Thunderbirds’ first-round pick Kai Uchacz excited to join club
Aug 22, 2018, 2:33 PM | Updated: 4:22 pm
Seattle signed first-round pick Kai Uchacz Monday (Brian Liesse/T-Birds)
(Brian Liesse/T-Birds)
KENT – He’s signed, he’s sealed, and he’s delivered. Kai Uchacz made his accesso ShoWare Center ice debut Wednesday morning at Seattle Thunderbirds training camp. Seattle’s first-round pick in this past spring’s WHL Bantam Draft, from De Winton, Alberta, signed with the club Monday and he’s looking forward to his first full training camp with the team.
Wednesday, he got into his first scrimmage, playing for Team Green, and got a feel for what life on the ice in the WHL feels like.
“It was good, a fun experience,” Uchacz said of his first day. “It’s just a great opportunity. It’s a lot faster paced and its physical. It’s a pretty hard game to play.”
Uchacz spent last season with the Okotoks Oilers Bantam AAA team where he potted 25 goals to go with 17 assists in 33 games. He also had a strong showing at the 2018 Alberta Cup where he would score eight goals in just five games.
Having success in an all-star type tournament was certainly a confidence boost for the center.
“It really stepped up my confidence,” Uchacz said. “I got going there and then the draft came.”
The draft came on a school day and like most WHL hopefuls, Uchacz stayed home to see where he would end up being drafted. He didn’t have to wait long as Seattle took him with the 10th pick.
“It was exciting,” he said of the draft. “I was downstairs with the family and I was happy to come to Seattle. We had it streamed on the computer.”
Growing up a fan of both the Calgary Hitmen and Flames he says that he has heard comparisons to a former Hitmen player, Jake Virtanen. Uchacz displayed some of his Virtanen-like game Wednesday as he was strong at both ends of the ice.
The Thunderbirds would love it if Uchacz turned out to be as good as Virtanen – a player who was picked in the first round of the NHL Draft and is currently with the Vancouver Canucks. He certainly describes his game to be like Virtanen’s.
“I play a 200-foot game, physical,” Uchacz said Wednesday. “I like to make plays and put pucks in the net too.”
Uchacz signed on with the Thunderbirds this past week. He grew up watching and following the WHL which helped make the decision easier.
He also liked what he saw in Kent.
“The facility and everything, the coaching staff, and all the staff they have here are really good,” Uchacz said about the Thunderbirds. “It seems like a good development process for my career.”
At only 15-years-old, that development will start back in Alberta this coming season. Uchacz is not eligible to play in the WHL until next year but he will be in the main camp this week and play in the team’s preseason games over Labor Day Weekend.
After that, he’ll head back home for one more year but not without some personal goals in mind.
“(I want) To make the midget AAA team in Okotoks,” he said. “Make the Team Alberta U16 team, get faster and stronger and work on the details in my game to hopefully come back next year and make the team.”
