McKenzie's hat trick fuels T-birds' upset

KENNEWICK — The good news for the Seattle Thunderbirds is they routed the Tri-City Americans 7-1 in the opening game of the Western Conference semifinals.

The better news is that star defenseman Thomas Hickey is going to be just fine.

Hickey was inadvertently kneed in the head midway through the second period and laid on the ice for several minutes before being helped to the locker room. Hickey, who was called for a tripping penalty on the play, was alert and conscious and was back on the bench for the third period even though he did not play.

Ian McKenzie scored the first hat trick of his Western Hockey League career and collected a grand total of one hat from the crowd of 3,916 at the Toyota Center.

McKenzie, who was playing in the 274th game of his WHL career, couldn't explain it.

"That's my first ever. I don't know what happened," McKenzie said while sporting the lone hat thrown on the ice, a well-worn black baseball cap. "I've been in the right place at the right time, and the bounces are going my way."

Seattle coach Rob Sumner was more surprised at McKenzie's 19 goals in the regular season than the seven he has scored in eight playoff games.

"He just gets better," Sumner said of McKenzie. "He has great tools to go with a big frame, and he makes a lot happen."

Scott Jackson added a pair of goals for Seattle, with Bud Holloway and Lindsay Nielsen also adding scores. T.J. Fast had the lone Tri-City goal. Seattle goaltender Riku Helenius stopped 30 of 31 shots.

"Hickey was cleared and was OK to play, but given the score, we decided to hold him out," Sumner said. "We got a lead and tried not to take our foot off the gas. They're a very good team, and I'm sure they'll come back hard."

The T-birds led 2-0 when Hickey went down, thanks to two goals by McKenzie. Holloway quickly made it 3-0 with a short-handed goal that kept the momentum going Seattle's way. Jackson then sealed the deal with his shot from the blue line at 14:07 of the second period.

The Americans seemed rusty, sweeping the Kamloops Blazers with four wins to earn nine days off. The T-birds needed seven games to beat Kelowna and played on Tuesday.

"They had some glorious chances that didn't go in," Sumner said, "and Riku made some great saves."

The teams return to the ice here tonight for Game 2.

THUNDERBIRDS 7, AMERICANS 1

Seattle	2 2 3 -- 7
Tri-City	0 1 0 -- 1

First -- 1, Seattle, McKenzie 5 (Boyer) 11:55, 2, Seattle, McKenzie 6 (Richard, O'Brien) 15:14 (pp). Second -- 3, Seattle, Holloway 5 9:48 (sh), 4, Tri-City Fast 1 (Yellow Horn, Reese) 13:16 (pp), 5, Seattle, Jackson 1 14:07. Third -- 6, Seattle, Jackson 2 (O'Brien, Olson) 1:49, 7, Seattle, Nielsen 2 (Holloway, Scott) 2:25, 8, Seattle, McKenzie 7 (Acolatse, Eberle) 13:36. Shots on goal by -- Seattle 18-7-6 -- 31, Tri-City 9-12-9 -- 30. Goal (shots, saves) -- Seattle: Helenius (4-3, 30-29); Tri-City: Pickard (4-1 28-22, Birch 2:25 of 3rd, 4-3). Power plays (goals-chances) -- Seattle 1-9; Tri-City 1-2. A -- 3,916.

Playoff series
Best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals between Seattle and Tri-City:
#	Result
1	Seattle 7, Tri-City 1
#	Matchup
2	Tonight, at Tri-City, 7:05 p.m.
3	Tuesday, at KeyArena, 7:05 p.m.
4	Wed., at KeyArena, 7:05 p.m.
*5	April 11, at Tri-City, 7:05 p.m.
*6	April 12, at KeyArena, 7:05 p.m.
*7	April 15, at Tri-City, 7:05 p.m.
*if necessary