After winning the first two games of their best-of-seven first-round series on the road, the Spokane Chiefs had to feel pretty good about their chances with the next three games against the Vancouver Giants in the friendly confines of the Spokane Arena.
LANGLEY, British Columbia – Rookie Mathis Preston recorded his first Western Hockey League hat trick as the Spokane Chiefs build a big lead and held off the Vancouver Giants 7-5 to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series at Langley Events Centre on Sunday.
The Spokane Chiefs start a Western Hockey League Western Conference best-of-seven first-round playoff series against the Vancouver Giants on Friday in Vancouver.
The Western Hockey League playoffs start Friday, with the Spokane Chiefs forced to open on the road in Vancouver – despite earning home-ice advantage by virtue of their third-place finish in the Western Conference.
A couple of years ago, the Winnipeg Ice won the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Conference, lost the WHL final to the Seattle Thunderbirds – and then relocated to Wenatchee, where the franchise rebranded as the Wenatchee Wild.
The Spokane Chiefs capped the Western Hockey League regular season Saturday with a 4-3 win over division rival Tri-City, already having locked in the third seed to the Western Conference playoffs.
Before Friday’s game against the Seattle Thunderbirds, the Spokane Chiefs organization honored the three 20-year-olds on the roster – Shea Van Olm, Rasmus Ekström and Brayden Crampton – and the team’s award winners in their final regular season home game at the Arena.
