Jess Brown

KITCHENER, Ontario – Trevor Glass and David Rutherford are hoping to make the most of a rare second chance. For Glass, it's another shot at what he came so close to achieving one year ago when his former team – the Medicine Hat Tigers – lost the Memorial Cup championship to the host Vancouver Giants.

It's Tuesday morning. Bill Peters is dressed casually in jeans and a polo shirt and busy with last-minute details at the Arena. His desk phone rings, followed by two calls on his cell phone – all within a minute. To say things are hectic for the third-year Spokane Chiefs coach is an understatement, but for a coach to still be this busy in the middle of May is a good thing in the hockey world. "The shortest a season can be is seven months – that's too short," Peters said. "Going for nine (months) is much better. We aren't ready to hit the links just yet."

With the mere mention of the Memorial Cup a young hockey player's eyes light up. The right to compete for junior hockey's most coveted prize is not only elusive, it's a dream come true. "It's definitely something you dream of your whole career," said Chiefs captain Chris Bruton after Spokane swept the Lethbridge Hurricanes to capture the Western Hockey League title and the league's berth to the Memorial Cup tournament.

They all came from different parts of Canada and were hand-picked by different scouts in the winter of 2005. Their names weren't called by the Spokane Chiefs in the higher rounds of the Western Hockey League bantam draft. They weren't called in the lower rounds. They are a talented trio of players that was added to Spokane's 50-player protected list and given an opportunity.

Breakups aren't always a bad thing. The decision to split wasn't that difficult for Mead's Britta Stime and Katrina Schwab. When the defending girls State 4A doubles tennis champions opted to go their separate ways for postseason play this year it was for the greater good, Stime said.

LETHBRIDGE, Alberta – From the bench, the pats on the helmets began with 30 seconds remaining. As time expired, the Spokane Chiefs poured onto the ice, tossed aside their gloves, helmets and sticks, and the celebration began.

LETHBRIDGE, Alberta – Rush-hour traffic and an out of position goalie on Tuesday night put rookie Tyler Johnson in the driver's seat. With a speedy swing of his stick, the Spokane product gave the Spokane Chiefs sight of the checkered flag. Johnson scored 6 minutes, 20 seconds into overtime to give the Chiefs a 2-1 victory over the Lethbridge Hurricanes in front of 4,950 Enmax Center fans. The Chiefs have a 3-0 stranglehold on the best-of-7 Western Hockey League championship series. With one more victory, the Chiefs will bring home the Ed Chynoweth Cup and earn a trip to Kitchener, Ontario, for the Memorial Cup tournament.

After 3 minutes of action on Saturday night, the Lethbridge Hurricanes had already improved their performance. They had two shots on goal one night after the Spokane Chiefs held them to a shotless first period. But it didn't seem to matter much.

What remains to be seen is whether the Lethbridge Hurricanes will find their voice in time to chime in on the outcome of the Western Hockey League championship series. That kind of question just doesn't get answered in one game – especially when it comes to playoff hockey. After the Hurricanes' recent nine-day hiatus, Spokane Chiefs coach Bill Peters said he knows his team's opponent will be better tonight.

If someone would have told Lethbridge coach Michael Dyck last August when training camps around the Western Hockey League opened up that his Hurricanes would be taking on the Spokane Chiefs for a bid to the 2008 Memorial Cup, he would have taken it. "Right then and there," said Dyck on Thursday evening from his hotel in Spokane.

Of the few lows, it would have been the lowest. Of all the highs – and throughout this Western Hockey League season there have been plenty for the Spokane Chiefs – this was, by far, the highest.

Just for old time's sake, the Spokane Chiefs and Tri-City Americans will lay it all on the line one more time. For one team, the Western Hockey League season ends today. For another, the playoffs continue and the league championship series begins Friday.

KENNEWICK – Judd Blackwater admits he was tired. But if ever there was a time for him to work overtime on a shift, it was on Saturday night. Blackwater netted two goals, including the game-winning goal in double overtime, as the Spokane Chiefs regained the lead in their Western Conference championship series with a 4-3 victory over the Tri-City Americans in Western Hockey League playoff action in front of a Toyota Center crowd of 5,930.

Apparently the Spokane Chiefs and Tri-City Americans can't get enough of each other. Not only are the teams getting in the habit of trading Western Hockey League playoff victories, they are doing it with little regard for regulation play.

Finally, the Spokane Chiefs broke the mold. You had to hope, if not figure, it would happen at some point.

KENNEWICK – There is something fierce brewing in eastern Washington, and in the eye of the storm are the Spokane Chiefs and Tri-City Americans. Both teams are playing desperate hockey. Both are playing with hunger and heart, weathering each other's suffocating defense and standout goaltending. And both have a win under their belts after another double-overtime thriller.

Ondrej Roman isn't shedding the playmaker label – he's just picking a good time to showcase his goal-scoring skills. The 18-year-old import forward is responsible for three game-winning goals for the Spokane Chiefs in this year's Western Hockey League playoffs, including the winner on Friday night in a 1-0 double-overtime victory over the Tri-City Americans in the opening game of the Western Conference championship series.

KENNEWICK – There were chances on both ends. When both teams were dead even on the shot counter and scoreless on equal power-play opportunities after two periods, it seemed something had to give.