirds are making their first trip to the WHL finals since 1997. This is the eighth WHL finals appearance for Brandon. The Wheat Kings have twice won the title, in 1979 and 1996. Kelowna swept Brandon in last year’s finals.
The trip: For regular-season matchups, the T-Birds take a 20-hour bus drive to Brandon but makes a trip out of it, playing other teams along the way. Because of the quick turnaround in the playoffs, Seattle took a bus to Vancouver, British Columbia, and then flew to Manitoba, for Game 1.
Previous meeting: The T-Bird’s didn’t make the journey to Brandon during the regular season. The T-Birds faced the Wheat Kings once, winning 7-2 at the ShoWare Center on Oct. 27.
