Chiefs’ Surprising Outburst Sets Mark For Quickest Goals

The Spokane Chiefs under Mike Babcock have built a reputation for toughness and defense.

Collectively, the second period is by far their worst.

So in keeping with the surprise nature of major junior hockey, the Chiefs beat Prince George on Monday night not with defense but with a burst of goals - a club-record scoring burst as it turned out.

And they did it in the second period.

The second-period goals by Zenith Komarniski (5:44), Perry Johnson (6:08) and Cam Severson (6:26) came within 42 seconds - a record for the quickest three scores in the 12-year-old franchise’s history.

The previous team record came in 1986 against the Portland Winter Hawks.

The Chiefs are home today after a grueling two-games-in-two-nights trip to Prince George and Kelowna. They’re in the Arena Friday night to face the Portland Winter Hawks, a club some around the Western Hockey League are willing to compare to the great Kamloops Blazers clubs of ‘92, ‘94 and ‘95 that won three Memorial Cups in four seasons.

Portland is on pace to break a 17-year-old club record for victories (56). The game pairs the first- and second-place teams in the WHL West, and the first- (Portland) and seventh-rated teams in the latest North American rankings.

It’s also a contrast in styles.

Although the Winter Hawks are bigger and stronger than their team of a year ago, they still pride themselves on speed and finesse.

The Chiefs?

“Our fans don’t come to see us make pretty plays,” Babcock said. “They come to see us run over people.”

Spokane winds up a busy week in the Arena Saturday night against Edmonton.

Chiefs checks

With 153 assists Greg Leeb is sixth on the Chiefs’ career list. With 270 points he’s tied for sixth with Ryan Duthie all-time in scoring. … Brad Ference is ninth on the club’s career ladder for penalty minutes. … Kris Graf, heading into Tuesday night’s game, was 2 minutes away from joining the club’s all-time top 10 in penalty time served. … The Chiefs are 22-0 in games they lead after two periods.

Around the CHL

At the beginning of the season the London Knights weren’t expected to be much of a threat to join major junior hockey’s Final Four in Spokane.

Two years ago they had the worst record in North America - 3-60-3. But the maturation process is quick in junior hockey. With that, an astute trade, a heads-up pick in the import player draft two years ago and the Knights are leading the West Division of the Ontario Hockey League.

Champions from the Ontario, Quebec and Western leagues will be in Spokane with the Chiefs to compete for the Memorial Cup.

After the Knights acquired Mark Cadotte from the Plymouth Whalers, he became the leading 20-year-old goal-scorer in the league. Russian import Max Spiridonov is one of the OHL’s skilled goal-scorers. The key, however, as one source suggests, is the return of Gary Agnew as coach and general manager. Agnew, who coached the franchise earlier in the ‘90s under different management, has the Knights at 31-16-3.

Although they’ve lost two straight, they’re still seven points up on Plymouth.

The Barrie (Ontario) Colts are making waves in the OHL Central in only their third year of existence, and doing it with a 16-year-old goaltender, Brian Finley.

Finley, who led Team Ontario to the gold medal in the world under-17 championships, was playing bantam hockey in Sault Ste. Marie a year ago.

Spokane fans won’t get a look at the OHL’s star, Joe Thornton, who last summer signed for a ton of money with the Boston Bruins. Thornton at last glance was the league’s second-leading scorer for the last-place team in the OHL West, the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.

, DataTimes