Chiefs Look Disinterested In 7-1 Sleeper Spokane Has Added Pressure In Battle For Home-Ice Edge

The Spokane Chiefs are usually rough, tough and ready. They’re usually not disinterested, undisciplined and stupid.

But there they were Friday night, playing an important game with all the hockey veracity of Boomer, their buffoonish mascot.

Watching the Chiefs take dumb penalties made for an awfully long night in the Arena.

The Seattle Thunderbirds pumped four goals - two on the power-play - past two Spokane goaltenders in a mind-numbing 58-minute first period on the way to a 7-1 drubbing of the Chiefs.

T-Birds Torrey DiRoberto and Patrick Marleau abused the Chiefs - DiRoberto with three goals and an assist, Marleau with a goal and three assists.

This was a tremendous boost, not only for the T-Birds but for the idle Kelowna Rockets, who sit tied with Spokane in the jockeying for third place in the Western Hockey League West. Now Spokane (33-33-4) has to beat Prince George in front of a sellout here tonight, or somehow find a way to win Sunday’s regular-season finale in Seattle.

Should the Rockets do the expected and beat Kamloops at home tonight, the Chiefs would have to win tonight and Sunday night to finish third.

And even if they do get third, and the home-ice advantage in the first-round of next week’s playoff with Kelowna that goes with it, they’re going nowhere playing like this.

Seattle rested tough guy Paul Ferone, defenseman Greg Kuznik, center Kris Cantu and left wing Tony Mohagen (who’s sitting out a two-game suspension). Still they needed only 25 seconds to score.

“We’re solidly in second place but we want to go into the playoffs on a high, with lots of confidence, not go in with a game like Spokane had,” Seattle coach Don Nachbaur said.

“The last time we saw Spokane (on Feb. 12),” he said, “we lost to them 2-0 in Seattle. I was expecting a different Spokane team than I saw tonight. Their lack of discipline really cost them.”

The Chiefs put the T-Birds on the power play 11 times. Four times the T-Birds scored.

Spokane averted the shutout with 12:22 to go when Brad Ference scored on the power play, assisted by Greg Leeb and Marian Cisar. Cisar extended his scoring streak to 11 straight games and Leeb moved into a tie for the team scoring lead with his 81st point.

Otherwise, Chiefs coach Mike Babcock called it an all-time low in his three seasons with the club.

“They were good and we were awful,” he said. “You can’t sit in the penalty box the whole first period and beat them.”

How could the Chiefs, who played so well Wednesday night, look so inept 48 hours later?

Seattle (41-26-3) is quicker and at least as physical but it’s more than a talent gap.

“We embarrassed ourselves,” Babcock said, “in front of 10,000 people.”

The state of the goaltending is distressing. With the playoff opener less than a week away neither Aren Miller nor Nolan McDonald (knee) is 100 percent. If playoffs are won by teams with a hot goalie, this is a critical development. Miller saw 11 shots and gave up three goals in 13 minutes before McDonald came on in relief.

“Any time you lose 7-1 it’s disturbing,” Babcock said. “When you lose 7-1 at home, the way we did, there’s no excuse. The only thing we can be thankful for is we play (tonight). At least tonight I won’t have nightmares. I won’t sleep.”

Thunderbirds 7, Chiefs 1

Seattle 4 2 1 - 7 Spokane 0 0 1 - 1

First period-1, Seattle, J.Reich 19 (Marleau, Pollock), :25. 2, Seattle, DiRoberto 31 (Marleau, Willis), 7:58 (pp). 3, Seattle, Marleau 51 (Perry, Willis), 13:00 (pp). 4, Seattle, DiRoberto 32 (Pollock), 14:58. Key penalties-C.Reich, Spo, :58; Cardarelli, Spo, 3:30; Thompson, Sea, 3:56; C.Reich, Spo, Berry, Sea, misconduct, 6:06; Magarrell, Spo, 6:56; Forster, Sea, 8:46; Ference, Spo, 15:17; Hamilton, Spo, 16:05; Thompson, Sea, 20:00.

Second period-5, Seattle, Kuokkanen (DiRoberto), 8:37 (pp). 6, Seattle, Willis 11 (Reich, Marleau), 14:17 (pp). Key penalties-Pollock, Sea, 3:01; Dewaele, Spo, 7:17; Haley, Spo, 13:32.

Third period-7, Seattle, DiRoberto 33 (Kuokkanen), 3:54. 8, Spokane, Ference 6 (Leeb, Cisar), 7:38 (pp). Key penalties-Forster, Sea, 7:29; Haley, Spo, 8:27; Thompson, Sea, 12:35; Berry, Sea, Thompson, Sea, misconduct, 12:57; Schutz, Spo, misconduct, 12:57; Swanson, Sea, 14:43; Leeb, Spo, 16:17.

Power-play opp.-Seattle 4 of 11; Spokane 1 of 7. Saves-Seattle, Rudkowsky 8-10-12-30. Spokane, Miller 9-x-x-9, McDonald 7-13-10-30. A-10,311.

, DataTimes