Thunderbirds capitalize on power play in playoffs

For Thomas Hickey and the Seattle Thunderbirds, it was a simple matter of confidence.

It's the only way Hickey can explain the sudden effectiveness of the Seattle power play, a key reason why the Thunderbirds were able to beat the Kelowna Rockets in a seven-game series in the opening round of the Western Hockey League playoffs.

That power play, which ranked 20th in the regular season at 14 percent, leads the WHL in the playoffs at 30.3 percent.

The T-birds face a formidable challenge in the Western Conference semifinals, beginning tonight when they meet the top-ranked Tri-City Americans, the team that compiled the WHL's best regular-season record (52-16-2-2) and swept the Kamloops Blazers in the first round.

"It's just confidence and chemistry," Hickey said. "We started the series against Kelowna scoring a lot of goals on the power play by doing the right things, and we just kept it going."

The T-birds (42-23-5-2) knew the power play was keeping them from being one of the WHL's elite teams in the regular season.

"We've always wondered what it would be like if we could add an effective power play," Seattle coach Rob Sumner said. "It took a while, but it got here on time and is producing and helping us win."

Hickey knows the T-birds will be underdogs against the Americans.

"Tri-City deserves all the credit for their record, and they're definitely the favorites," Hickey said. "But, as a team, we don't pay too much attention to that. We've established high standards in our dressing room, and we're not going to accept falling down to them. We expect to do well. Anything less is unacceptable."

Hickey, the Seattle captain who was taken fourth overall in the 2007 NHL draft by the Los Angeles Kings, had a goal and nine assists in the opening round. Ian McKenzie also had nine points, with David Richard scoring five goals and Bud Holloway four.

The Americans, who haven't played since March 26, had the league's best offense (262 goals). Goaltender Chet Pickard won 46 games, fourth-most in WHL history.

Seattle beat Tri-City in the opening round last season and in 2005.

"We're clearly the underdog, but we're comfortable in that role," Sumner said. "Both teams played well against each other in the regular season, but everything is different in the playoffs."

In the regular season, Seattle went 4-4 plus one overtime loss against the Americans. In the nine games, the Americans outscored the T-birds 29-28.

Tri-City's Colton Yellow Horn led the WHL with 48 goals in the regular season; Seattle's Holloway had 43.