Podollan Proves Worth Canadian National Junior Invitee Lifts Chiefs, 4-0

Jason Podollan wasted no time Wednesday night validating the wisdom of his invitation to the Canadian National Junior Team tryouts.

The 19-year-old forward registered hockey’s traditional hat trick - three uninterrupted goals - his 18th, 19th and 20th of the Western Hockey League season - to keep the Spokane Chiefs on a roll.

The Chiefs beat the Seattle Thunderbirds 4-0 for their fifth straight win before 4,654 at the Arena.

One of 36 players selected Monday to try out for Canada’s defending World Junior Tournament championship team, Podollan came to the rink with something extra in mind.

“I was playing for a lot tonight,” said Podollan, who ran his career total to 128 career goals, fifth on the club’s all-time list. “I’m playing for the team, I’m playing for myself and I’m playing to represent Gil.”

Gil is defenseman Sean Gillam, who was inexplicably left off the Canadian team roster to the dismay of the Chiefs organization. Podollan is the lone Chief on the national team that will assemble for training camp on Wednesday, be cut to 23 players and try to defend its championship in Worcester, Mass., Dec. 26-Jan.4.

With Gillam also sidelined with a bruised shoulder, the Chiefs were left to rotate five defensemen - Hugh Hamilton, Adam Magarrell, John Shockey , Joel Boschman and Scott Fletcher.

They carried on at the blue line.

“The ‘D’ stepped up big time with Gilly out,” Podollan said. “He’s a huge part of it back there. We only allowed 23 shots. The five (defensemen) who played were a big part of a great team effort.”

Lemanowicz said the shutout, the fifth of his his career and his second in a week, was just another night at the office.

“Our team has played so well the past five games that I’ve questioned at times if we even needed a goaltender,” Lemanowicz said.

Playing without injured center Jan Hrdina and left wing Dan Tompkins, the Thunderbirds were able to mount only “two or three” quality scoring chances. The Chiefs shut down Seattle center Blair Manning, who came in 18th in the league in scoring and was on a 13-game scoring streak. Manning had scored in all but two of his 25 previous games.

Spokane outshot the T-Birds 41-23.

“Luck’s on my side right now,” said Lemanowicz. “John Shockey ran into me once, I was out of the play and they shot it wide.”

There was also a tough chance with 8 minutes left when Seattle’s Chris Schmidt was free in front of the net with plenty to shoot at.

John Cirjak broke open a scoreless game at 9:52 of the second period with a power-play goal, assisted by Trent Whitfield and Adam Magarrell. Whitfield, who has some of his best games against Seattle (8-16-3), finished with three assists.

Podollan took it from there, scoring at 16:32 of the second, 7:03 of the third and his hat trick three minutes later.

“Jason is always a skill guy but when he plays like he did tonight - he dominated physically, worked the puck hard down low and took the body - he’s an even better player,” Babcock said.

The Chiefs (20-9-1) beat the T-Birds for the third time in as many meetings.

Chiefs 4, T-Birds 0

Seattle 0 0 0 - 0

Spokane 0 2 2 - 4

First period - No scoring. Key penalites - Berry, Sea, 4:20; Graf, Spo, 11:20; Berry, Sea, 19:07; Divisek, Sea, 19:51.

Second period - 1, Spo, Cirjak 14 (Whitfield, Magarrell) 9:52 (power play) 9:52; 2, Spo, Podollan 18 (Leonov, Hamilton) 16:32 (short-handed). Key penalties - Magarrell, Spo, 2:30; Haley, Spo, 5:10; Palmer, Sea, 8:00; Fletcher, Spo, 14:56.

Third period - 3, Spo, Podollan 19 (Sinclair, Whitfield) 7:03 (pp); 4, Spo, Podollan 20 (Whitfield, Gans) 11:33. Key penalties - Ferone, Sea, :31; Berry, Sea, 5:32; Boschman, Spo, 8:24; Belter, Sea, 12:41; Leeb, Spo, 12:58; Leonov, Spo, 14:23; Mohagen, Sea, 19:08.

Power plays opp.- Seattle 0-7. Spokane 2-8.Saves -Bonner, Sea, 17-11-9-37. Lemanowciz, Spo,

5-8-10-23.A-4, 654

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