Let The Playoff Series Begin Chiefs, Blazers Resume Their Keen Rivalry In Whl Divisional Championships

Two teams which traded roles in the regular season carry different themes into tonight’s Game 1 of the Western Hockey League West Division finals.

For the Spokane Chiefs, it’s validation.

For the Kamloops Blazers, redemption.

The Chiefs and Blazers will play the opener of their best-of-7 series in Kamloops’ Riverside Coliseum at 7:30. Game 2 is Sunday at 6.

Games 3 and 4 and Game 5, if necessary, will be in Spokane on consecutive nights, starting Tuesday.

The Chiefs are coming off a nine-day layoff, their reward for winning the regular-season championship that had gone to Kamloops in 10 of the previous 12 years.

Spokane won it by dominating the Blazers like no team has in the dozen years since Kamloops came into prominence, going 7-0-1 and outscoring them 38-22.

Kamloops - the WHL’s model franchise- has won junior hockey’s Memorial Cup the past two years and three of the last four. In the division finals for the 13th time, the Blazers have won seven West Division championships.

But it’s the Chiefs - picked to finish no higher than fourth - who come in as the No. 1-ranked club in North America.

It’s the Chiefs who are rested and waiting, not the Blazers, who are still panting from a five-game series with the Tri-City Americans.

It took Kamloops five games in seven nights to dispose of Tri-City. If the Kamloops-Spokane series goes to a fifth game, Kamloops will have played 10 games in 13 nights going back to its opener with Tri-City.

Will the brutal schedule compromise the quality of play? “Not one bit,” Chiefs coach Mike Babcock said. “The good thing is, complaining about the schedule means you’re still playing.”

Stakes are high. By losing the decisive fifth game in Kamloops on Thursday night, the Tri-City Americans forfeited a shot at Spokane and an estimated minimum of $100,000 in potential revenue.

The Kamloops-Spokane winner will meet the survivor of the Brandon-Prince Albert series for the Western Hockey League title and the right to play for the ‘96 Memorial Cup May 11-19 in Peterborough, Ontario.

The Chiefs are without defenseman Chris Lane (ankle injury). Ryan Berry is the replacement.

The Blazers, who have reported only bumps and bruises, are anxious to prove they’re better than the team that failed to beat Spokane during the regular season.

There’s an excuse.

The Blazers sent four players - Jason Holland, Nolan Baumgartner, Hnat Domenichelli and WHL player of the year Jarome Iginla - to the Canadian national team that won the World Junior Tournament. A fifth, defenseman Brad Lukowich, went to the national-team camp but didn’t make the cut.

The Chiefs lost only one player to the World Juniors, Jason Podollan.

In the nine December games they played without their stars, the Blazers foundered, losing five straight from Dec. 12-20. They had only 16 skaters in a 3-2 loss at Portland on Dec. 16.

That’s enough to explain away some, but not all, of Spokane’s domination because the Chiefs have been on Kamloops’ case from the day Babcock took the job two years ago.

Under Babcock, Spokane is 10-3-3 against the Blazers in two seasons, a glaring statistic given the elevated status of Iginla, Domenichelli and Baumgartner, all West Division first-team all-stars.

Only goaltender David Lemanowicz made all-division from Spokane. But the Chiefs have superior strength in numbers and home-ice advantage. If the series goes full term, four of the seven games will be played here.

That should be enough to carry the Chiefs to the next level.

How they match up:

Goaltending: Randy Petruk of Kamloops, 12-5 in playoff games, has a history of success in big games and comes in hot. Lemanowicz won the Del Wilson Trophy as the league’s top netminder. Edge: Even.

Special teams: With quickness and goaltending, Spokane is extremely tough on opposition power plays. Chiefs led the WHL in penalty killing, allowing only 84 power-play goals in 509 chances (83.5 percent success). They also scored on 22.8 percent of their power-play opportunities, seventh-best in the WHL.

Their numbers aren’t quite as good after seven playoff games. The key is to take smart penalties and play the Blazers at even strength as much as possible. Slight edge: Spokane.

Blue line: Spokane’s Hugh Hamilton led the league in plus/minus with 59. Second-team division allstar Sean Gillam and big Adam Magarrell are an effective starting tandem, followed by Hamilton and either Joel Boschman or John Shockey as the fourth D-man.

Blazers counter with Baumgartner, Holland, Lukowich, the tireless Aaron Keller and Cadrin Smart. Slight edge: Kamloops.

First lines: Spokane’s Darren Sinclair, Dmitri Leonov and Jay Bertsch vs. Bob Maudie, Domenichelli and Iginla. Sinclair, the toughest checking center in junior hockey and the most versatile player in this series, is a match for the league’s most explosive line. Leonov was 18th in the league in scoring. Bertsch, whose role is tough guy, is not without skills. Still, Domenichelli-Iginla-Maudie, who accounted for eight points in the Game 5 win over Tri-City, form the WHL’s dominant line. Edge: Kamloops.

Second line: Spokane’s Trent Whitfield, Greg Leeb and Jason Podollan vs. Ajay Baines, Jeff Ainsworth and Dean Kletzel. Assuming Kamloops coach Ed Dempsey stays with the super first line, as he did in the Tri-City series, instead of splitting his stars, Baines and company inherit a big task.

Podollan in the playoffs is averaging two points a game. Can the hard-hitting Ainsworth and exChief Kletzel match up? Not every night. Edge: Spokane.

Third line: Spokane’s Jan Hrdina, Joe Cardarelli and John Cirjak vs. Shawn McNeil, Blair Rota and Donnie Kinney. Cirjak is rounding into playoff form. Hrdina, due for a little playoff luck, is pivotal in this series. Big edge: Spokane.

Fourth line: Spokane’s Derek Schutz, Mike Haley and Randy Favaro vs. Jordan Landry, Peter Bergman and Ryan Rishaug. Favaro is good enough to play up and on most nights does. Rishaug, a local Kamloops kid, stepped up big in Game 5 with two goals. Slight edge: Spokane.

Tough guys: Spokane’s Bertsch is no Kevin Sawyer, but he’s skilled for the role he plays. Kamloops’ Rob Skrlac is big and boisterous (and he’s no Kevin Sawyer, either). Edge: A push.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WEST DIVISION FINALS Today: Spokane at Kamloops, 7:30 p.m. Sunday: Spokane at Kamloops, 6 p.m. Tuesday: Kamloops at Spokane, 7 p.m. Wednesday: Kamloops at Spokane, 7 p.m.