Chiefs stage final dress rehearsal

The Spokane Chiefs will kick it up a notch tonight as the team takes the ice for its final Western Hockey League exhibition game.

Spokane plays host to the Seattle Thunderbirds in a 7 p.m. game at Eagles Ice-A-Rena, its only home exhibition game.

Tonight’s matchup marks the unofficial end to training camp, which began last month with three days of scrimmages. Since that time, Spokane has gone 0-2-2 in four exhibition games. The record is not something that matters to the coaching staff.

“Not at all,” said Chiefs coach Al Conroy. “Ideally, you’re 4-0, but we’re trying to evaluate guys.”

That evaluation process will continue tonight, but less so than in prior games. This one will be much more about Spokane preparing for its regular-season opener against Kootenay next Saturday in Cranbrook, British Columbia.

“This exhibition game will be trying to set lines, set power-play units,” said Conroy. “We feel there’s a lot more at stake than in our previous four games. … We were trying to play the young guys those first four games to try and evaluate them. Now that we’ve done that, we’re ready to kind of set the tempo.”

Jim Watt, Spokane’s No. 1 goalie, will play all three periods. The game will mark the return of four players to the Chiefs from NHL prospect camps. Those players are: Jevon Desautels and Scott Lynch (Detroit), Gary Gladue (Vancouver) and Ned Lukacevic (Los Angeles).

Conroy has been pleased with his team’s work ethic and the leadership shown by the veteran players.

“Camp’s been going really good,” said Conroy. “Our older guys are really setting the tempo. They’re doing what they need to do to make our team the best possible team, and the young guys are following suit, trying to live up to the level of play that the old guys are setting. We couldn’t be happier with that.”

Conroy added that has also been the players’ attitude in the four exhibition games.

“We might have had, out of 12 periods played so far, maybe two periods we haven’t been to the level that we’d like to be,” he said. “So that’s pretty good.”

The Chiefs’ roster is at 24 position players, plus three goalies. Four players and one goalie will not dress for tonight’s game.

Tickets for the game are $5 and can be purchased at the door. To ensure a seat, fans are encouraged to arrive prior to game time.

Happy campers

Ned Lukacevic and Scott Lynch were both on the same page about their recently concluded NHL prospect camp experiences.

Both said it was a good thing and that they each brought back something. Their perspectives were slightly different, as it was the first camp for Lukacevic and the second for Lynch.

“It was a lot different than junior level; a lot faster, quicker,” said Lukacevic. “Most of all, I got some good experience to bring back to our team here. We have a lot of young guys, so that’s good.”

Lukacevic didn’t have any points while playing for the Kings at Anaheim, Calif., in the Pacific Division Rookie Tournament. He said Kings officials had nice things to say about his future with the organization.

Lynch saw limited playing time in the Traverse City (Mich.) tournament. He was in Calgary in 2003 with the Rangers organization.

“It went good,” said Lynch. “There were a lot of big strong players, and it was a real physical tournament.”