Chiefs Need To Practice Winning Lackadaisical Play Has Coach Seething After Spokane Loses To Swift Current

After a grueling stretch of four games in five nights the Spokane Chiefs can finally look forward to a week of practice.

But judging from coach Mike Babcock’s sour mood after Sunday night’s 2-1 loss to the Swift Current Broncos, the Chiefs may wish they were back on the road, playing anybody four times in five nights.

This could be Hell Week.

While the Chiefs’ latest losing streak was growing to three games in front of 5,818 fans in the Arena, Babcock’s fuse was getting shorter. His club is free-falling through the Western Hockey League West and he seems to know why.

Until now he was calling it work ethic.

Sunday night, when the Chiefs had about as much jump for two periods as the entertainment at intermission, he was calling it laziness.

There were exceptions - Trent Whitfield, Marian Cisar, Greg Leeb, Derek Schutz to name four - but Babcock’s anger is broad-based.

Very few of his defending West Division champions are making him happy right now.

“The Spokane Chiefs don’t work hard enough,” said Babcock, after a late third-period goal by Ty Jones was all the Chiefs could muster off goaltender Jeff Friesen, who kicked away 27 of Spokane’s 28 shots. “For the first time since the second week of the season, we have some practice time. We’re going to take good advantage of it. We’re going to learn to work hard, if we can.

“If we can’t … well, I don’t believe in threatening people.”

The point, Babcock added, is that too many key players aren’t getting the message. The coach illustrated in a unique way.

“I’m selling real estate,” he said, “and they’re buying cars.”

By the way, this was Church Night featuring at intermission pastor summo wrestling. The clergymen come out on the ice in inflated plastic suits made to resemble Japanese wrestlers. The best of them might have had a shot in a skills competition with the Spokane Chiefs of the first two periods.

Although Spokane (15-15-2) came to life in the third period, the Broncos held on to assume sole possession of the East Division lead with the poise and grit that marked the Chiefs’ early-season successes. Playing without scoring leader Josh St. Louis - down with flu and a shoulder problem - Swift Current jumped on what had been the strength of the Spokane club, the penalty killers and the guys on the power play.

“As I told the guys you can only have one scoring leader,” Swift Current coach and general manager Todd McLellan said, “but you can have 20 defensive leaders.”

The forechecking Broncos kept the Chiefs pinned in their zone through the better part of the first two periods.

“Our first player entering the zone had a lot of speed and the second and third (coming in) read off of him,” McLellan said. “We created some turnovers that led to scoring opportunities.”

The Chiefs were on the power play when Swift jumped on top 1-0. Sergei Varlamov beat goaltender Aren Miller to the far side for the short-handed goal halfway through the first period. The assist came from Jeff Henkelman, who appeared to take Spokane’s Whitfield out of the play with a trip.

It was only the second short-handed goal the Chiefs have given up this year.

Spokane’s penalty killers, who had a rough outing the night before in Tri-City, were tougher but still surrendered the second goal to the Swift Current power-play unit. Brad Larsen’s wrist shot from the right point slid under Miller’s pads at 6:09 of the second period.

It was the Broncos’ second onegoal win over Spokane.

“Both games could have gone either way,” McLellan said. “They’ve been through some injury problems, they played two games this weekend on the road and got back late (early Sunday morning). Turnovers led to work ethic.

“We turned the puck over a few times at our blue line and they got some jump. When they turned it over, we got some jump. I wouldn’t say we outworked them.”

Henkelman, his defenseman who picked up his 26th and 27th assists of the year, would.

“Hard work is what won it for us tonight,” said the Broncos’ alternate captain.

Swift Current 2, Spokane 1

Swift Current 1 1 0 - 2

Spokane 0 0 1 - 1

First period - 1, SC, Varlamov 20 (Henkelman), 9:58 (sh). Key penalties - Tobler, SC, 9:25; Ference, Spo, douoble minor, 14:12.

Second period - 2, SC, Larsen 16 (Henkelman, Varlamov), 6:09 (pp). Key penalties - Friesen, SC, 1:53 (served by Rozsival); Mikhailov, Spo, 5:18; Rossiter, Spo, 9:59; Beagle, SC, 18:14.

Third period - 3, Spo, Jones 6 (Leeb, Hamilton), 14:27. Key penalties - Whitfield, Spo, 4:21; Larsen, SC, 12:22.

Power-play opp. - Swift Current 1 of 5; Spokane 0 of 4. Saves - Swift Current, Friesen 7-8-12-27. Spokane, Miller 9-9-10-28. A - 5,818.

, DataTimes