Rookie goalie Thomas Milic gives Thunderbirds win in first WHL game

KENT – When Seattle Thunderbirds rookie goalie Thomas Milic walked into the team’s dressing room after beating the Regina Pats Friday night he was greeted by a loud and enthusiastic cheer from his teammates.

Milic, 16, had just kicked away 23 Pats shots to backstop the Thunderbirds to a 4-2 win in his first game in the Western Hockey League.

“It felt unreal,” he said of the reception. “All the guys were going nuts, it’s indescribable. I don’t know how much I’ll be sleeping tonight.”

Seattle (18-20-2-1) needed Milic because Blake Lyda suffered an injury in practice late in the week and with a three-in-three weekend, wanted to rest Roddy Ross. The Thunderbirds third-round pick in the 2018 draft didn’t flinch.

Even when his team played a sluggish first two periods that resulted in a 2-1 Regina lead.

“(He’s) just calm and cool, kills plays and really good rebound control,” Thunderbirds head coach Matt O’Dette said. “Guys weren’t giving him a ton of help, but he stood tall for us when we didn’t have our best and that’s what you need from your goalie. Thankfully we got ourselves going and we got him his first win because he deserved it.”

Milic was in the middle of class in Burnaby, B.C. Thursday when he got the call from the Thunderbirds.

He got on a plane and 24-hours later was starting his first game in front of 5,532 anxious fans at the accesso ShoWare Center.

“Leading up to it was definitely pretty nervous but also excited,” Milic said. “Once I put on the pads and got on the ice for warm-ups, it felt right.”

He was tested early.

Regina (13-24-3-2) went to the power play in the first two minutes. The Thunderbirds killed that off – Milic only had to make one save – but shortly after the Pats got the puck in deep. Regina’s Zack Smith had it in the slot, with just the rookie goalie between him and his eighth goal.

Milic stood tall and made his first WHL ten-bell save.

“Definitely felt good to get that one out of the way,” he said.

The Thunderbirds did not play well to start the game Friday. Lucas Ciona gave them a first-period lead but they missed a number of opportunities and Regina would start to take the game over in the second.

Seattle’s lead disappeared in the second on goals from Smith and former Thunderbirds draft pick Josh Paulhus – his first WHL marker.

Regina controlled the play as well and held a 24-12 five-on-five shot attempt advantage as they tilted the ice.

“I didn’t like the first 40,” O’Dette said. “I thought we just didn’t have the jump or the energy out of the gates that we needed to. Credit to them, they worked hard and took it to us. I thought we could have had more in the first 40. We didn’t follow our blueprint that has been working for us. When we don’t do that we make it hard on ourselves and we had to dig deep in the third period because of it.”

Seattle started the third shorthanded but killed the penalty and built off the momentum.

Keltie Jeri-Leon would score his 18^th of the year at the 2:41 mark of the third period to tie the game. He would then score on a nice toe-drag wrist shot for his team-leading 19^th goal seven minutes later to give the Thunderbirds a 3-2 lead that they would not relinquish.

“Just regroup and play our game,” Jeri-Leon said. “We got away from it in the second period and it cost us. We got back into our game and started to manage pucks.”

Jeri-Leon’s line, with Henrik Rybinski and Conner Roulette had been held quiet for the first two periods but amped it up in the third. Roulette and Rybisnki took turns setting up the two Jeri-Leon goals.

“That’s why they’re so dangerous,” O’Dette said of the trio. “They’ve got that quick-strike capability if you sleep on them. They can strike and did that in the third.”

Simon Kubicek added an insurance goal late in the game as Seattle avoided a let down to kick off a long weekend.

Buoyed by a rookie goalie making his debut, the Thunderbirds found a way to earn two points, win their fourth in a row, and extend their lead over Tri-City for the second wild card slot to six points.

The mood in the dressing room was excitement.

“In the back of your mind you want to get (Milic) the win,” Jeri-Leon said. “Thomas is a great goalie for sure and he held us in there in the first. We’re all happy he got that win.”

Seattle will now head to Everett for the first leg of a home-and-home with the Silvertips that will conclude Sunday night at the ShoWare Center.

Game Notes

• Getting the first win of a three-in-three weekend is important. “We needed these points,” O’Dette said. “Sometimes when you can get a win while not playing your best you can clean it up. It’s a little kick in the butt and you can come out with a better effort tomorrow night.”

• Milic is in the middle of a stellar season with the Burnaby Winter Club. In 11 games he has a 1.55 goals-against average with a .951 save percentage. He also played in three games for Canada in the U17 World Championships in November and sported a 2.54 goals-against along with a .925 save percentage.

• O’Dette said Lyda was injured during practice this week and said that it was “a day-to-day” kind of thing.

• Jeri-Leon extended his point streak to six games. Roulette also has a five-game point streak but did have his four-game goal streak snapped.

• Ciona added an assist to his first-period goal for the first multi-point game in his WHL career. The rookie has been playing strong hockey. “He plays the right way, he plays T-Bird hockey,” O’Dette said of the big winger. “He’s mindful in his own end, he wins battles and when he’s being physical around the net he gets rewarded.”

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