Taking a quick break from bouncing balls, here is the unedited advance for the Spokane Chiefs' opening playoff series, which starts tonight against Portland. Also, for your reading enjoy, the story Scott Sepich wrote for The Oregonian, which focuses on Luke Walker, who was a teammate, a linemate even, of Spokane's Tyler Johnson on the gold medal World Junior Team. Read the extended entry.

By Dave Trimmer

davet@spokesman.com; (509) 927-2154

Mention the old cliché about throwing records out the window come playoff time and Spokane Chiefs coach Hardy Sauter has a mixed reaction.

He doesn’t mind forgetting that Portland, the Chiefs’ first-round opponent for the best-of-seven Western Hockey League series that begins tonight, went 5-3, winning all four games in Spokane.

But he’s just as quick to point out that seven of those games came in the first half of the season and in the only matchup in 2010 the Chiefs won 4-0 in Portland.

Ask Portland coach Mike Johnston if he’s worried because his team allowed almost a goal-a-game more than the Chiefs this season and he’s quick to point out that the Winterhawks also scored 26 more goals.

In the eight matchups, both teams scored 23 goals and the four games in a nine-game stretch in December were decided by one goal.

“Reading too much into the stats going into this you can talk yourself into and out of a lot of different scenarios,” Sauter said. “We’re just going to go in and play hard like we’ve been doing. It’s going to be a good series. If someone thinks it’s going to over in four, they’re mistaken. But if we play our best we like our chances.”

Mitch Wahl, Spokane’s leading scorer (30 goals, 66 assists, 96 points), said, “I think we match up well against them. They have good forwards, we have good forwards. I think it will be a good series. It will be interesting.”

The Chiefs go into the series with two injury concerns, Kyle Beach, the league’s leading scorer with 52 goals, and Ryan Letts are hobbled from knee-to-knee hits last weekend. Beach is probable and Letts is day-to-day.

It is Portland’s firepower that concerns Sauter the most.

The Winterhawks’ top-two lines are centered by their top two scorers, Chris Francis (26-56-82) and Ryan Johansen (25-44-69).

Left wings Brad Ross (27-41-68) and Nino Niederreiter (36-24-60) and right wing Luke Walker (27-30-57) are night behind.

“They have a lot of scoring depth,” Sauter said. “Defensively we’re going to have to be on our game.”

Chiefs’ defenseman Jared Spurgeon added, “They’re a bit bigger than (most teams). It’s playoff time, you’re going to have to sacrifice your body and do everything you can to get a win.”

The Chiefs also have only that one meeting with Portland since the Hawks acquired defenseman Luca Sbisa at the trade deadline. A first-round NHL draft pick, Sbisa played 39 games for the Philadelphia Flyers last season and with Switzerland in the Winter Olympics.

“The addition of Sbisa really improved their back end,” Sauter said. “Having said that, our team has really started to play well the last two months so they really haven’t seen us at our best except for the last time.”

Chief James Reid definitely has the best numbers among the goalies, starting with a league-leading 38 wins. His goals-against-average is 2.41 and he notched two shutouts against the Winterhawks. Backup Michael Tadjedeh has a 2.81 GGA and he was in goal when Portland won 2-0 in Spokane. The winning goalie in that game, Kurtis Mucha, was traded. Portland’s No. 1 goalie is Ian Curtis, who won 21 games with a 3.25 GGA.

The Chiefs had a three-win improvement in the second half of the season, when they played a bulk of their series with Everett and Tri-City, the top two teams in the U.S. Division.

Another advantage is playoff experience. While eight Chiefs were on the 2008 Memorial Cup champions only two Winterhawks have ever participated in the playoffs. Overall Spokane has 340 games of playoff experience.

 Sbisa was on the Lethbridge team Spokane steamrolled en route to the cup and defenseman Eric Doyle has been out with a concussion for almost a month.

The final piece of the puzzle is the format, which goes 2-3-1-1 so the Chiefs can regain their home-ice advantage after the NCAA Tournament clears the Arena.

“I’ve been through it but it will be different for a few guys,” Wahl said. “We still have the extra game at home. In the end I don’t think it will matter too much.”

The coaches said both teams were comfortable on the road (both went 23-13).

“Because we don’t have a lot of playoff experience on our team I think it’s good to start at home where we’re comfortable,” Johnston said. “Playing in front of our home crowd is a good way to start.”

