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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Bowman gets first NHL goals

While Mitch Wahl and Kyle Beach went off to play in the AHL after the Spokane Chiefs season ended, Jared Cowen gets a little Florida vacation. The captain is hanging with the Ottawa Senators, who drafted him in the first round last summer. A story from the Ottawa Citizen is posted below.

Meanwhile, former Chief Drayson Bowman scored his first two goals for the Carolina Hurricanes last night, both in the first period as Carolina rolled to an 5-1 lead en route to an 8-5 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

 

  

SUNRISE, Florida — Jared Cowen didn’t have a season he’ll remember fondly. His right knee, surgically reconstructed almost a year ago, never got to the point where he was truly comfortable with it.

 

He struggled in the world juniors in January, and he had only one goal and one assist while his Western Hockey League team, the Spokane Chiefs, was being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

 

So on Tuesday, when he joined the Senators, who drafted him ninth overall last June, he was hoping the road would lead to a spot on the NHL team in the fall.

 

“It was a bit of a trying season,” he said. “Coming back from the injury, there were a lot of frustrating nights. And the end was disappointing. I think we had a stronger team and could have gone further.

 

“So the summer is going to be a huge one, just trying to get back to 100 per cent. Coming here lets me see all the stuff I have to work on. “Just from watching guys (in Monday’s morning skate), I can see where I should be and where I am right now, so it’s kind of a gauge.”

 

It remains to be seen if the 6-5, 228-pound Cowen can crack the Senators’ lineup next fall, but there’s little doubt he’s a big part of the team’s defensive future, along with Erik Karlsson, Patrick Wiercioch, and, at some point, 6-3, 214-pound Eric Gryba, who is now in Binghamton.

 

“I think if I want to have any chance, I have to expect that I’m able to make it, so that’s why the summer is going to be so important,” Cowen said. “I don’t feel I’m as good as I can be right now. I know I have more to give. But it makes me excited for next year knowing I have a chance to play here.”



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