McCagherty nets first WHL Hat Trick as Wild roll in 2024-25 season opener

WENATCHEE – Wenatchee’s first game of the new Western Hockey League season Saturday night featured plenty of scoring balance, with almost everyone in the lineup landing on the score sheet at least once. However, the stars of the show still found a way to stand out against the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Maddix McCagherty launched himself into the spotlight with his first WHL hat trick as Wenatchee rolled to a 7-1 win over Seattle at Town Toyota Center in front of 3,550 fans, the fifth-largest crowd ever for a Wild home opener and the largest home-opening crowd since 2015. In all, 14 Wild players posted at least one point – six of them finished with more than one, including forwards Noah Samanski and Ben Davis, who each made their WHL debuts with two assists.

The season’s first entry in the scorebook went to Luka Shcherbyna, though, tossing a backhand to the top of the net just 2:57 out of the gate. Reid Andresen helped the power play get onto the score sheet as well, throwing a shot from the left wing that was redirected by McCagherty for a 2-0 lead with six minutes left in the period.

After surrendering 10 of the game’s first 12 shots, the Thunderbirds displayed plenty of life early in the second, getting a goal from Kaleb Hartmann low along the ice 2:15 into the period to trim the Wild lead to 2-1. Seattle never tied it, or got so close again – Caelan Joudrey hit the net in transition at 8:22 for a 3-1 Wenatchee advantage, and McCagherty finished off his hat trick with back-to-back goals at 13:19 and 17:44 of the period.

Up 5-1 going to the third period, Miles Cooper entered the mix at 9:32, tapping in a rebound to extend the lead to five goals. Eight seconds into a Will Jamieson infraction for high sticking, Kenta Isogai walked the puck to the bottom of the left-wing circle before zipping a shot past Jaxson Dikur to cap the scoring with 6:56 remaining.

“It’s been a long couple of weeks with training camp, and I think the guys are starting to believe in what the messaging is and how we want our guys to play,” said assistant coach Dan Johnston. “We had two young defensemen playing their first game, and I thought they did a really nice job of keeping it simple, moving pucks hard but also being hard to play against. That’s what I’ve been preaching to these young guys, and it’s a tough league. You don’t know the pace until you actually get in the mix – not every play is a home run.”

Wenatchee was excellent on the power play, picking up a pair of goals on its seven chances while surrendering only a single Seattle man-advantage in the second period. Daniel Hauser left the ice with an 18-save victory, the 96^th of his junior career. Grayson Malinoski took the loss for the Thunderbirds with 17 saves, while Dikur went 8-for-10 in net in relief.

Wenatchee continues an early run of home games Friday with “More Cowbell Night” presented by Ag Supply, as the Wild welcome the Spokane Chiefs – the opening puck drop at Town Toyota Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tickets for that game and all 34 regular-season home games are on sale now by phone at 509-888-7825, or by visiting the team office at Town Toyota Center. Wild 2024-25 season tickets also remain on sale – updated news and information on Wild hockey are always available through the team’s website and on the team’s social media platforms on Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube