Jeff Bunch

In their never-ending effort to end a season-high seven-game losing skid, the Spokane Chiefs are trying everything – including nothing. That's exactly what was required of the players on Thursday, as they were given Veteran's Day off both from school and from their "jobs" as junior hockey players.

The Spokane Chiefs continue to look for answers. Spokane fell to the Red Deer Rebels 4-2 on Tuesday night in Western Hockey League play at the Arena before a season-low crowd of 3,341. The loss was the sixth straight for the team.

The Spokane Chiefs will try to end a three-game Western Hockey League losing streak against the team that started them on it. Spokane visits Kamloops today for a 7 p.m. game, two weeks after a 6-1 home loss to the Blazers.

HILARY DUFF, WATCH OUT. Ashlee Simpson (backup tracks and all), move over. Carly Patterson has set her sights on a new goal: pop star. Yes, the 2004 Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast will be hitting the studio next month in New York to see how she sounds on some tracks. Patterson, who has risen from beginning tumbler to best in the world in 10 years, should not be counted out from achieving anything. So, it wouldn't surprise many to soon read that she is earning gold records instead of gold medals. In the meantime, Patterson is already spending her days and nights on a "rock star" tour bus and seeing the nation. Patterson, 16, was in town last week to publicize Friday's stop in the Spokane Arena for the 42-city TJ Maxx Tour of Gymnastics Champions. The event showcases the USA's top male and female gymnasts in an exhibition format. On Tuesday, she arrived from a morning media stop in Boise and flew to Spokane, where she closed her day with a similar event. On Wednesday, she did more media events and fielded questions from students at St. John Vianney School in the Spokane Valley before getting on a plane to San Jose.

As much as the Spokane Chiefs have been a mild surprise so far, so has one of their rookies. Center Chris Bruton, 17, has scored five goals in his first 10 Western Hockey League games for Spokane while playing on the third and fourth lines. It's a good start for the 5-foot-10, 176-pound product of Calgary, Alberta.

It was old-time hockey for the Spokane Chiefs Saturday at the Arena. Remember the days when the home team used to lose the game but take pride in winning the fights?

The Spokane Chiefs return to the Arena ice this weekend for a pair of Western Hockey League games with the memory of last weekend's big win over Tri-City still fresh in their minds. Spokane (4-4) hosts Portland (6-5) tonight and Kamloops (3-7-1) on Saturday. Both games start at 7.

The Spokane Chiefs are back to even, but it didn't come easy. Spokane broke open a tie game with Lethbridge by scoring three times in the final 10 minutes, 18 seconds in a 6-3 Western Hockey League victory Tuesday night before 3,369 at the Arena.

It may be "boring," but maybe this hockey thing isn't as hard as it seems: hard work pays dividends. That might be a conclusion that could be drawn from the Spokane Chiefs' 3-0 shutout win over Tri-City on Saturday at the Arena in Western Hockey League play.

Spokane Chiefs coach Al Conroy has been preaching and his team has been believing. Their fans? Well, they've had their doubts. Yet all was good Saturday night for Spokane in its Western Hockey League home opener, as the Chiefs unleashed a flurry of four third-period goals to stun the previously unbeaten Kootenay Ice, 4-2, at the Arena before a crowd of 8,243.

It would seem the Spokane Chiefs just can't catch a break from the Western Hockey League schedule makers. The Chiefs (0-1-0-0) meet the Kootenay Ice (4-0-1-0) in their home opener tonight in the Arena at 7. It's the Chiefs' first game since a week ago, when they opened their season in Cranbrook, British Columbia, against … the Ice.

In the town of Cranbrook, British Columbia, beautifully situated at the foot of the Canadian Rockies, all seemed well on opening night in the Western Hockey League. The sun was shining brightly on the patrons of the Kootenay Ice last Friday night as they made their way into the top-notch Rec-Plex facility, a building which is not only the ice rink but also houses the community swimming rink and water slide park. It is the type of building that one sees in many towns across British Columbia.

If the only goal for the Spokane Chiefs was exceeding expectations this Western Hockey League season, things would be a cinch. The Chiefs, a member of the U.S. Division of the Western Conference, are coming off a season in which they finished in fourth place in their division and were swept out in the first round of the playoffs by eventual conference champion Everett.