The Thunderbirds playoff experiences have been sparse the last half-decade or so but, in the big picture, they have a long history of making it into the second season. With Seattle battling Spokane and Everett for 4th place in the conference and home ice advantage in the first round, we’re going to take a look at how important that really is.

Shown below is every playoff series in the last 15 years. As you can see, only once out of nine times that the Thunderbirds have had home ice have they lost their series. And that one series was a classic 7-gamer with Portland that went into overtime in game 7. Conversely, Seattle has won only three series out of sixteen as the lower-seeded team.

As the season comes to a close, if history is any indication, staying in the 4th position in the conference may mean the difference between getting ready for round two or packing up for the summer.

2013
Kelowna defeats Seattle 4 games to 3. Kelowna had home ice.

2009
Spokane defeats Seattle 4 games to 1. Spokane had home ice.

2008
Seattle defeats Kelowna 4 games to 3. Seattle had home ice.
Tri-City defeats Seattle 4 games to 1. Tri-City had home ice.

2007
Seattle defeats Tri-City 4 games to 2. Tri-City had home ice.
Vancouver defeats Seattle 4 games to 1. Vancouver had home ice.

2006
Portland defeats Seattle 4 games to 3. Seattle had home ice.

2005
Seattle defeats Tri-City 4 games to 1. Seattle had home ice.
Kelowna defeats Seattle 4 games to 3. Kelowna had home ice.

2003
Seattle defeats Prince George 4 games to 1. Seattle had home ice.
Seattle defeats Kootenay 4 games to 1. Seattle had home ice.
Kelowna defeats Seattle 4 games to 1. Kelowna had home ice.

2002
Seattle defeats Portland 4 games to 3. Portland had home ice.
Kootenay sweeps Seattle 4 games to 0. Kootenay had home ice.

2001
Seattle defeats Kelowna 4 games to 3. Kelowna had home ice.
Spokane defeats Seattle 3 games to 1 (best of 5). Spokane had home ice.

2000
Seattle sweeps Kamloops 4 games to 0. Seattle had home ice.
Prince George sweeps Seattle 3 games to 0 (best of 5). Prince George had home ice.

1999
Seattle defeats Prince George 4 games to 3. Seattle had home ice.
Tri-City sweeps Seattle 4 games to 0. Tri-City had home ice.

1998
Portland defeats Seattle 4 games to 1. Portland had home ice.*
*series was in an alternating games format

1997
Seattle defeats Kamloops 4 games to 1. Seattle had home ice.
Seattle defeats Prince George 4 games to 2. Seattle had home ice.
Lethbridge sweeps Seattle 4 games to 0. Lethbridge had home ice.

1996
Kamloops defeats Seattle 4 games to 1. Kamloops had home ice.