Tri-City Americans At Spokane Chiefs

Faceoff: Tonight at 7:05 in the Arena.

Records: Spokane (16-18-3), Tri-City (9-21-4).

Tickets: Available in all price ranges at $12, $10, $8, $6.

Radio: KGA-AM (1510) 6:05 p.m. Hockey Tonight with Craig West. Chiefs interim coach Brett Cox 6:20.

Key players: Spokane: C/RW John Cirjak (19 goals, 29 assists), LW Joe Cardarelli (17, 27), D Joel Boschman (0, 5), LW Greg Leeb (12, 28), GK Marc Magliarditi (2.91 goals against) or Aren Miller (2.86), RW Marian Cisar (14, 14), D Adam Magarrell (2, 11).

Tri-City: GK Aaron Baker (4.52 goals-against, .864 saves percentage), C Brent Ascroft (14 goals, 28 assists), D Zenith Komarniski (5, 24), RW Craig Stahl (11, 8, 87 penalty minutes), C Petr Sachl (7, 13), Dylan Gyori (16, 9).

At a glance: No-shows abound in the Chiefs’ final game before the holiday break. Tri-City is without Mike Hurley, Scott McCallum and Curtis Capjack (injured) and GK Brian Boucher, with Team USA in Switzerland. Chiefs’ coach Mike Babcock is with Team Canada, as are D Hugh Hamilton and C Trent Whitfield. Game is important, since third-place Chiefs are separated from sixth place in the standings by a single point. With a win, Spokane can wind up the first half in third place, with a two-game win streak. Jay Bertsch’s retirement this week and the loss of Kris Graf to a broken hand leaves Spokane vulnerable in the tough-guy department.

, DataTimes