The Portland Winterhawks are atop the U.S. Division at this point in time, but can you guess who is in second place in the division? The Seattle Thunderbirds only trail the Winterhawks by four points and are coming off a huge win against Western Conference leading Kelowna on Sunday. For a while, it seemed that the Thunderbirds would be fighting for one of the last playoff spots this season. What's changed? Stability in goal, and a big reason for that has been trade deadline acquisition Taran Kozun from Kamloops. Long considered the sore point of the Thunderbirds teams of recent years, the defense was a major problem even with solid goaltending from Calvin Pickard (2008-2012). Kozun's arrival has helped out a blue line that features Shea Theodore, who leads the team in scoring with 60 points, so you know the Thunderbirds can start from their own end. Up front, Alexander Delnov, Roberts Lipsbergs, and Branden Troock are leading the way with rookie sensation Matthew Barzal adjusting nicely to the WHL game. Kozun wasn't the only guy the Thunderbirds picked up in a trade, as they made a few trades with Lethbridge this season, getting Adam Henry, Jaimen Yakubowski, Sam McKechnie, and Russell Maxwell in three separate trades. Henry is the only one of the group that is producing offense with any consistency, but Yakubowski provides a toughness that certainly helps out the scoring trio of Delnov, Barzal, and Lipsbergs. Maxwell should provide scoring in time, as he came to Seattle recently.
Seattle has a big game ahead this week at rival Portland on Saturday, and it may very well determine playoff seeding come March.
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