Chiefs Ko Rockets Spokane Escapes Brawl With 8-2 Win, Division Lead

Marian Cisar, Derek Schutz and the Spokane Chiefs gave their fans more than a two-for-one deal on their tickets Wednesday night in the Arena.

A big win - 8-2 over the Kelowna Rockets - and free pizza were only the appetizers.

The final minute was the dessert that, if you’ll excuse some of the weirdest behavior this side of World Championship Wrestling, woke up a crowd of 4,886.

After Kelowna’s Todd Fedoruk precipitated a line brawl in the final 25 seconds by going into the Chiefs bench after trading punches with Spokane’s Regan Darby, referee Shayne Hay counted off many of the record number of penalty minutes.

Before it was over both goaltenders had traded punches and were ejected, while the other 10 players on the ice were either tied up or throwing punches.

The Rockets were hit with 189 penalty minutes, one of three Chiefs records for penalties that either fell or were threatened in this battle royal of Western Hockey League West Division co-leaders.

The Chiefs were slapped with 165 minutes in penalties, only two shy of a 5-year-old club record. The combined total of 354 minutes smashed the Spokane club’s record of 340.

The game was over by the second period. The battle didn’t end until Hay had assessed Kelowna with seven game-misconduct penalties, one more than the Chiefs.

Cisar would eventually score a pair of goals and add two assists. Schutz had three points on a night when 10 Spokane players scored and six had multiple-point games.

“I hope the last minute doesn’t obscure the story of what happened,” Chiefs coach Mike Babcock said. “Once a player (Fedoruk) gets frustrated and goes into the (Chiefs) bench it’s going to get ugly.”

Anholt was a little more direct in his assessment.

“The referee didn’t know the rules all night,” the Rockets coach said. “Why would you expect him to be any different in the last minute?”

The upshot of all the carnage is that the Chiefs are alone in first place at 4-1. Kelowna slipped to 3-2.

It’s hard to imagine the Rockets doing anything less for 20 minutes than they managed to get done in the first period, when the Chiefs outshot them 21-2 and took a 1-0 lead on Ty Jones’ fifth goal of the year.

The scoring play started with a blast from the left point by Perry Johnson. With goaltender Jordan Watt down to cut off the shot on the rebound, the puck bounced into the low slot, where Jones was parked, alone.

Jones shot top shelf with the backhand. Assists went to Trent Whitfield - his first in three games since returning from Boston - and Cisar, whose four points left him with a club-leading 23 for the year.

Playing without defenseman Scott Hannan, a first-round draft choice of the San Jose Sharks, the Rockets were rubbed out in the second period when Schutz, Cisar and Marc Brown scored.

Schutz’s goal was a piece of work.

He won a faceoff in the neutral zone with Jason Deleurme, then beat the Rockets defense to the net. On the faceoff, the puck had popped out to Spokane’s Ben Johnson on the left wall. Johnson deftly played it off the boards, picked it up himself and skated in on Watt, who made the save only to have Schutz police up the rebound with an open net to hit.

The knock on Schutz is that he doesn’t skate all that well. Beating an entire defense in a 70-odd-foot race to the net should go some distance to counter that criticism.

Cisar and Whitfield teamed up to produce some puck magic two minutes later. Cisar stepped out of a hit, then played the puck to Whitfield in the slot. Whitfield’s shot bounced off the goaltender but Cisar was there for the rebound.

The pizza promotion kicks in anytime the Chiefs score seven or more goals. Ticket stubs are then worth a free lunch pizza.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: NEXT UP FOR CHIEFS Spokane will be at the Arena on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. against Portland.