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The Spokane Chiefs are busy these days, vying for the Western Hockey League championship against Medicine Hat – the first time since 2008 they’ve reached the league title series.

MEDICINE HAT, Alberta – The Spokane Chiefs hadn't played a game in the Western Hockey League Championship Series since 2008, the year they went on to win their second Memorial Cup. The Medicine Hat Tigers hadn't made it since 2007, when they beat Vancouver in seven games, but then lost to the Giants in the Cup – hosted by Vancouver. 

There’s a popular meme floating around in which three identical Spider-Men are looking and pointing at each other. It was adapted from a comic that originated in the 1960s and has become a default template for online jokes calling out the similarities between just about everything and anything.

The Spokane Chiefs haven’t reached a Western Hockey League championship series since 2008, but after the initial celebration from sweeping the Portland Winterhawks in the conference final, it’s been “business as usual,” according to coach Brad Lauer.

It’s been a tumultuous season for Owen Martin. The center from Oakbank, Manitoba – who turns 18 on Sunday – wanted to parlay a solid rookie season into one that would see his stock rise as he entered his NHL draft year with the Spokane Chiefs.

Most of the Spokane Chiefs players were still in diapers the last time the organization reached the Western Hockey League finals in 2008. Five had not been born yet.

PORTLAND – The Spokane Chiefs haven’t played in a Western Hockey League finals since 2008, when they went on to win the Memorial Cup.

The Spokane Chiefs, sometimes to their coach’s chagrin, are challenging the notion that defense wins championships.

PORTLAND – The Spokane Chiefs brought a 2-0 lead with them to Portland’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum for the middle games of the seven-game Western Conference Championship, putting the onus on the Winterhawks to hold serve in their historic barn.

Spokane Chiefs coach Brad Lauer still doesn’t think his team has played its best hockey.

The thing about having an offensively oriented hockey team is that you’re never out of a game. Unfortunately, that often means the other team isn’t either.