Jess Brown

Derek Ryan – on a clock that runs nine hours ahead of Spokane – is technically living in the future. But he thinks about the past – his hometown and all that happened to and for him here – on a daily basis. The Shadle Park graduate was the original Tyler Johnson, if you will. A home-grown hockey player who Spokane Chiefs general manager Tim Speltz made sure was staying home while he played out his Western Hockey League career.

Derek Ryan – on a clock that runs nine hours ahead of Spokane – is technically living in the future. But he thinks about the past – his hometown and all that happened to and for him here – on a daily basis. The Shadle Park graduate was the original Tyler Johnson, if you will. A home-grown hockey player who Spokane Chiefs general manager Tim Speltz made sure was staying home while he played out his Western Hockey League career. A home-grown hockey player who gave fans even more of a reason to back the team in the years it struggled. “The opportunity to play in Spokane is something I wouldn’t trade for the world,” Ryan said via telephone from his current home in Austria, where the 25-year-old is playing professional hockey.

They won’t win a state title this year. They won’t even play for one.

Briann January isn’t at Disneyland – and she won’t be any time in the near future. But who needs the happiest place on Earth when you’ve just made a lifelong dream come true?

Things have gone incredibly well for Spokane Chiefs forward Mitch Holmberg this season, and Thursday’s announcement was what you might call a reward for his efforts. Holmberg, 19, was picked to play for Team WHL in the annual Super Series, announced Thursday. 

Briann January isn’t at Disneyland – and she won’t be any time in the near future.

Things have gone incredibly well for Spokane Chiefs forward Mitch Holmberg this season, and Thursday’s announcement was what you might call a reward for his efforts.

Kennadie Clute was going to be a basketball player. And it was apparent – early on – that the height advantage was there for the 6-foot Mt. Spokane senior. She hated that.

Kennadie Clute was going to be a basketball player. And it was apparent – early on – that the height advantage was there for the 6-foot Mt. Spokane senior.

If three’s a crowd, imagine what it’s like when nearly 8,000 people are letting you know how they feel.

There wasn’t much Spokane Chiefs coach Don Nachbaur liked during his Tuesday trip to Seattle.

You’ll hear the words “go to the body” echoing off of boards in rinks around the Western Hockey League.

There are technically no guarantees in sports – and you’ll never hear Mead coach Judy Kight speaking in such terms – but this seemed like a gimme, long before Tuesday night. That’s not an insult to the University Titans, or any other volleyball team in the Greater Spokane League. It’s a nod to the Panthers, who, in sweeping the host Titans, captured their 10th league title in 23 successful years under Kight.

There are technically no guarantees in sports – and you’ll never hear Mead coach Judy Kight speaking in such terms – but this seemed like a gimme, long before Tuesday night.

For the Spokane Chiefs, there’s no place like home. That was especially true for forward Colin Valcourt on Saturday night.