Winner take all for Chiefs
The Spokane Chiefs are ready for Game 7, but are they ready to win at home?
Game 7's are exciting in any sport but I think hockey Game 7's are the best, much like that Olympic Gold Medal game.
In one strange series, Spokane and Portland have come down to a final game, but in a strange twist the visiting twist in best-of-7 Western Hockey League series, the visiting team has won every game so far. The advance I filed for Wednesday's paper is below.
By Dave Trimmer
davet@spokesman.com; (509) 927-2154
Sooner or later the Spokane Chiefs have to win a home game against the Portland Winterhawks.
Well, sooner is here now, as in now or never for this season.
The Chiefs and Winterhawks have reached the final game of their best-of-7 Western Hockey League series and to say it’s been a strange 10 days an understatement.
Defying all logic – especially in a four vs. five matchup, especially in hockey where the home team gets to changes lines after the opponent – this has been a visitor-take-all series.
“I don’t think anybody in sport could explain this,”
Chiefs coach Hardy Sauter said the same thing, with a caveat: “I guess now the pressure is on them to win that last road game.”
But he still didn’t want to stay in
“We worked all year to have home ice advantage,” Sauter said. “Although this series has been freaky, to say the least, we believe deep down home ice is going to count.”
The Winterhawks haven’t just won their three playoff games here, they’re 7-0 at the Arena this season.
“I truly believe when you’re on the road you play that gritty style and when you’re at home you always try to do things a little more perfect,” Chiefs forward Tyler Johnson said. “In the playoffs you have to play gritty.”
Although
“They’re a big team and they work really hard,” Johnson said. “They like to put a body on you and over a series that wears you down a little bit. It’s something you have to give right back at them, you have to work just as hard. If you match their work ethic you have a good chance to win.”
Game Six is the only time the Chiefs scored first in the series and they believe a quick start could ratchet up the pressure on the Winterhawks,
“We know we have to come out and have a fast start,” defenseman Brenden Kitchton said. “They’ve had our number at home, I’m not sure why. It’s definitely interesting – win three on the road, lose three at home. It’s kind of weird.”
Weird is as good explanation as any for this series, where the home coach gets the final say in matchups and has nothing to show for it.
“We don’t try to focus on matchups too much,” Chiefs defenseman Brett Bartman said. “We roll the lines, we believe all our players can play against all their players.
“I don’t think it’s the fact we’re at home or on the road, I think it was just situations.”
Sauter agreed.
“It’s not so much the matchups as much as a bounce or a play,” he said. “Both teams have good players, both teams are capable of winning a shift at any time. It seems like the team that can win the most shifts has seemed to take control of the game. For whatever reason, at home we haven’t won enough shifts.
“(In
This is the 10th time the Chiefs have had a winner-take-all game and fifth against
“All year long as a coach you put faith in your guys,” Sauter said. “If you don’t have faith in your players at this point you’re in big, big trouble. I believe our guys are going to play well, play hard, execute and win Game 7.”