Thunderbirds season review: The graduates

With the Memorial Cup just days away from being presented to the champion of the Canadian Hockey League, it’s high time that we take a look back at the storied careers of the four players we know won’t be returning to Seattle next season.

There are undoubtedly players not included in this list who won’t return next year – either due to trade release, or other circumstances – but it would be unfair at this point to say that those decisions have already been made by the front office.

Following a season that ended just a few victories short of claiming the ultimate prize, the Thunderbirds will have some big skates to fill with the departures of the following four players:

Jerret Smith

Career regular-season stats: 280 games played, 24 goals, 94 assists, 118 points, plus-13 rating, 146 PIMs

Career postseason stats: 39 games played, 3 goals, 12 assists, 15 points, plus-10 rating, 14 PIMs

The only way to start this list is with the captain, who spent the entirety of his WHL career with the T-Birds.

Smith joined Seattle as a 17-year-old and was immediately touted as one of their top newcomers. NHL Central Scouting ranked him as a player likely to be drafted in 2013, a dream that ultimately never came to fruition for the Surrey, British Columbia native.

Paired alongside Shea Theodore for the majority of his career, Smith stayed out of the spotlight for the most part. During his first two years, he built a reputation as a steady and reliable defender, not someone who would deliver bone-jarring hits or score points in bunches, but instead as a consistent force who did a little bit of everything well.

As a 19-year-old, however, Smith broke out with 38 points in 72 regular-season games and added six more points in six postseason contests. His stellar penultimate campaign led to him wearing the “C” during his final season.

Smith’s toughness was manifested for all when he returned to the ice just four days after an emergency appendectomy to lead Seattle to a series victory over the rival Everett Silvertips and eventually to the league championship.

According to those who spent their time with Smith on the ice and in the locker room, it was situations exactly like this that had his teammates looking up to him.

As a 20-year-old graduate of the Western Hockey League, Smith’s legacy in Seattle is clear: he captained and was the unquestioned leader one of the most successful and tight-knit teams in Thunderbirds history. One of the team’s biggest tests this offseason will not only be replacing Smith’s production on the ice, but his presence off of it.

Jared Hauf

Career regular-season stats: 342 games played, 11 goals, 47 assists, 58 points, minus-70 rating, 433 PIMs

Career postseason stats: 40 games played, 2 goals, 4 assists, 6 points, plus-3 rating, 48 PIMs

Hauf is the only player on the Seattle roster who might remember what it was like during the tail-end of one of the darkest periods in T-Birds history.

As a 15-year-old, Hauf was the fourth overall pick in the WHL Bantam Draft. As T-Birds coach Steve Konowalchuk pointed out following the team’s season-ending loss to the Brandon Wheat Kings, Hauf’s career, at least as far as his professional aspirations went, probably didn’t go as planned. But, as Konowalchuk also mentioned, that didn’t stop the Calgary native from committing himself wholly to the Thunderbirds for the entirety of his career.

Hauf is actually the only player on the Seattle roster who played under previous T-Birds head coach Rob Sumner, even if it was for just three games during his 15-year-old season. He’s also the only player on this year’s club who might remember what it was like missing the playoffs in Konowalchuk’s first year behind the Seattle bench, unless you count assistant coach Tyler Alos, whom Hauf skated alongside during the 2011-12 season.

The 6-foot-5 defenseman will be remembered as an enforcer on the ice, even if his demeanor off the ice was much different. It’s hard to picture Hauf, who was constantly exchanging heated words with his opponents during games, as someone who could be so soft-spoken during interviews.

His legacy will be remembered as someone who stuck with this team from a seemingly hopeless beginning to the pinnacle of Thunderbirds achievement as Western Conference Champions. Another top-pairing defenseman and alternate captain, Seattle will need to replace his leadership in the dressing room and hard-nosed play on the ice.

Ryan Gropp

Career regular-season stats: 192 games played, 82 goals, 88 assists, 170 points, plus-14 rating, 40 PIMs

Career postseason stats: 26 games played, 8 goals, 13 assists, 21 points, minus-3 rating, 12 PIMs

Gropp’s WHL career was quite the rollercoaster, even before he elected to join the T-Birds as a 17-year-old.

Selected sixth overall in the 2011 Bantam Draft, Gropp was another player who Seattle needed to come in and make an impact after a string of dreadful years. Instead, he chose to play the 2012-13 season – his first full year of WHL eligibility – in the BCHL with the Penticton Vees, keeping his NCAA eligibility alive. Gropp’s father, Brent, played for Colorado College in the 1980s and it looked like Ryan may choose that route as well.

As the days wore on and Gropp seemingly became more and more distant from the Thunderbirds – he committed to North Dakota to play college hockey before changing his mind – the pitchforks came out from the Seattle fan base. After so many trying years, how could Seattle make such a risky first-round pick? His father played college hockey and his hometown Kamloops Blazers passed on him with the fourth overall pick in the draft, so it seemed apparent that everyone knew the risks.

Ultimately, the doubters were proved wrong as Gropp joined Seattle early in the 2013-14 season. With good friend and generational prospect Mathew Barzal joining Seattle that year, as well as a hot start to the season, Gropp made the choice to play his junior hockey in Seattle, a decision that was ultimately rewarded as he was picked in the second round of the 2015 NHL Draft by the New York Rangers. He acknowledged that it took some convincing of his parents, but that they supported him in his decision.

Gropp is currently 19 years old, but he has already signed his Entry-Level Contract and will be 20 by the time the 2016-17 season rolls around. He will be eligible to join the Rangers’ AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolfpack, next season. It’s a tough pill to swallow for the T-Birds, who will surely miss Gropp’s offensive production next year when they have a chance to be even better than they were this season.

You probably wouldn’t find a more laid back player in the Seattle locker room than Gropp. He never seemed to get rattled and almost always had a smile on his face after games. Even when he was injured at the beginning of the playoffs, Gropp remained in good spirits during his rehab and made an immediate contribution when he did return.

Landon Bow

Seattle regular-season stats: 23 games played, 16-6-0-0 record, 1.76 goals against average, .938 save percentage, 5 shutouts

Seattle postseason stats: 18 games played, 13-2-3-0 record, 1.96 goals against average, .927 save percentage, 2 shutouts

Bow is the only player on this list who didn’t spend his entire WHL career with the Thunderbirds. Acquired at the trade deadline, Bow proved to be the missing puzzle piece that pushed Seattle to the WHL Championship series.

The numbers are outstanding but they don’t even begin to quantify the impact that the 20-year-old netminder had on this team. His presence calmed the team up and down the lineup and that translated to the success we saw at the end of the season. He stole more than a few games, especially early in the playoffs, that allowed Seattle to compile a 12-1 postseason record before falling in five games to Brandon.

The late-season surge should get Bow plenty of looks for professional contracts. Though he was never drafted, his size coupled with impressive agility and ability to perform in big games should be enough to at least get him a tryout or two.

From a Thunderbirds perspective, it will be interesting to see how Bow’s short stint impacts Logan Flodell, who is projected to start next season after sharing No. 1 duties for the first half of this year.

Even though he only played in 41 games as a T-Bird, Bow will be fondly remembered for backstopping the best Thunderbirds season in recent memory.