Seattle Thunderbirds The Seattle Thunderbirds are a junior ice hockey team based in the city of Kent , a city south of Seattle , Washington . They are part of the U . S . Division of the Western Hockey League , and play in the ShoWare Center . The team is coached by Steve Konowalchuk and the general manager is Russ Farwell . History . Canadian founding . The team was founded in 1971 as the Vancouver Nats of the Western Canada Hockey League ( WCHL ) but moved to Kamloops , British Columbia , to become the Kamloops Chiefs in 1973 . Seattle Breakers . In 1977 the team moved to Seattle and was renamed the Seattle Breakers . The Breakers played in the Seattle Center Ice Arena , known to most local fans as the Mercer Arena , which had a seating capacity of 4 , 139 . Through eight seasons , the Breakers finished with a record of 225 - 319 - 32 and playoff record of 11 - 21 , although they twice played in the West Division Finals . The Modern Era . In 1982 the Breakers acquired future NHL great Ken Daneyko from Spokane . They made the playoffs and lost in the Divisional final . After the 1984 - 1985 season , the Breakers were sold to new owners and renamed the Seattle Thunderbirds . The 1986 - 1987 season saw the addition of Glen Goodall , who would remain with the team through 1990 . Goodall would go on to set the Western Hockey League career records for most games played ( 399 ) , goals scored ( 262 ) , assists ( 311 ) and points ( 573 ) . He is still the Thunderbirds leader in goals , assists and points . His jersey , number 10 , is the only one to be retired by the Thunderbirds . The 1989 - 1990 season was the best regular season in Thunderbird history , and arguably the greatest team the franchise has ever iced . Seattle finished the season at 52 - 17 - 3 , which included a 44 - 8 - 3 record in their final 55 and the # 1 ranking in the final Canadian Hockey League Regular Season Top Ten poll . The team finished 33 - 2 - 1 at home tying a WHL record for most home wins . Goodall won the Most Valuable Player award finishing with 76 goals and 87 assists for 163 points , and Petr Nedved won Rookie of the Year . Seattle placed 3 scorers in the top 6 in the league Glen Goodall 2nd with 163 points , Victor Gervais 3rd with 160 points and Petr Nedved 6th with 145 points . Peter Kasowski came over in a trade from Swift Current and finished 13th with 129 points . Goaltender Danny Lorenz finished his career with a WHL record most career saves and minutes played . The team was so popular that they began to play home games in the Seattle Center Coliseum , which could seat over 12 , 000 for hockey and was frequently sold out . The Thunderbirds defeated the Tri - City Americans 5 games to 2 in the division semifinals , before losing to the eventual Western Hockey League Champion Kamloops Blazers 5 games to 1 in the division finals . In 1992 the Thunderbirds hosted the Canadian Hockey League championship , the Memorial Cup , but lost in the semi - finals . The 1996 - 1997 team , led by Patrick Marleau , finished the season with a record of 41 - 27 - 4 . They won the Western Conference by beating the Prince George Cougars 4 games to 2 . Seattle was beaten by Lethbridge 4 games to 0 in the WHL championship series . The 2002 - 2003 season saw the team advance to the conference finals on the back of Brooks Laich , who was named the Western Conference MVP with 41 goals and 94 points . After convincing wins in the early rounds of the playoffs , the Thunderbirds lost to the Kelowna Rockets four games to one . Arenas . The Thunderbirds originally played at Mercer Arena , with a small number of attractive regular - season and many playoff games being held at the nearby Seattle Center Coliseum . The T - Birds also hosted the 1992 Memorial Cup at the larger Coliseum . They moved full - time to the renovated Coliseum , which had been renamed KeyArena , in 1995 . Unfortunately for the Thunderbirds , KeyArena ' s post - renovation sight lines were better suited for basketball . The arena floor was just barely large enough to fit the rink . It was so far off - center that the scoreboard hung over a blue line instead of center ice . Additionally , so many seats in the lower level were obstructed that half the lower level was curtained off . Due to growing fan and team dissatisfaction with KeyArena , in 2009 the Thunderbirds moved to ShoWare Center , 20 miles south in Kent , where they became the anchor tenant . Logo . The team ' s logo depicts a Native American carving of a thunderbird with the word " Seattle " etched into it , framed by two hockey sticks . It is similar to the logo of the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League . Season - by - season record . " Note : GP = Games played , W = Wins , L = Losses , T = Ties OTL = Overtime losses Pts = Points , GF = Goals for , GA = Goals against " NHL alumni . Several National Hockey League players started with the Thunderbirds :