Dave Trimmer

The Spokane Chiefs had a little fun practicing on the outdoor rink at Avista Stadium on Thursday, but the team knows it has to maintain it's focus on the important games at hand.

As an Eastern Washington freshman, Tatjana Sparavalo had the usual issues adjusting to Division I basketball. From the sounds of it, life isn’t much easier for the 6-foot senior and it has nothing to do with being from Novi Sad, Serbia.

After a long and successful career in basketball, Andrea Lloyd entered the real world, as the former Moscow High School star put it, only to find out she liked basketball better. The former University of Texas star, Olympic gold medalist and Hall of Famer is now a television broadcaster out of Colorado – and a volunteer firefighter in northwest Washington in the offseason.

The Spokane Chiefs came up a little short this weekend, about 35 shots short. Not that they’re complaining.

Despite not getting the shots on goal to which they’ve become accustomed, the Chiefs completed a 2-0 weekend with a 4-2 win over the Everett Silvertips before 6,635 fans at the Arena on Saturday night.

EWU women win their Big Sky basketball opener in Cheney.

When a team is on a roll, everything seems to go right. Midway through Friday night’s game against Lethbridge, when the only things the Arena crowd of 5,423 had to cheer about were the Eastern Washington football team and an own goal, Spokane Chiefs coach Don Nachbaur started over.

Midway through Friday night’s game against Lethbridge, when the only things the Arena crowd of 5,423 had to cheer about were the Eastern Washington football team and an own goal, Spokane Chiefs’ coach Don Nachbaur started over.

The Western Hockey League trading deadline is Monday afternoon and the Spokane Chiefs are surprisingly not sellers. They may not be buyers, either.

Conference play starts this week with Gonzaga expecting to take everyone’s best punch and Idaho and Eastern Washington hoping to deliver a few. The Bulldogs (12-4), with six straight West Coast Conference titles, are at Portland on Saturday; Idaho (7-5) is at Nevada on Thursday (ESPNU at 8 p.m.) and home for Fresno State to start the Western Athletic Conference; and defending Big Sky Conference champion Eastern Washington (4-8) is home against Portland State Saturday afternoon.

Conference play starts this week with Gonzaga expecting to take everyone’s best punch and Idaho and Eastern Washington hoping to deliver a few.

Southern Utah, with a seven-game winning streak, appeared to be a good tuneup for the Gonzaga University women with West Coast Conference play opening Saturday. Instead, the Thunderbirds were barely a speed bump Monday night as the Bulldogs rolled 102-61 before 2,538 fans at McCarthey Athletic Center.

Southern Utah, with a seven-game winning streak, appeared to be a good tuneup for the Gonzaga University women’s basketball team with West Coast Conference play opening Saturday. Instead, the Thunderbirds were barely a speed bump Monday night as the Bulldogs rolled 102-61 before 2,538 fans at McCarthey Athletic Center.

The Spokane Chiefs marked the half-way point of the Western Hockey League in style Wednesday night, using a hattrick from leader Tyler Johnson to highlight an 8-2 thumping of the Seattle Thunderbirds before 5,816 fans at the Arena.

Portland State visits Eastern Washington next weekend to tip off the Big Sky Conference women’s basketball season and that isn’t such a bad thing for the Vikings’ Spokane connection. “I always like playing at Eastern,” forward Kelli Valentine (Mead) said. “They’re always a good opponent. Family and friends always come to that game. It’s sad. It’s another last for your senior year. … Obviously, we’re looking forward to it.”

Portland State visits Eastern Washington next weekend to tip off the Big Sky Conference women’s basketball season and that isn’t such a bad thing for the Vikings’ Spokane connection.

It says a lot about Tyler Alos that his hockey role model is Mike Fisher. “I saw an interview once, he was modest, humble, that’s what I like,” the young hockey player from Spokane said about the Ottawa Senators’ center. “He’s got his morals set, his faith, he works his (tail) off. He’s not the highest scorer on the team. He’s a character guy, team guy. He’s on all situations on the ice. I try to model my game off him.”

It says a lot about Tyler Alos that his hockey role model is Mike Fisher. “I saw an interview once, he was modest, humble, that’s what I like,” the young hockey player from Spokane said about the Ottawa Senators’ center. “He’s got his morals set, his faith, he works his (tail) off. He’s not the highest scorer on the team. He’s a character guy, team guy. He’s on all situations on the ice. I try to model my game off him.” It seems to be working for the 17-year old Seattle Thunderbirds forward, who will be here for a game with the Spokane Chiefs on Wednesday as the second half of the Western League season gets under way.

It’s going to be a little more than a year before Brigham Young and Gonzaga square off in a West Coast Conference game but the Bulldogs’ women’s basketball team sent a message on Tuesday night – not in our house. With a near flawless second half, Gonzaga routed the Cougars, who leave the Mountain West Conference for the WCC next season, 91-64 before 3,582 fans at McCarthey Athletic Center.