Maxwell To Face Chiefs When Lethbridge Visits
Although the Spokane Chiefs won’t go out of their way to welcome back Bryan Maxwell Wednesday night, expect plenty of fans to be on their feet in the Arena when Maxwell is announced as coach of the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Maxwell, who won Memorial Cup championships in Medicine Hat (1988) and Spokane (1991), has friends and admirers in Spokane.
He’s one of two candidates for Western Hockey League coach of the year who’ll be working the Lethbridge-Spokane game.
If the hockey season ended today, Maxwell and Spokane coach Mike Babcock would figure prominently in coach-of-the-year balloting.
Babcock has led a Spokane team picked to finish no higher than fourth into first in the WHL West. With 14 regular-season games remaining, Spokane is ranked third in the 48-team Canadian Hockey League.
Maxwell, 230-188-24 with three WHL clubs in seven seasons, wasted no time putting some zing in the Hurricanes.
Although his team is coming off an 8-2 Sunday night pounding from Portland at home, Maxwell’s impact on the Lethbridge franchise was immediate. Since Nov. 6, when Maxwell came on board as coach and director of hockey operations, the Hurricanes are 19-15-2.
Lethbridge was 6-13-0 before his arrival, including a woeful 1-8 at home. The club’s mark at home is 15-7 under Maxwell, who abruptly resigned as Chiefs coach on Jan. 22, 1994.
Owner Bobby Brett said the Chiefs make no special pregame mention of their own coaching staff, other than an introduction. The introduction of the opposing coach will be handled the same way, Brett said, without fanfare.
The Canes have more than the extra incentive of their coach’s return to Spokane. They have a goal scorer they didn’t have on Jan. 21, when Spokane whipped them 5-3 in Lethbridge.
Byron Ritchie is back after serving five games of a six-game suspension. Suspended for punching Kenton Smith of the Calgary Hitmen, Ritchie will serve the final game of his extended time off on Feb. 24, when Lethbridge visits Calgary.
That puts Ritchie, a quick and tough centerman, who is seventh in the league in scoring, back on the ice here.
So how about player of the month?
Although Jason Podollan was passed over Monday in the selection of WHL player of the week the award went to Portland’s Brad Isbister - he’s mounted an impressive opening bid for player of the month.
The Chiefs right wing capped a solid string of eight games Sunday night with a hat trick in Kamloops.
“Podollan wouldn’t let us lose,” Chiefs broadcaster Craig West said. “He could have had four or five goals. That’s as good as Jason can play.”
Isbister, incidentally, was a deserving choice with seven goals and six assists in five games on the road, four of them Portland wins. Still, Podollan’s numbers rank with the league’s hottest hands.
Taking advantage of additional ice time (Spokane’s entire second line sat out Sunday night), Podollan has 10 goals and four assists in his last eight games, running his season total to 30 goals.
With that, Podollan - who turns 20 on Sunday - has passed Valeri Bure and Travis Green on the club’s all-time goal-scoring ladder. Podollan has 130 goals, third on the Chiefs’ career list. With 14 more regular-season games to go, he’s taking aim at Ray Whitney’s 141 career goals.
The club’s all-time leader is Pat Falloon with 146.
Gilly by the numbers
Sean Gillam plays in a Chiefs-record 267th game Wednesday night, but longevity is only one of the Spokane captain’s contributions.
Gillam ranks seventh on the club’s career list in assists (129) and is closing on Bryan McCabe’s team record for points by a defenseman.
With 168 points, Gillam is only 16 shy of McCabe’s mark.
Notes
Chiefs defenseman Hugh Hamilton’s plus-minus is second in the WHL behind only Hnat Domenichelli of Kamloops, who’s at plus 48. Hamilton is a plus 44. Plus-minus is the difference in goals scored and goals allowed when a given player is on the ice. … The Chiefs are assured of their first winning season since the ‘91-92 campaign. … Spokane attendance will exceed 250,000 for 36 regular-season home games.
Ex-Chiefs defenseman Scott Fletcher has decided not to report to the Brandon Wheat Kings. The trade of Fletcher, 20, was unconditional, meaning the Chiefs could keep the fourth-round draft pick they acquired from the Wheat Kings in exchange for Fletcher. But that’s not likely. Chiefs GM Tim Speltz and Brandon’s Kelly McCrimmon are close enough that neither would jeopardize their friendship over a trade gone bad. Media types around the league say the Chiefs will return the pick. … Fletcher, by the way, has taken a full-time job - he started Monday - with an eye on college hockey next year or a shot with a minor leaue pro club next year. Fletcher’s father, Bill, talked to Mike Sawatzky of the Brandon Sun.
With 31 wins, David Lemanowicz is five victories from Troy Gamble’s single-season Chiefs club record of 36 goaltending victories. Lemanowicz’s record this season is a glossy 31-9-1. … Dmitri Leonov, on a seven-game scoring streak, has taken over the Chiefs scoring lead with 70 points. Season-long leader Trent Whitfield is second at 68. … John Cirjak has 12 points - two goals and 10 assists - in his last nine games. … With 235 penalty minutes, Chiefs right wing Jay Bertsh is second in the WHL in penalty-box time. Calgary’s Ray Schultz leads with 242 penalty minutes.
Around the WHL
Dean Kletzel, who played 63 games here in ‘92-93, has strained the same right knee that has held him back. Kletzel is trying to come back with the Kamloops Blazers. … The tape of Jaroslav Svejkovsky’s check-from-behind in Friday night’s Spokane-at-Tri-City game will be reviewed today by WHL vice president Rick Doerksen, who’ll determine the severity of Svejkovsky’s punishment. He’ll get at least one game - and that’s probably all - for nailing Spokane’s Bertsch. … Tri-City star left wing Terry Ryan, who hasn’t scored since Jan. 20, was a surprise scratch Friday night when the Americans beat the Chiefs. Ryan hasn’t scored since a Jan. 20 altercation with Kevin Popp, then of Seattle. Ryan wound up with a concussion.
The playoff format that combines Central and East divisions is potentially flawed. Prince Albert and Brandon are clearly the top two clubs, but one will be seeded third in the playoffs because the Central champ - probably Swift Current - is guaranteed the second seed. There’s no incentive to move from the seventh seed to sixth, since No. 7 gets No. 2 - and an easier opening assignment in the playoffs with Swift Current. The sixth seed plays No. 3, either Brandon or Prince Al. … Brandon Sun hockey writer Mike Sawatzky says, “If it’s close between sixth and seventh, I can see the backup goalie playing (for a team trying to tank a game to finish No. 7) and it’s not going to look very good.”
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