Sauter said, “You can spin it either way. We had a great road record so starting on the road shouldn’t scare us. Having said that, you work all year to get home ice so it would probably be nice to start at home, but we’ve known for a long time that isn’t going to happen.

“Energy will one-up location.”

 

By Scott Sepich

Luke Walker will take the ice for the 203rd time in a Portland
Winterhawks jersey on Saturday night.
But, like most of his teammates, Walker is venturing into uncharted
territory when the Hawks begin a best-of-seven first-round Western
Hockey League playoff series with Spokane at the Rose Garden. Faceoff
is at 7 p.m.
Spokane (45-22-3-2) is the fourth seed in the Western Conference, and
Portland (44-25-2-1) -- in the playoffs for the first time since 2006
-- is the fifth seed.
Walker, 19, is one of 21 Portland players who have never appeared in a
postseason game, and one of three -- along with Chris Francis and
Brett Ponich -- who have been in more than 200 regular-season games
without any playoff experience. They, more than most of their
teammates, can appreciate the resurrection of the franchise from an
11-win season (out of 72 games) in 2007-08 to 44 victories this
season.
"It took a long time for the turnaround," Walker said Wednesday. "But
it's 100 percent better now than it was two years ago. It wasn't fun
only winning a few games."
While not an NHL draft pick, Walker has impressed scouts the last two
seasons with his energetic, almost reckless, style on the ice. He's a
mainstay of the Hawks' power play and penalty kill units.
After leading the team with 29 goals last season, he tied for second
this year with 27 despite missing 11 games because of injury and his
trip to the World Junior Championship just after Christmas.
He might not have playoff experience himself, but that doesn't mean he
doesn't know what to expect. Walker's father, Gord, won the Memorial
Cup as a player with the Hawks in 1982-83. Luke was born in
Connecticut while his father was playing professionally there.
"Dad helps me big-time," Luke Walker said. "He foreshadows everything
for me, talks about how he felt and how he coped with the experience.
He taught me everything I know about hockey."
Walker grew up in Castlegar, B.C., but chose to pursue the opportunity
to play for his country of birth in the World Junior Championship this
year. Despite suffering a shattered jaw a week before national team
training camp, he earned a roster spot and won a gold medal when the
United States beat Canada in the tournament final.
Though Walker would be eligible to return to the Winterhawks next year
as a 20-year-old, he would accept a professional opportunity if one
should arise.
"I know these could be my last WHL games this year," he said. "I'm
hoping that my play can open some eyes and give me a chance to move up
to the next level."
"Luke has a real work ethic," Hawks coach Mike Johnston said. "He's
just a complete player, and the experience he had winning at the world
juniors will be important for us."
Many observers around the WHL think of this postseason as a test run
for a mostly young Hawks team that could compete for the league title
the next two years, but Walker and Johnston are intent on not letting
this opportunity slip through their fingers.
Johnston hopes Spokane's past success provides motivation.
"Two years ago, Spokane had a young team like ours, and they won the
Memorial Cup," he said.
Although Spokane finished four points better than Portland in the
regular season and earned the fourth seed, the series will follow an
unconventional format. Because of an arena conflict with the NCAA
basketball tournament in Spokane, Games 1, 2 and 6 (if necessary) will
be at the Rose Garden. Spokane will be the site of games 3, 4, 5 and
7.
Johnston said the unusual format could be an advantage for the Hawks.
"Being a new team to the playoffs, opening at home is good for us," he
said. "Just the comfort of home, with the crowd, the arena, and the
bounces you're used to will help."
Added Walker: "We didn't lose (in Spokane) this year. So we just have
to handle the initial rush, and once we do that they'll be just like
any other games."
As a show of unity heading into the series, Winterhawks players dyed
their hair black and cut it into mohawks.
"We've had good practices this week," Johnston said. "We're excited,
and we're ready."
Notes: Portland D Eric Doyle has been sidelined since Feb. 23 with a
concussion. Johnston said "signs are better" this week, but that he
hasn't been involved in contact drills. ... Spokane forward Kyle
Beach, the WHL's leading goal scorer, is probable for the opener,
according to The (Spokane) Spokesman-Review' s Dave Trimmer. Beach
injured his knee last week. ... Though Johnston won't disclose who his
goaltender will be on Saturday, he said whoever he chooses between Ian
Curtis and Mac Carruth will be "the guy for the series."

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