Chiefs May Be Short Against Hawks Ruling On Disputed Komarniski Penalty Due Today

The Spokane Chiefs will find out today if they’ll have defenseman Zenith Komarniski for tonight’s key Western Hockey League game with the Portland Winter Hawks.

Komarniski was tagged with a spearing major and a game misconduct after the second period of Tuesday night’s loss at Kelowna. If the penalty stands, Komarniski will sit tonight with his third game misconduct of the season.

Three game misconducts trigger a mandatory one-game suspension in the WHL.

WHL vice president Rick Doerksen is reviewing the incident that Chiefs general manager Tim Speltz says is “a phantom call.”

Speltz said he hoped further review would clear Komarniski for tonight’s game, which some around the WHL see as a preview of the West Division championship series.

The Winter Hawks, the No. 1-ranked major junior hockey club in North America, will start goaltender Brent Belecki, the undrafted 20-year-old who leads the WHL in both goalsagainst average and saves percentage.

The Chiefs, ranked seventh in the Canadian Hockey League poll this week, will counter with Aren Miller. David Haun gets the start Saturday night in goal for Spokane against the Edmonton Ice. Haun, in two games with the Chiefs since coming over from the Brandon Wheat Kings, has a 4.02 goals-against average. Miller’s GAA is 3.15.

Some 1,500 tickets remained for the Portland game as of Thursday afternoon. About 1,000 tickets for Saturday night’s game were unsold.

The Chiefs are on pace to break last year’s attendance record of 285,743. They’re averaging 7,699.

Spokane’s Marian Cisar practiced Thursday and is considered probable for tonight, Speltz said.

Winter Hawks coach Brent Peterson said, “We’re not playing as well defensively (compared with last year) but we have depth up front with Hossa and Pods (game-breaking left wing Marian Hossa and Andrej Podkonicky). Hossa has added a lot and (Mike) Hurley (obtained from Tri-City at the trade deadline) will.

“On nights when Pods or Todd Robinson are shut down, the line of (Chris) Jacobson, (Todd) Hornung and (Marty) Standish has been terrific,” Peterson added.

And when they’re not terrific? Consider this: Miller says the forwards who give him the most trouble are Seattle’s Mark Parrish and Brenden Morrow of Portland.

Morrow has a team-high eight points in six games against Spokane.

Bobby Russell and his 21 goals and 34 assists is another of Portland’s nine quality forwards who have helped the club to a 41-8-2 record, the Hawks’ best after 51 games.

They’ve scored an average of six goals a game in their current 11-game winning streak.

Their captain, Joey Tetarenko, is listed as day-to-day with a back injury. Jacobson, called the most underrated forward in the league by Prince George coach Ed Dempsey, is also on a day-to-day status with a hip flexor.

Before it’s over, the Winter Hawks could be compared with the great Kamloops Blazers of ‘92, ‘94 and ‘95 who won three Memorial Cups in four years.

“We’re not nearly what Kamloops was with those clubs,” Peterson countered, “but give us credit. We work hard.”

Portland’s last loss at home, 7-5 to the Chiefs, came on Nov. 30.

Spokane’s Greg Leeb is the top scorer in the series, which Portland leads 4-2. Leeb has five goals and six assists against the Hawks.

It is the cold and flu season

What is legal, a stimulant and may be the drug of choice in the NHL? Sudafed.

Does the decongestant medication enhance athletic performance?

At least one Western Hockey League player says he’s used it.

Clint Cabana told the Regina Leader-Post this week that he was introduced to it in training camp two years ago with the Vancouver Canucks. Cabana laughingly calls it the “drug of choice,” in the NHL.

Cabana, a 19-year-old defenseman, told sportswriter Greg Drinnan that he hasn’t used the substance with his current team, the Regina Pats. He said he used it “sporadically” elsewhere.

He has played in Medicine Hat and Edmonton.

Sudafed contains pseudoephedrine, a stimulant, according to the Leader-Post story.

Cabana said he took two tablets of the medication a half-hour before game time and felt his heart pounding on the ice. He said he couldn’t sleep until 5 a.m.

Spokane Chiefs general manager Tim Speltz said use of the medication in the league is news to him. He said to his knowledge it is not an issue in Spokane.

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