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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Chiefs Forced To Start Playoffs On The Road Even If Spokane Gets Home-Ice Advantage, With Arena Booked By Shrine Circus On The Opening Weekend, First Games Will Be Away

The Spokane Chiefs will open the Western Hockey League playoffs on the road next month no matter where they finish in the regular season.

The Shrine Circus is booked in the Arena from March 20-23, the opening weekend of the WHL postseason.

If the season ended today, the Chiefs, as the No. 3 seed in the West Division, would have home-ice advantage in a best-of-seven series with the fourth-place Kelowna Rockets.

But instead of opening at home, the Chiefs would start on the road against what is now the hottest club in the West.

Spokane would still play four games at home and three on the road if the series goes full term, but opening on the road when you have won the right to play the first two at home is considered by most a break for the opposition.

“It’s unfortunate for them,” Rockets owner Bruce Hamilton said.

The Rockets’ arena is available March 20-23, Hamilton said.

A likely series format is 2-3-1-1, meaning the first two in Kelowna, games three, four and five (if necessary) in Spokane, game six (if necessary) back in Kelowna and a seventh if needed in Spokane.

Opening-round games must be completed by April 2.

WHL general managers meet March 3 in Calgary to determine building availability.

Arena general manager Kevin Twohig said in the future the circus may be booked in February to avoid potential conflicts with hockey playoffs. But that could mean forfeiting a regular-season weekend of home games.

Chiefs owner Bobby Brett said the club suspected it would have to open on the road when schedules were developed in July.

“Back then we were thinking in terms of (finishing) first rather than third,” Brett said. “Finishing first and opening a best-of-seven on the road against a sixth-place team didn’t seem like the end of the world.

“If we do finish third and have to open in Kelowna we have only ourselves to blame. We made our own bed.

“The key is to not get into a situation where the building is locked up for a week or more. Then we’d have to play most or all of an entire series somewhere else. Some clubs - Brandon for one - have had to do that.”

Hamilton said the Chiefs and the city of Spokane have an enviable association.

“As unfortunate as this may or may not be for their hockey club, I saw at the All-Star Game (in Spokane) how good the relationship is between the city and the team,” Hamilton said. “It’s a breath of fresh air compared to what some of us have to deal with.”

Notes

Chiefs goaltender Aren Miller has thrown up a wall in front of the net of late. Miller has allowed only five goals in his last four games, a 1.25 goals-against average with a phenomenal .952 saves percentage… . John Cirjak’s game-winning goal Saturday night was the 19-year-old center’s fifth overtime goal of the year, a team high… . Spokane’s 2-0 loss to Portland the other night was reported as the Chiefs’ first shutout loss in the Arena. In fact, it’s the first regular-season shutout loss in the building.

Next up are the Kamloops Blazers, who come in Wednesday night with a red-hot rookie, Wade Burt. The 17-year-old left wing has eight goals in his last five games. With 18 goals this season, Burt has four more than he had all of last year in Tier II hockey… . Kamloops ended a franchise-record seven-game losing streak Friday, winning in Edmonton.

The Kelowna Rockets hope the shoulder misery that has sidelined veteran center Tyler Prosofsky is over. Prosofsky, who scored 75 points in 63 games a year ago, undergoes tests on Wednesday. If the diagnosis is good, he goes to Vancouver, where the Canucks’ fifth-round draft pick will see team doctors. If they OK his return, Prosofsky could rejoin the Rockets in time for their stretch run, which would make a hot club that much better… . The Rockets may have the luxury Wednesday night of scratching a player from their lineup due to numbers. If so, it’ll be the first time since Nov. 1 they have been healthy enough to hold out a player for any reason other than injury.

The Rockets are high on two young players, Rory McDade and Ryan Chase, obtained in the deal with Calgary that brought goaltender Aaron MacDonald to Kelowna. Chase, a skilled forward, could be an impact player in the WHL, Rockets president Hamilton says.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: NEXT FOR CHIEFS At home vs. Kamloops on Wednesday, 7 p.m., at the Arena.

This sidebar appeared with the story: NEXT FOR CHIEFS At home vs. Kamloops on Wednesday, 7 p.m., at the Arena.