In preparation for his first draft as Spokane Chiefs director of scouting and player personnel, Chris Moulton has a board prepared that Mel Kiper Jr. would envy. Moulton's list goes 10 rounds deep. He's had phone interviews with 70-80 of the top players, along with many of their family members, coaches and teammates. Oh, and he's driven thousands of miles over the past few months chasing every possible prospect across western Canada through their teams' year-end tournaments.
One of the Chiefs' 20-year-olds finished his last major junior home game in storybook fashion while the other watched. Brad Erickson's power-play goal at the 11-minute, 58-second mark of the third period allowed the Spokane Chiefs to defeat the Kootenay Ice 2-1 in a Western Hockey League game on Friday night at the Arena in the team's home finale.
For the second year in a row, the Spokane Chiefs are on the outside looking in on the Western Hockey League playoff picture and are instead focusing on the future. But before they do, they will look back one last time tonight before their final home game of the season. The team will honor its top players in extensive pregame ceremonies, including injured captain Jeff Lynch and fellow 20-year-old Brad Erickson.
The Spokane Chiefs showed it's not how many players you have on the bench, but who you have. On Wednesday night, the short-handed Chiefs were missing seven injured players, enough for a forward line and two defensive lines, and suited up just 15 position players for their Western Hockey League game with the Prince George Cougars.
When you think of the Spokane Chiefs' toughest players, defenseman Sean Zimmerman may not be the first name that comes to mind. Not that the rugged defenseman can't hold his own physically on the ice. It's just that the average fan measures toughness by the amount of fighting that a player does – which usually reflects in high penalty-minute totals. That's not "Zim's" game.
Michael Grabner's hat trick turned the trick for the Spokane Chiefs. The Austrian import – whose professional prospects continue to rise – scored three goals as the Spokane Chiefs ended a 12-game losing streak with a 5-2 Western Hockey League win over the Tri-City Americans on Saturday night at the Arena.
It wasn't over until the end. David Linsley rushed the puck up ice as the final seconds of the game ticked off; he put a shot on net; and a trailing teammate, Johannes Salmonsson, put a shot on net which was denied.
It's official: The writers who cover the Western Hockey League have voted the Spokane Chiefs as the worst of the 20 teams in the league. It's been a constant slide toward that position over the past few weeks – reflective of the team's recent play.
On a night when the Spokane Chiefs "turned back the clock," time continued to run out for their Western Hockey League playoff hopes. The Chiefs lost their seventh straight game, 3-0 to the Kootenay Ice in a WHL game on Saturday night at the Arena – a night in which they honored the 1970 and 1972 Allan Cup champion Jets in pregame ceremonies.
There was no mistaking how much this loss – their sixth straight – hurt the Spokane Chiefs' playoff hopes. They knew it, their coaches knew it, and so did the 8,462 fans. "That's a bitter pill to swallow, especially this time of the season," said Chiefs coach Bill Peters.
It's hard to say where the history ends and the amplification of memories begins, but make no mistake: It was one of the biggest moments for hockey in the city of Spokane. The year was 1970 and the Spokane Jets became the first American team to win the amateur championship of Canadian hockey, the Allan Cup. For the decisive game in the old "Boone Street Barn," they sold standing-room-only tickets – and then some.
In a season of turmoil for the Spokane Braves, there have been some steadying influences for the Junior B hockey team. Coach Mike Bay, along with five-year veterans such as goalie Ryan Skier and defenseman J.C. Thomas, have teamed up with some rising talent to put together a solid season.
No one outside of Vancouver, British Columbia, was glad to hear that superstar Gilbert Brule was coming back to the Western Hockey League unexpectedly from the National Hockey League's Columbus Blue Jackets. Certainly not Brule – and definitely not the Spokane Chiefs.
The Western Hockey League's top-ranked team comes into town tonight, three weeks to the day after Spokane reached a watershed mark in its season with a comeback win over these same Vancouver Giants. Vancouver sprinted to a 3-0 lead over Spokane on Jan. 25 before the Chiefs rallied for five goals to earn a win which ended a season-high, seven-game winless streak. Although the Chiefs would close out January with three losses, the win over Vancouver built the foundation for a February that has been much more productive.
Something made an appearance that hasn't been present much in recent years at the Spokane Arena: a playoff-like atmosphere. It was signified most poignantly by the long-absent "wave" making its way around the building near the end of the second period, which was soon followed by the crowd sending its team off the ice at the end of the period with an ovation and a two-goal lead.
Reflecting back on how a veteran Kelowna Rockets hockey team defeated his team this week, Spokane Chiefs assistant captain Adam Hobson made an astute observation. Spokane was beaten 4-1 on Wednesday by a Rockets team with a half-dozen National Hockey League picks on its roster, including a pair of Western Hockey League superstars in Justin Keller and Blake Comeau. Kelowna played the game with a quiet confidence, which is well-deserved.
The hockey machine that is the Kelowna Rockets chewed up the Spokane Chiefs, just as they have done to their last six opponents. The Rockets frustrated the Chiefs, then wore on them, then broke them down in cruising to a 4-1 win over Spokane in Western Hockey League play on Wednesday night at the Arena.
The Spokane Chiefs will play three Western Hockey League games in four nights, beginning with today's 7 p.m. game at the Arena against Kelowna. Spokane (20-26-4-2, 46 points) is in last place of the five-team U.S. Division of the Western Conference, one point behind Portland (47) and four behind Tri-City (50) with 20 games left in the regular season.
The passion is back Spokane and Tri-City scrapped in a matchup of archrivals with renewed intensity, with Spokane ultimately prevailing 7-5 before a crowd of 8,154 in a Western Hockey League game on Saturday night at the Spokane Arena.
For those of you who can't read a calendar, Spokane Chiefs coach Bill Peters can help. "There's a lot of time left. Who's kidding who?" Peters asked after his team's wild 5-4 win over Portland in Western Hockey League play on Friday night at the Spokane Arena.
The Spokane Chiefs have won one of their last 10 Western Hockey League games, but find themselves not yet out of contention for a playoff spot. Spokane entertains a pair of division rivals this weekend – Portland tonight and Tri-City on Saturday – two teams that are ahead of the last-place Chiefs in the five-team U.S. Division of the Western Conference. Spokane needs to finish fourth or higher to qualify for the postseason.
The Chiefs have been looking for a finisher and a stopper. They may have found both of them – finally – with 25 games left. Michael Grabner had two goals and two assists, and goalie Kevin Armstrong made 37 saves for his first win as a Chief as Spokane ended a seven-game losing streak with a 5-3 win over the Vancouver Giants in Western Hockey League play on Wednesday night at the Arena.
The thinned Spokane Chiefs will meet the reinforced Vancouver Giants tonight in a Western Hockey League matchup at the Arena. The game represents a tall test for a Spokane team trying to end a seven-game winless streak. The Chiefs (17-24-4-1, 39 points) are last in the U.S. Division of the Western Conference.
