Seattle At Spokane

Time: Tonight at 7:05 in the Arena.

Records: Spokane (25-13-3), Seattle Thunderbirds Hawks (15-19-4).

Radio: KGA-AM (1510) 6:05 p.m. Hockey Tonight with Craig West. Chiefs coach Mike Babcock 6:25.

Key players: Spokane: C Trent Whitfield (20 goals, 34 assists), D Sean Gillam (7, 30), C Darren Sinclair (18, 28), D Hugh Hamilton (5, 32), LW Dmitri Leonov (21, 32), LW Greg Leeb (25, 13), RW John Cirjak (19, 20), RW Randy Favaro (12, 22), GK David Lemanowicz (3.09 goals-against), RW Jay Bertsch (7, 11).

Seattle: C Blair Manning (15 goals, 41 assists), RW Jan Hrdina (14, 22), C Patrick Marleau (18, 20), GK Doug Bonner (3.65 goals-against), C Chris Schmidt (17, 13), C Tyler Perry (13, 21), D Michal Divisek (6, 22), LW Shawn Gervais (11, 16).

At a glance: T-Birds have struggled on the road - they’re 3-15 away from home - but on their best nights there’s just enough skill, toughness, coaching and goaltending to play with the best. They come in with a threegame win streak. Manning, 20th in the WHL in scoring, is hot (3 goals and 12 assists in his last 10 games). So is Shane Belter, the ex-Swift Current Bronco who is working on a six-game scoring streak. The Chiefs, back in the groove, are without Jason Podollan but Mike Babcock can still send out four effective lines. Saturday he started Cirjak, Cardarelli and Podollan, with Hamilton and John Shockey at the back end. Rarely out-worked at home, with a win the Chiefs will move into a tie for the WHL West Division lead with idle Tri-City. Lemanowicz, the WHL’s top-rated stopper, continues to flirt with a sub-3.00 goals-against average.

, DataTimes