Thunderbirds sign local product Luke Ormsby

The Thunderbirds announced Friday morning that they have signed 16-year-old forward Luke Ormsby to a WHL Standard Player Agreement. Ormsby, who was born in Port Angeles and grew up in nearby Everett and Bellingham, nearly made the team after training camp but just missed making the cut for a deep T-Birds forward group.

That group is so deep, in fact, that Seattle announced yesterday that they’d be sending fellow 16 year old Wyatt Bear to his midget team, the Interlake Lightning of the Manitoba Midget AAA League. Bear had only suited up for nine games this season and will be better suited receiving more ice time at the midget level before making a bigger impact as a 17 year old.

Ormsby said in a release through the team that he’s looking forward to joining the T-Birds in December while his midget team has a short break, but general manager Russ Farwell said he expects Ormsby’s impact to be seen more clearly next season.

This year Ormsby has spent his time in Arizona with the Phoenix Jr. Coyotes U16 club, where he has 10 points and 24 penalty minutes in 18 games. Last year, he had six points and 25 penalty minutes in 24 games.

A ninth-round pick in the 2014 Bantam Draft, Ormsby stands 5 foot 11 and weighs 170 pounds, and made an impact during training camp not only with his offensive skill, but with his ability to agitate his opponents and play an effective two-way game.

At training camp, Ormsby said that it has always been a dream to play for Seattle, so it was only a matter of time before his signing came to fruition. He echoed those feelings in the press release.

“It’s definitely been a childhood dream of mine to play for the T-Birds,” said Ormsby in the release. “I remember going to games at ShoWare Center and seeing (former T-Bird) Thomas Hickey play. We regularly sat near the bench and after a game one time he gave me a puck.”