Leeb Makes Sure Chiefs Don’t Come Up Short

The smallest player on the ice controlled a game of strength against strength Saturday night.

Generously listed in your game program at 5-foot-9 and 150 pounds, Spokane left wing Greg Leeb registered his first Western Hockey League hat trick in the Chiefs’ 5-1 win over the Brandon Wheat Kings before a sellout crowd of 10,452 at the Arena.

Scoring at 1:23 and 5:06 of the opening period, Leeb quickly put an end to a brief two-game skid and sent the Chiefs on a five-game, seven-day tour of the WHL East with a little momentum and lots of confidence.

“The sooner we jumped on them the sooner we could put ‘em on the bus,” Leeb said.

This was a tired Wheat Kings team, playing a seventh game in 11 nights, but it was a match of the WHL’s top team on the power play Brandon - and the league’s No. 1 club against the power play at home.

The Wheaties went on the power play seven times.

Seven times they came away scoreless.

Spokane, meanwhile, took advantage of its time on the power play, scoring on 2 of 4.

With Leeb adding an assist for a four-point night, with Randy Favaro continuing to trade his journeyman label for star status, and with goaltender David Lemanowicz rejecting 31 shots, the Chiefs beat a quality opponent in just about every phase, although it wasn’t as easy as it looked.

“They had us in trouble lots tonight,” Chiefs coach Mike Babcock said. “We didn’t kill their power play in the offensive zone, or the neutral zone - it was in our zone. We had good goaltending and our guys worked hard, even though Brandon dominated territorially at times and at times ran our show. That hasn’t happened a whole bunch against us this year. I was impressed with their team.”

Leeb wasted no time getting the Chiefs on their way to their eighth win in nine games at home.

“Leeb walked to the net against Kurtz (Justin), a good defenseman, then beat the goaltender to get us going (1-0),” Babcock said.

“I saw an opening, broke in and took about three whacks at it before it went in,” Leeb said of his first goal. “The second one I saw Favaro and (Greg Whitfield) going on a rush. Actually, I thought Randy had scored but I saw the rebound - I think he hit the pad of the ‘tender - and just jumped on it.”

That put the Chiefs up 2-0.

Brandon closed to 2-1 on Darren Van Oene’s goal, but Leeb answered with his third score at 5:27 of the second period.

“Cirjak (John) gave it to me in the corner, there was nobody around and I had all the time in the world to slide it by (Brandon goaltender Brian) Elder,” Leeb said.

Favaro had a goal and a pair of assists for the Chiefs (11-4), who boarded a bus after the game for Monday’s date at Prince Albert.

Brandon coach Bob Lowes said the Chiefs “kind of remind me a little bit of Kamloops last year.”

That’s high praise since Kamloops was - and may still be - the best club in junior hockey.

“They have good size which allows their smaller guys to play,” Lowes said after watching his club go 2-4-1 against the WHL West. “They try to play an up-tempo game with four lines and because of that they can wear teams down.”

Lowes wasn’t as kind in his assessment of his own team, which continues to lead its division but by a shrinking margin.

“We’ve got to get home and regroup by Friday or the same team is going to beat us again,” he said.

The Chiefs play the rematch Friday night in Brandon.

Lowes downplayed the fatigue angle.

“We’ve come here before and played these guys on the seventh night - the same circumstance - and won,” he said. “You can make excuses. We came out here a pretty good team on a roll and we’re leaving as a team that isn’t as good. We’ve had the best power play in the league and good penalty-killing, too, but our special teams let us down. We’re not working very hard.”

Chiefs 5, Wheat Kings 1

Brandon 1 0 0 1 Spokane 2 1 2 5

First period - 1, Spo, Leeb 9 (Favaro) 1:23; 2, Spo, Leeb 10 (Whitfield, Favaro) 5:06; 3, Bran, Van Oene 3 (Dubinsky, Dingman) 12:25. Key penalties - Magarrell, Spo, 7:44; Leclerc, Bran, 8:57; Shockey, Spo, 14:25.

Second period - 4, Spo, Leeb 11 (Cirjak) 5:27. Key penalties - Cyrenne, Bran, 5:42; Favaro, Spo, 7:33; Sinclair, roughing major, 10:19; Dingman, Bran, 13:07; Spo bench (too many men on the ice, served by Schutz) 16:24; Boschman, Spo, 18:55.

Third period - 5, Spo, Favaro 7 (Whitfield, Leeb) 9:59 (power play); 6, Spo, Cirjak 9 (Gillam) 11:12 (pp); Key penalties - Leclerc, Bran, elbowing major , 6:46; Bertsch, Spo, 6:46; Schutz, Spo, 12:18. Jonasson, Bran, 17:10.

Power plays - Brandon 0 of 7; Spokane 2 of 4. Saves - Brandon, Elder 9-7-10-26. Spokane, Lemanowicz 12-12-7-31

A - 10,452

, DataTimes