Bryan Allbee didn't get to play for the Seattle Thunderbirds when their season ended with an 8-4 loss to the Brandon Wheat Kings Friday in Kent, Wash.
Watching from the press box at ShoWare Center, it hurt Allbee to have to watch his teammates lose the Western Hockey League championship series 4-1 and see the Wheat Kings carry off the Ed Chynoweth Cup and advance to the MasterCard Memorial Cup.
But in the grand scheme of things, the 18-year-old defenceman from Prince George counted himself fortunate just to have helped his team get to the final, considering he started the season with the worst team in the WHL.
"It was a pretty good game, I think we were up on them 4-3 at one point (late in the second period Friday)," Allbee said. "Right now it kind of sucks, but at the same time you have to look at how far we went. It was a pretty crazy run, pretty special, and something you'll never forget."
In the championship series, Seattle lost the first two games in Brandon in overtime, each by 3-2 scores, then was beaten 4-3 in OT in Game 3 at home. The Thunderbirds buried Brandon 6-1 in Game 4 Wednesday in Kent, leading to Friday's finale.
"The first three games of the series we had a 2-1 lead going into the third period of every game," said Allbee. "To lose those three games in overtime it was pretty tough to come back in the series."
The T-birds got hot in the second half of the season, which coincided with the acquisition of 20-year-old goalie Landon Bow in a January trade from the Swift Current Broncos. With Bow carrying most of the load, they won 13 of their last 14 regular-season games, then won 12 of their first 13 playoff games to win the Western Conference title and move on to the final against Brandon.
"He was amazing," said Allbee, referring to Bow. "When you have a guy like that you're going to win a lot of games and he made some outstanding saves. He's one of the best goalies in the CHL and I'm sure he'll find a place to play next year."
Seattle swept the Prince George Cougars in a four-game opening-round series. In Round 2, the T-birds eliminated the Everett Silvertips 4-1, then dispatched the defending-champion Kelowna Rockets in four straight.
"P.G. is actually a pretty strong team – they have good depth at forward and good D as well and they took us to overtime the first game and in the fourth game too, so that series could have gone either way if we had lost those overtime games," said Allbee. "We just kept rolling with the wins and only lost one before the final."
Allbee played in six of Seattle's 18 playoff games. He missed the opening two games in the Cougar series with a concussion and played in the series-clinching game at CN Centre. He switched from defence to the wing because of Seattle's injury situation and notched his first career WHL playoff goal April 26 in a 3-1 win over Kelowna in Game 3 of the series, his only point of the playoffs.
Allbee started his WHL career with the Kootenay Ice. The team added him to its protected list in January 2013 after watching him play for the Cariboo Cougars in the Mac's tournament in Calgary. He played 48 games for the Ice in 2014-15 and in the playoffs the Ice came close to beating the favoured Calgary Hitmen, but lost in a seven-game series.
This past season, he had four goals and 10 points in 40 games with the Ice when he was traded to Seattle just before the Jan. 10 deadline for a fifth-round bantam pick in 2017. He finished the regular season with four goals and four assists in 25 games with the T-birds.
"It's pretty crazy, I went from the bottom to the top – we had more wins in the playoffs (13) than Kootenay had (12) in the whole regular season," said Allbee. "It was a completely different team, probably the closest team I've ever played for."
The crowds at ShoWare Center are boisterous and come out in droves to support the T-birds. It didn't take Allbee long to appreciate their presence at home games.
"It was unreal, definitely one of the loudest rinks I've ever played in. They always come out, especially on 2-for-Tuesdays," he said. "It's 2-for-1 tickets, they have $2 beer and $2 hot dogs and it gets pretty loud. Maybe the Cougars should try that on Tuesdays and get some more fans out."
Allbee and the rest of the T-birds met with the coaching staff for exit interviews Saturday. He turns 19 on July 11 and was told he can expect to play a lot more next season. Seattle has two 20-year-old defenceman –Jerret Smith and Jared Hauf – who have played their last junior games. Coach Steve Konowalchuk has promised Allbee he'll get more power-play duty – one of his strengths as a blueliner.
"Those guys are moving on and that opens it up for me, it should be a pretty good opportunity coming in next year," he said. "They're hoping I can put up some more points and help out offensively. They told me to train hard in the off-season and be ready to come in because they're expecting me to take a lot more icetime.
"With the players we have coming back and at the ages we are, we have a pretty good group to come back to and I think we'll make a pretty good run at it next year."
Allbee was booked to fly back to Prince George on Monday and after taking a few days off he'll make the switch from hockey to baseball. He's one of the city's top ball players, playing pitcher/shortstop, and can't wait to start swinging the bat again in the Prince George Senior Baseball League and for the Prince George Grays traveling team.
