Chiefs’ Falloon, Brett lead five into Inland NW shrine

Popular Spokane Chiefs hockey player Pat Falloon and Carl Johnson, the best Spokane athlete who few have ever heard of, both made their marks nationally and internationally during different eras.

The pair, along with three contributors to Spokane’s sports legacy, will be inducted as the 24th class of the Inland Northwest Sports Hall of Fame on Oct. 22 during a luncheon and ceremonies in the Spokane Arena.

Rounding out the class of 2013 are Chiefs and Spokane Indians owner Bobby Brett; 40-year area golf professional Gary Lindeblad; and author, innovator and basketball coach Jerry Krause.

New additions to the Hall’s Scroll of Honor are a media duo with nearly 100 years of prep sports coverage between them: Sports broadcaster Mel Olson from Moses Lake and Mike Vlahovich, who covered high school athletics at the Spokane Valley Herald and The Spokesman-Review.

Falloon was MVP of the Chiefs’ 1991 Memorial Cup champions, scoring eight goals in four games. He finished his three-year career as the Chiefs’ all-time goal scorer (146) and added 194 assists. Drafted No.1 by the San Jose Sharks in the NHL, he led the team in goals and assists as a rookie and between 1991 and 2000 played 575 games, compiling143 goals and 179 assists.

Nearly 100 years ago, Lewis and Clark graduate Johnson, whose life was cut short at age 34 due to peritonitis from a burst appendix, was silver medalist in the long jump at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium, missing the gold by 2 1/4 inches. At a national high school meet in Chicago his 23-4 1/2 leap remains LC’s school record. Johnson, also a high jumper and hurdler, won 16 Big Ten titles at Michigan.

Brett came from California to purchase the Indians and later the Chiefs, turning them into models for minor leagues franchises. The Chiefs have won two Memorial Cups, the Indians eight Northwest League championships and between them have attracted more than 9 million fans.

Lindeblad has been the golf pro at Indian Canyon for nearly 30 years. He founded the Rosauers Open Invitational tournament that has raised more than $2.5 million for the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery. He is a member of the Pacific Northwest Section of the Professional Golfers’ Association of America Hall of Fame.

Krause has been an international basketball clinician and prolific producer of basketball books and videos. He is a long-standing member of the NCAA Basketball Rules Committee, which brought about the shot clock, 3-point shot and breakaway rim. As head coach at Eastern Washington for 17 years he compiled the second most wins (262) in school history. For the last 20 years he has been on the men’s staff at Gonzaga University.

Vlahovich has covered high school and college events for 45 years. He is longtime president of the Inland Northwest Sportswriters and Broadcasters (SWABs) organization and a 25-year member of the Sports Hall of Fame Committee.

Olson has been the voice of Moses Lake sports on KSBN for 50 years. The Korean War Bronze Star and Purple Heart winner is a member of the Washington Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.