Spokane Chiefs' forward and Regina native Sam Oremba will play in the second WHL Finals of his career. The last one happened when he was 16 years old with the Seattle Thunderbirds.
"I remember almost like it was yesterday being 16 years old, being in Seattle and we're in the WHL Finals against Edmonton. I was one for one at that point for making it to the league final and you kind of take it for granted," Oremba explained to the SportsCage.
"Time flies by. I'm in my 19-year-old season and now it's my second time back. I didn't know if I was ever gonna get back. Lucky enough, we're here and I got another chance for redemption for myself. So it means the world to me. I want to win badly and I know the boys want to win too."
The Thunderbirds selected Oremba with the seventh overall pick in the 2020 WHL Prospects Draft. During his rookie season, Seattle made it to the WHL Finals. In 2021, Oremba suited up in 56 games for the Thunderbirds, scoring four goals and recording 10 assists, totalling 14 points in the regular season. Seattle faced off against the Edmonton Oil Kings in the finals and lost the series in six games.
Oremba made a trip home to the Regina Pats when the Thunderbirds traded him on October 4, 2022. He played for the Pats until 2024 when he was shipped off to the Chiefs.
"It's definitely a little different," Oremba said. "Atmosphere and living in the USA is a little different than playing at home, having home-cooked meals, and living with your family versus living in your own house. It's been great, the fans and the ownership. Also, it runs like a professional franchise, and they treat you unreal."
During the 33 games Oremba has played for the Chiefs, he accumulated 23 points, 12 goals, and 11 assists. The opponent Oremba and the Chiefs face in this year's WHL Finals is the Medicine Hat Tigers.
"We know we can score, but they seem to score a lot, too, so there might be quite a few goals in this series," Oremba detailed. "So it might be, who's gonna outscore each other more? Hopefully not, but they're a deep team and similar to us. They have a lot of firepower. They can put the puck in the net. They have some good defence from top to bottom and good goaltending. I think everyone expects a lot of goals. When that happens, sometimes it ends up being 2-1 games. We're gonna have to be uptight with them and close."
One of the Tigers' top scorers is Gavin McKenna, who produced 129 points in 56 games in the regular season, scoring 41 goals and leading the WHL in assists with 88.
"He's quite the special player, I can kind of make a comparison playing with [Connor] Bedard in Regina," Oremba said. "Playing them tight and playing them physically is probably the best thing. I know anytime you're playing a high-end player, in the WHL or NHL, you gotta be on them pretty hard."
