While most WHL teams have been honoring the anniversary of the league throughout the year, the Seattle Thunderbirds joined in last week with awards presented to Patrick Marleau and Tyler Metcalfe. Marleau was given the Professional Alumni Achievement Award and Metcalfe was given the WHL Scholastic Alumni Achievement Award before the game against the Portland Winterhawks on Saturday night. Fans who missed the awards ceremony can tune in to the Seattle T-Birds website to see the awards take place.

Fans new to the T-Birds may not recall Marleau or Metcalfe. Marleau is a Canadian player who currently plays for the San Jose Sharks in the NHL. He was born on September 15, 1979 and stands at 6’2. He weighs 220 pounds. He was the second overall draft pick in 1997 following his junior hockey career with the Seattle Thunderbirds. The left wing played two seasons with the Birds, serving as captain and leading the team into the second place spot just being the Portland Winterhawks, so it must have been a great night for him to win the award and see the Birds beat the Hawks!

With 51 goals and 125 points during his second season with the team, he ended up ending his WHL career in the top 3^rd spot. He has won many awards during his lifetime, including a gold medal during the 2010 Olympic games in Vancouver, another gold medal in the 2014 Sochi games, and WHL First All-Star Team. Marleau holds a plethora of hockey records, including being the Sharks’ all-time leader in goals with 469 goals scored, the Sharks’ all time leader in points with 1,103 points, and the team’s all-time leader in number of games played, totaling 1,360 altogether.

Metcalfe played major junior hockey with the Thunderbirds, then attended the University of Alberta. After five seasons with the Golden Bears, he won the Dr. Andy Gregg Award. He currently plays for the Alba Volán Székesfehérvár in the Austrian Hockey League. Undrafted into the NHL, Metcalfe was born on June 12, 1984. He is 6’0 and weighs 194 pounds. He plays left wing and shoots left.

Plenty of other teams have also celebrated the 50^th anniversary of the WHL with various awards and events. The anniversary season officially began last fall and since then, every club has held an anniversary event to honor the celebration in their own way, with two championships highlighted each week.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia