Chiefs leave energy behind, fall to Americans

In the Western Hockey League, nights spent in cramped buses after games far away from home are the norm.

For the Spokane Chiefs, an early morning arrival after a long journey home from Kamloops, B.C., contributed to tired legs and an eventual 5-3 loss to the Tri-City Americans in front of 9,183 fans at the Spokane Arena.

The Chiefs, coming off a 4-2 win at Kamloops Friday night, couldn’t pressure Americans’ goalie Eric Comrie enough and spent too much time in their own end. The Americans were also coming off a Friday night win, although it happened in their own arena, allowing their players a reasonable bedtime.

“We were fatigued from the game last night and the travel and it showed up in our game,” coach Don Nachbaur said. “We made too many poor decisions and we didn’t have the energy. I thought we were really lethargic on our forecheck and a lot of areas in our checking.”

The Chiefs opened up the scoring just 2 minutes, 44 seconds into the game when Blair Oneschuk sent a wrist shot past Comrie. The Americans answered about eight minutes later when Richard Nejezchleb made a nifty spin move to get around one Spokane defenseman before putting the puck past Spokane goalie Garret Hughson.

After an even first period, the Americans began to run away in the second and third periods.

“I’m sure if we were at home last night we would have had more energy and played a different game,” Nachbaur said. “Our game’s built on tempo and energy, and we were slow tonight.”

The Americans’ Taylor Vickerman scored from the point to give Tri-City its first lead just 1:47 into the second period. Spokane’s Adam Helewka answered soon after when he turned a Tri-City turnover into a goal.

But from there, it was all Tri-City. Nejezchleb scored his second of the night on a power play 17:28 into the second period. Brandon Carlo extended the Americans’ lead 12:38 into the third period.

A Parker Bowles empty-net goal late in the third sealed the victory for Tri-City. Spokane’s Curtis Miske scored with less than two minutes to play, but it was much too late for the weary Chiefs.

The often intense travel schedule is something all WHL teams are used to, and Nachbaur says his team will have to learn how to deal with the rigors of major junior hockey life on the road.

“In the Western Hockey League you have to learn to overcome that with a stronger mindset, and it’s called mental toughness,” he said. “We weren’t mentally tough in a lot of areas. We (made) some poor decisions and it cost us the hockey game.”

Spokane falls to 9-7-3 and is now seven points back of the Americans for second place in the U.S. Division. The Chiefs, however, have played four fewer games than their rivals.