Seattle At Spokane Chiefs
Time: Tonight at 7 in the Arena.
Records: Spokane (2-1), Seattle (1-3).
Tickets: $6, $8, $10, $12.
Radio: KGA-AM (1510) 6 p.m. Hockey Tonight with Craig West. Mike Babcock Show 6:20, Seattle coach Don Nachbaur interview, 6:40.
Spokane: D Sean Gillam (1 goal, 5 assists) C Darren Sinclair (4, 2), LW Joe Cardarelli (3, 4), RW John Cirjak (3, 1), C Trent Whitfield (3, 5), GK David Lemanowicz (3.56 goals-against), D Hugh Hamilton (1, 3), RW Randy Favaro (2, 1), RW Jay Bertsch (0, 0).
Seattle: C Jan Hrdina (4 goals, 4 assists), C Blair Manning (1, 2), GK Doug Bonner (3.93 goals-against), D Kevin Popp (0, 0), D Michal Divisek (1, 2), C Patrick Marleau (1, 0), RW Dan Tompkins (1, 2).
At a glance: A question in preseason was who’d replace captain and tough guy Kevin Sawyer. Well, the line of Sawyer wannabes is long. Chiefs are on a record pace in penalty minutes. With an average of 69.7 minutes the Chiefs are not only well above the second-most penalized team in the league, Kelowna, but on a WHL record pace. The league record for penalty minutes is 53 a game set by the 1986-87 Victoria Cougars. When a hockey game broke out between fights Saturday night the Chiefs were outstanding. Their power play and penalty killing was superb in 7-2 win over Tri-City. As coach Mike Babcock promised, the Chiefs are relentless in pursuit of the puck. Two of T-Birds’ three losses came in overtime. Hrdina is on a tear. T-Birds are still minus defenseman Deron Quint, who will probably stick with the NHL Winnipeg Jets. Bonner, a streaky type, can be hard to beat between the pipes. Tompkins played on U.S. team at last winter’s World Junior Tournament.