Jeff Bunch

When the Spokane Chiefs hit the ice this weekend for a pair of home games, tonight against Everett and Saturday versus Tri-City, one player will be noticed during each of his shifts. As is the case with every game, forward Myles Stoesz will draw the cheers of fans, the ire of opponents and the scrutiny of the officials.

The Seattle Thunderbirds hadn't lost three games in a row this season, and they were determined not to let the Spokane Chiefs make that happen on Tuesday night at the Arena. The Thunderbirds flipped the switch and broke open a tie game after two periods, scoring two goals in the first 10 minutes, 18 seconds of the third period en route to a 4-2 Western Hockey League win over the Chiefs before an announced crowd of 3,707.

Spokane Chiefs goalie Jim Watt played with a heavy heart Saturday night. His mother in seriously ill health in Edmonton, Alberta, Watt spent most of the week at home and missed all of the team's practices this week before arriving back for Friday's skatearound.

With the wisdom of hindsight, Jevon Desautels now knows what it's like to be a Chiefs captain. Spokane's 20-year-old has less than half a season left in his Western Hockey League career, one in which he will finish in the top 10 of a couple of all-time categories with Spokane. It seems like just yesterday to him that this point was only a distant milestone.

Seattle's Nate Thompson had five goals coming into Wednesday night's game with the Spokane Chiefs at the Arena, but he left town with hat in hand – a hat trick, that is. Thompson scored three goals to show why he's just one part of one of major-junior hockey's best team, as Seattle downed Spokane 6-3 in comeback fashion before 3,913.

The Spokane Chiefs solved an immediate problem Tuesday, but it cost them something to do it. Spokane traded 18-year-old center Steven Gillen to the Moose Jaw Warriors for 17-year-old defenseman Dan Mercer. The deal is one in which both teams hope a change of scenery will benefit each player.

At the beginning of the 5-minute overtime against Kelowna, Spokane's Ned Lukacevic pointed at Rockets goaltender Kristofer Westblom and said, "I'm going to score on you." Well, just 4 minutes, 4 seconds later, Lukacevic did just that and delivered a huge 5-4 victory for the Spokane Chiefs in a Western Hockey League game before 6,005 at the Spokane Arena on Wednesday night.

There are many leaders on the Spokane Chiefs, and they've all had their moments. But this was Ned Lukacevic's night. Lukacevic, the only player on the Chiefs' roster drafted by a National Hockey League team, has breakaway speed, determination and the talent to finish a scoring chance.

The Spokane Chiefs want one thing for Christmas: fourth place. The Chiefs, who sit one point behind Tri-City in the Western Hockey League standings, could achieve that goal tonight. … if.

Back from their longest road trip of the season, the short-handed Spokane Chiefs return to home ice for the start of a four-game homestand. The Chiefs entertain the Swift Current Broncos tonight at 7 at the Arena in the teams' only Western Hockey League meeting of the season. The Chiefs play host to Everett on Saturday night.

The Western Hockey League season is 72 games long, which is why coaches and general managers don't like to evaluate things too early. Well, after Saturday night's game, the Spokane Chiefs have played exactly one-third of their season. And, if the season was over today, the Chiefs would not have earned a spot in the WHL playoffs. They sit last in the five-team U.S. Division of the Western Conference with a record of 8-12-3-1 (20 points) and trail fourth-place Tri-City by two points.

The Spokane Chiefs were swept out of last season's Western Hockey League playoffs by the Everett Silvertips in March, the painful ending punctuated by an empty-net goal. It was a series and a finish which Spokane Chiefs goalie Jim Watt vowed that the team would redeem by having a better season this winter.