Chiefs ready for opener
The Spokane Chiefs opened the 2009-10 Western Hockey League season - their 25th - Friday night in Prince George.
Below is the unedited copy of the story that will appear in Friday's paper.
The Spokane Chiefs open their 25th Western Hockey League season
with a two-game set in
For a pair of 20-year old veterans, a 13-hour bus ride couldn’t dampen the anticipation of what they expect to be very good season, maybe even a repeat of the Memorial Cup championship of 2008.
“It’s been a long summer, I’m ready to go,” forward Dustin Donaghy said. “The team looks very well so far. It’s still very early to make a full judgment but right now, as I see it, the team will be very good this year.”
“We’re expecting to win again,” defenseman Brett Bartman said. “I think we have enough young guys, enough character guys coming back, we believe we have a good enough group to win the whole thing.
“A lot of things have to go the right way. Last year it was one
goal (loss) in Game Seven. You make it to the Western Conference Finals and who
knows? Everyone came to camp ready to work. Our goal is to play in
Unfortunately, the few questions facing the veteran team, which went 46-23-3 last year, entering training camp didn’t have positive answers – but they didn’t come out negative, either.
Because of injuries to four veterans, coach Hardy Sauter has postponed many of the tough personnel decisions he was anticipated. At stake were about five spots in what is expected to be a 23-man roster – a backup goalie, one defenseman and three forwards.
The second-year coach believed there was an abundance of rookie talent to fill the few holes or grab a position from a lackadaisical veteran.
“There are still one or two guys who are improving but not improving as fast as the others,” Sauter said. “They get until the end of the month. I don’t know of anybody that surprised us a lot. They played well, which is what we expected. They have shown they can play on our team, they can play in the league. Now they’re playing against each other.
“We think of it as healthy competition. If this drags on until the middle of October, it could get ugly in practice, intense in the (locker) room. Most of them are used to this time of year when there are a few extra guys around.”
The only position battle resolved in goal, with 17-year old Chase Martin the pick over 19-year old Alex Wright to backup James Reid.
“In the end we think with Chase being younger he has the most potential to grow and develop,” Sauter said. “Alex is a great kid and played very well; he did everything we asked. We just made a decision based on potential.”
Reid was 12-5-1 with a sterling .940 save percentage as the
backup to Memorial Cup MVP Dustin Tokarski, who holds almost every
“I’m really excited to start the season as the starting goalie,” Reid, 19, said. “I don’t get too nervous during the games. I have quite a bit of confidence in myself and the D I have. I just try to make all the easy plays, try not to do too much and it usually works out for the best.”
On paper seven defensemen who helped the Chiefs limit foes to a league-low 145 goals last season return but at the moment three of those names appear on the injury list.
Jared Cowen, 18, the ninth pick in the NHL draft, is in
That gives rookies Grand Leedahl, 18, Tanner Mort, 16, and Landon Oslanski, 17, more time to make an impression.
“Definitely to start we are … not as experienced,” Bartman said. “A lot of guys are going to have to step up. … The young guys are ready to play; (they) have worked hard so far and I think they’re going to do just fine. It just forces everyone to learn and adapt a little bit faster and in the end it’s going to make everyone better.”
There are five rookies up front, 16-year olds Mike Aviani, Brady Brassart and Mitch Holmberg, 18-year old Matt Marantz, and 17-year old import Dominik Uher. Rookies accounted for five of the 10 goalies scored in the five exhibition games.
“That’s not in league games but the potential is there,” Sauter said. “Now they have to make another jump.”
They got plenty of ice time during exhibition games with leading returning scorers Mitch Wahl (32 goals, 35 assists), Tyler Johnson (26-35) and Levko Koper (23-36) at NHL camps but point production remains a concern.
“Any time you go through preseason scoring (10 goals), that’s a sign the puck wasn’t going in easily,” Sauter said. “Having those guys in the lineup will help, but we’ve got to be able to score.”
Donaghy is confident in the offense because of the defense.
“I think we’re going to score,” he said. “We’re not going to put five to eight goals up a night. We’re going to get our one, two or three goals a game and we’re going to keep the other team below us. You don’t have to score a lot of goals to win a game, you just need to have one more than the other team and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Of the injured players,