Forty -four games into his first season with the Seattle Thunderbirds, Cochrane defenceman Tyrel Bauer scored his first Western Hockey League (WHL) goal on Jan. 27 against the Kamloops Blazers.
The goal that took place at the 2:53 mark of the second period turned out to also be the game winner as T-Birds forward Sean Richards got the puck to Bauer at the right point, Bauer took a wrist shot with traffic in front of Blazers goaltender Dylan Garand ... his shot deflected off a Kamloops defenseman and beat Garand on the glove side to give Seattle a 3-1 lead in an eventual 5-2 victory.
“They announced it as Rybinski but I was just happy that we got ahead in that game,” Bauer said in an interview with Thunderbirds reporter Andy Eide. “The play was a D-to-D, one-timer but they had a guy flexing out hard and I thought I’d just throw it towards the net and it paid off.”
Bauer has logged big minutes for the Thunderbirds but had yet to find the back of the net.
“He’s been playing well,” Seattle head coach Matt O’Dette said. “It’s a lot of responsibility for a 16-year-old defenseman that he’s had this year. It’s nice to see him get rewarded with a goal.”
Bauer, who spent last season with the Airdrie CFR AAA Bisons where he scored three goals and eight assists for 11 points in 32 games, also got his first taste of junior hockey when he suited up for one game with the Thunderbirds during their six-game Alberta trip last November in a 3-1 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings.
“The whole experience was truly incredible. Playing my first WHL game was unforgettable in itself, but playing in Rogers Place in Edmonton was just the icing on the cake,” Bauer said last year of his experience.
“The environment was amazing and the guys on the team made me feel very welcome. I was a sponge just soaking it up and learning as I go.”
The young defenceman, who was selected in the second round of the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft by Seattle and signed a Standard Player Agreement with the team on Jun. 14 of last year, has now played in 44 games with the T-Birds, registering eight assists and 59 penalty minutes to go along with his first goal in those games.
Bauer and his Thunderbird teammates will hit the ice again on Feb. 1 when they take on the Everett Silvertips before they take on fellow Cochranite Connor Bouchard and the Tri-City Americans on Feb. 12.
