Chiefs May Spot Pats A Five-Man Advantage
It doesn’t get any easier for the short-handed Spokane Chiefs.
Swept over the weekend by the Portland Winter Hawks, the Chiefs will be back at it tonight with little encouraging news on the injury front.
Of the five players who missed the Portland games, only defenseman Curtis Suter has a shot at suiting up tonight when Spokane takes on the Regina Pats in the Arena at 7.
Chiefs coach Mike Babcock said Tuesday that Jay Bertsch (migraine headaches) is out indefinitely. Trent Whitfield (ankle), Joel Boschman (groin) and Brad Ference (separated shoulder) are not expected back.
The Pats spent the last couple of days holed up in Kimberley, British Columbia, trying to stay warm. While the Inland Northwest shivered through another day of complications from last week’s ice storm Tuesday, Regina woke up to a record low for the date of minus 32 degrees Celsius (minus 25 Fahrenheit).
Cold is about all the two hockey clubs have in common right now.
The Chiefs - 2-7-1 in their last 10 games - are struggling. The Pats are on a roll, having won 10 of their last 13.
The rise in Regina is due in large part to Russian import Dmitri Nabokov (19 goals, 24 assists in 20 games). With captain Josh Holden out since Nov. 9 with a sprained thumb, Nabokov, the first-round pick of the Chicago Black Hawks in the 1995 draft (the 19th player chosen), has kept the Pats (15-11-0) in the Western Hockey League East race.
The Regina center leaves on Dec. 2 to join the Russian team for the World Junior Tournament over the Christmas break.
With goaltender Chad Mercier (hip) out indefinitely, the Pats have turned to 20-year-old Andy Adams, picked out of the Canadian collegiate ranks on Nov. 1. Adams, last year’s No. 2 goaltender in the Ontario League, is 6-2 with a 2.96 goals-against average.
Babcock went to practice Tuesday still trying to decide who’ll start in goal for the Chiefs.
Evans makes U-17 team
Chiefs rookie Blake Evans will skate over the holiday break for Team Western in the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Red Deer, Alberta.
Team Western, comprised of players from Saskatoon and Alberta, is pooled with Team Quebec, U.S., Finland and Russia.
The other pool includes Team Pacific (British Columbia and Alberta), Team Atlantic, Sweden and the Czech Republic.
Notes
Spokane will bat cleanup in Calgary Monday when four clubs make their pitch to WHL owners for the right to host the 1998 Memorial Cup. Lethbridge and Kelowna bowed out, leaving Red Deer, Regina, Portland and Spokane to vie for major junior hockey’s championship event. Presentations - Spokane’s is the last of the four - should be wrapped up by noon. An announcement is expected later in the day… . When Babcock and the Canadian national junior team gather in Kitchener, Ontario, Dec. 13-18 for the final selection camp prior to the World Junior Tournament, Chiefs assistant Brett Cox will run the show here… . Portland coach Brent Peterson will be behind the West bench at the Jan. 22 all-star game in Spokane. The coach with the best record after 29 games got the assignment.… It’s likely that former Chiefs assistant Parry Shockey of the Lethbridge Hurricanes will oppose Peterson as coach of the combined East/Central all-stars… . Portland’s Todd Robinson is the league’s player of the week…. Regina coach Rich Preston recently received an early Christmas present - a chunk of pension money in a settlement with the NHL. Preston was awarded $11,257 (Canadian)… . Former Chiefs coaches Bryan Maxwell ($15,415) and Butch Goring ($62,976) also will receive payments as part of a $41 million judgment against the NHL for pension money paid from 1947-82 and misappropriated under a prior NHL administration… . The estate of the late Al Rollins will receive $16,101.
, DataTimes