Keegan Kolesar elevates his game as T-Birds prepare for Everett

It was Thunderbird winger Keegan Kolesar’s first shift of the post season and he found himself parked in front of the net. A shot from the point came at him and with the flick of his stick, he deflected it in the goal. While the crowd went crazy, Kolesar’s attention was on the official who was waiving the score off.

The ruling was that Kolesar had made contact with Tri-City goalie Rylan Parenteau. No goal.

Kolesar didn’t agree with the call but got his justice a couple of shifts later when he opened the Thunderbirds scoring with a no-doubter wrist shot from the faceoff circle. It was just the start for Kolesar, who ended the four-game series with two more goals and 11 points as Seattle would go on to sweep the Americans.

Seattle was once again playing without some key players and the whole team stepped up. Kolesar may have been the best T-Bird over the four games. Not only with the points, which put him on top of the league playoff scoring race, but he played fast, physical and at both ends of the ice.

The Columbus Blue Jacket prospect says he felt a little bit of pressure with his two linemates, Mathew Barzal and Ryan Gropp out of the lineup.

“It was more of a motivation to bring my game to another level,” Kolesar said of the series. “I had two good players with me. Donovan Neuls and Alex True, they both stepped up tremendously and a huge part of that line and our success.”

Having guys like Kolesar, Neuls, True, Ethan Bear and a slew of others step up to fill the void left by injured players is nothing new for the Thunderbirds.

They’ve been dealing with it all year.

“I guess this season a lot of guys have gone down, and we’ve had key guys step up at different moments,” Kolesar said. “It’s frustrating when you’re missing key players, or any player. But all the leaders here, we went to the finals for a reason and we just took charge of the team and everyone followed suit.”

Without its two leading scorers in the lineup for all four games – Gropp played in the first two – Seattle ended up scoring 23 goals, the most in the league so far. The T-Birds saw 12 different guys find the back of the net in the series, a statistic that speaks to the depth and experience of the club.

That experience showed up in the first round. In two of the games, Tri-City had come back to tie the score at one point. The Thunderbirds never flinched.

“You kind of figure it out the more you play in this league.,” Kolesar said of Seattle’s experience. “You can’t get too high or too low. Sometimes it’s heartbreaking when they tie up a game. Sometimes it’s unbelievable when you get a couple goals quick on a team. You just have to stay level headed and play every shift as hard as you can.”

Kolesar played every shift in the first round hard and as a 19-year-old with an NHL contract in his back pocket, he is most likely playing his last stretch of junior hockey.

When asked about this being his last chance, he chuckles and reminds that there is always a chance he gets sent back as an over-ager next year. While there is that chance, it’s a slim one and this playoff run should be it for the big winger.

“There’s a lot of motivation there for sure,” he said. “It’s the last year playing with a lot of guys here. I started my career here and so did a lot of other guys. We’ve been here so long and we’ve seen the team get better every year.”

Kolesar’s season began on a down note as he suffered an injury in camp with the Blue Jackets and missed the start of the season. He ended up getting into 54 games with Seattle and just missed his career scoring total by one point. His 26-goal and 60-point campaign was his highest points-per-game mark in his four year stint in the WHL however.

With a strong first round under his belt, Kolesar and the Thunderbirds are preparing for their second-round match up with the U.S. Division champion Everett Silvertips. It will be the third time in four years that Kolesar and his teammates have faced Everett in the playoffs. Seattle has won the previous two and is looking to repeat the past outcomes.

“We play them ten times a year so it feels like we never stop playing these guys,” Kolesar said of the Silvertips. “They’re about 45 minutes down the highway, good crowds and it will be an exciting series.”

That proximity and recent playoff history has grown the Seattle-Everett rivalry over the past couple of years.

The two rivals will get things going Friday night for Game 1 at the Xfinity Arena in Everett. These clubs know each other well and there should be no surprises either way.

“Both teams know what to expect,” Kolesar said. “They’re a great team, they work hard and are very structured. It’s just going to be a battle. We have to stick to our game plan and details and try not to get off track.”

Seattle is still waiting to see if it will have Barzal, Gropp or goalie Rylan Toth available to start the series. If they don’t, you can count on Kolesar and the rest of the team to shake it off and step up.

There is a lot at stake in this series. The two teams were separated by just two points in the standings and the Thunderbirds actually won more games. Divisional bragging rights are on the line but more importantly, a trip to the Western Conference Finals is also at stake.

“It’s a big one for sure, especially on a Friday or Saturday night in their barn you’re going to hear the cowbells,” Kolesar said. “Then in our barn you’re going to hear the chant. It makes for exciting hockey to watch and play.”

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