Chiefs’ Sinclair A Survivor, But This Series Was Ridiculous
It wasn’t much of a victory celebration Saturday night. What there was ended with a quick shower and an 8-hour bus ride in the early morning darkness through mountain, lake and river country back to Spokane.
After the Spokane Chiefs unseated the Kamloops Blazers as champions of the Western Hockey League West Division, Darren Sinclair was as happy as anybody - happier in a way.
Sinclair was just glad it was over.
One of the Western Hockey League’s top two defensive centers - Portland’s Dave Scatchard is generally recognized as the other - Sinclair had spent himself in six games chasing WHL player of the year Jarome Iginla.
Iginla was an irritant throughout the series won by the Chiefs four games to two.
Give him a drum to beat on and he’d do a passable imitation of the rabbit on those battery spots on TV.
He keeps going and going and…
“This guy’s all-world,” Chiefs coach Mike Babcock said. “They play Iginla so much that it wasn’t possible for Sinclair and Leonov (Dmitri, the left wing on Sinclair’s line) to match up all the time.”
So on the road, when the home club has last line change and it’s tougher to match up, checking Iginla was a shared responsibility.
Maybe that’s one reason the Chiefs were better on the road. They won three of their four games in this series here.
“It’s been interesting,” Babcock said. “It’s sometimes easier to play your fourth line on the road. At home, you see who they put on and you match. With what they do with Iginla - play him so much - whoever was out there against him had to make him pay to play.”
That’s Sinclair’s speciality, but in this series he had help.
“He (Iginla) is one of the best junior players ever,” Sinclair said. “He’s tough to match against.”
That responsibility now falls to the pros. Iginla, reports out of Calgary indicate, signed with the NHL Flames for an annual salary of $850,000.
Best for last
The Chiefs saved their best for Saturday night’s Game 6. In the Chiefs’ two home losses, the Blazers spread them and picked them apart.
The Chiefs - deeper in forwards - didn’t let that happen. Eventually, they wore down the Blazers.
One reason was the return to prominence of John Cirjak.
“Jack was awesome in Game 5 (and Game 6 as well),” Babcock said. “He was a man out there. If he played like that every night, he’d be in the top five in the Western League.”
When one line sagged, Cirjak found himself skating with it.
“We didn’t have enough guys going (in Spokane’s two losses),” Babcock said. “We moved him to Sinclair’s line (subbing for Jay Bertsch) to get them going.”
Bertsch agreed that he had struggled in the Kamloops series. But that didn’t stop him from going hard when he did get ice time, and from feeling good about his season-long contribution to a division champion.
“I’ve played four years in this league and never got half this far,” said Bertsch. “This is special for me. I’m looking forward to the next series. I’ve struggled in the playoffs.
“But even though I haven’t played that great, I’m happy the team has played well. I’m just hoping I can turn it around and help them.”
Podollan excels
Far from struggling, Jason Podollan stood out in both the Portland and Kamloops series.
“I don’t know if I’m playing any different or what I’m doing,” Podollan said. “The shots just happen to be going in. I try not to think about it. You go to the net, you get opportunities, you get rebounds, you get goals. I’m happy they’re going in, but it’s not like I’m winning anything for us. The guys are playing great and I’m getting a few along the way.”
Brandon beats Prince Albert
Brandon advanced to the WHL championship series Sunday with an 8-4 victory at Prince Albert in Game 6, winning the series four games to two. Spokane visits Brandon for Game 1 on Friday.
Tickets for Spokane’s home games go on sale this morning.
, DataTimes