Chiefs Win For Old Time’s Sake Spokane Captures Final Regular-Season Game After Ceremony Recognizing Stars Of Past

It was a long, emotional, drawn-out and poignant Sunday night for 5,249 hockey fans who turned out for the last regular-season hockey game in the Spokane Coliseum.

Then the game started.

The Spokane Chiefs’ 3-2 win over the Prince George Cougars was a ragged anticlimax to a pregame ceremony that commemorated 40 years of history in the Coliseum.

Saying “So long” to the Boone Street Barn made a long night longer for the Cougars, who saw their season mercifully grind to a halt with a 15th consecutive loss.

The Cougs didn’t go down without a fight - seven if you’re scoring at home. You had to look hard past the fallen bodies and forced timeouts to find highlights in a game where there were almost as many shots on nose as shots on goals.

Spokane held Prince George to only 20 shots but two were true late in the third to throw a little tension into what was for two periods a budding Chiefs rout.

The Cougars managed only three shots from four power-play opportunities in the first period and had only six shots in the second before making their final period of the season the best of their weekend series here.

On a night when history was the theme, the Chiefs flirted with history of their own, nearly pulling off a second consecutive shutout. It would have been a first in the club’s 10-year existence.

But third-period goals by Prince George’s Ronald Petrovicky and ex-Chief Trevor Shoaf ended that notion.

“I thought we gave it our all,” Shoaf said. “This is probably the easiest rink in the league to get up for. A lot of people are going to miss playing in this place.”

The Chiefs jumped up 1-0 when center Trent Whitfield tipped Scott Fletcher’s shot from the right point past Prince George goaltender Mike Walker at 5:34 of the first period.

Walker, who had 41 saves Saturday night, registered 39 stops in this one.

“I thought tonight I let in a couple of bad ones,” Walker said. “I don’t know if the long wait there before the game did any good for me.”

Hugh Hamilton, who had a two-point night, added the Chiefs’ second goal, followed by Cardarelli’s strike, his 17th goal with the Chiefs on the power play.

It was David Lemanowicz in goal Saturday night in a 3-0 win over Prince George. Jarrod Daniel took over Sunday night and responded with two shutout periods before the Cougars rallied.

Daniel stopped 18 shots, enough to wind up with a saves percentage of .8998, a club record. Troy Gamble set the previous standard of .895 in the 1987-88 season.

The Chiefs closed the regular season with a five-game unbeaten streak and a 32-36-4 record, one win better than last year’s team.

Spokane took the series with Prince George 5-2-1.

Joe Cardarelli’s goal early in the second period put the Chiefs up 3-0 and stood as the game-winner. It was Cardarelli’s third game-winning goal against the Cougars, who finished last in the Western Hockey League West.

The Chiefs set a club attendance record after raising the body count for the year to 154,007.

Spokane wound up 18-17-1 at home to avoid tying a club record of 18 Coliseum losses in one season.

Next up for Spokane is Game One of the WHL playoffs. The Chiefs return to the Coliseum Friday night with the Tri-City Americans at 7. Tickets go on sale today at 8 a.m.

Spokane right wing Jay Bertsch (hip pointer) returned after a six-game absence. The Chiefs played without center Darren Sinclair, who rested a knee. He’s expected back Friday night.

For the Cougars it’s an early start on next year.

Doug Hobson summed it up in one word.

“Frustration,” the Prince George coach said. “That’s the biggest thing. It’s no secret that we expected t do more than we accomplished. But the guys worked right to the end and I’m pretty proud of that.

“Walker was outstanding tonight, last night, the night before - ever since we got him in a trade. He’s proven to me that he’s one of the top goaltenders in the league. Hopefully someone will give him a chance to play at a higher level next year because he deserves it.”

Chiefs 3, Cougars 2

Prince George 0 0 2 - 2

Spokane 2 1 0 - 3

First period-1, Spokane, Whitfield 8 (Fletcher, Podollan), 5:34. 2, Spokane, Hamilton 5 (Shockey, Cirjak), 12:33. Key penalties-Souray, PG, 7:26; Sawyer, Spo, 9:40; Stasiuk, Spo, 11:21; Souray, PG, minor-misconduct, 12:22; Bertsch, Spo, 15:06; Spokane bench, too many men, served by Hope, 18:01.

Second period-3, Spokane, Cardarelli 27 (Hamilton, Sawyer), 2:19 (pp). Key penalties- Dowhy, PG, 1:56; Leonov, Spo, 5:20; Voltera, PG, 8:02; Stasiuk, Spo, 17:16.

Third period-4, Prince George, Petrovicky 8 (Dowhy, Smith), 7:23 (pp). 5, Prince George, Shoaf 5 (Van Horlick, Hohenberger), 16:53 (pp). Key penalties-Sawyer, Spo, 6:04; Petrovicky, PG, 10:05; Haley, Spo, instigating minor-fighting major-game misconduct, 16:14.

Power-play opp.-Prince George 2 of 8; Spokane 1 of 5.Saves-Prince George, Walker 11-12-16-39. Spokane, Daniel 3-6-9-18.A-5,249.