Chiefs Try To Get Even Vs. Hawks
With nine of their next 11 games leading up to Christmas at home, with their injured stars playing themselves into shape, the Spokane Chiefs hope to put some distance between themselves and the WHL West cellar before their brief Christmas break.
When the Chiefs and Portland Winter Hawks renew acquaintances Friday night in Portland’s first visit since winning the Memorial Cup last May, Spokane has a shot at ending its current 12-game segment at .500.
The Chiefs are 4-5-2 in their last 11 games.
Chiefs coach Mike Babcock divides the 72-game regular season into segments of 12. The consistent producer through the current segment is Czech rookie Daniel Bohac, who scored 15 points including eight goals in 11 games. Two of his goals were game-winners.
Bohac and two others - his linemate Jared Smyth and center Lynn Loyns - are the only Spokane players to have appeared in all 23 games.
In a weeklong swing through the Canadian prairies last week, “Bohac’s line was our best,” Babcock said. Smyth and Bobby Leavins, who missed the last game of the trip with an ankle injury, skate with the 18-year-old Bohac.
Bohac initially wasn’t expected to play up to the level of Spokane’s standout import of last year, Marian Cisar, but Bohac has produced early.
“I didn’t expect, a third of the way into the season, that he’d be this good,” Chiefs general manager Tim Speltz said. “We thought, we hoped, we were getting a good player. But did I expect Daniel Bohac to be our leading scorer at ths point of the year? No.”
Bohac, who was not selected in last June’s NHL entry draft, is also “getting more responsible” for his defensive role in the Chiefs’ system, Speltz said.
Babcock wasn’t unhappy with the Chiefs’ recent 1-2-1 road trip.
“You never got the feeling that we were outclassed at any time,” the coach said. In the games to come, “we have to find an identity. Are we a hard-working team? Are we a physical team? Are we flashy? What are we? We have to define ourselves, and commit to being that way.”
The Chiefs are still at less than full strength.
“We’re not even close,” Babcock said. “(Brandin) Cote, (Cam) Severson and (Derek) Schutz are just starting to get their game coming ‘round.”
Step up to the mike
The Chiefs’ public address announcer, Mike Lindskog, is moving up in the Brett organization, and out of the announcer’s chair.
The 25-year-old veteran of three seasons as Chiefs announcer in the Arena, Lindskog will move into a sales and sponsorship position with the baseball Spokane Indians.
To fill his position, the Chiefs will screen applicants at tryouts today from 11 to 1:30 at the Arena. Both Lindskog and Chiefs radio play-by-play announcer Jay Stewart got into the organization after excelling in similar tryouts in the old Boone Street Barn.
Want to take a shot at the P.A. job? Show up ready to go with a resume between 11 and 1 at the Chiefs offices at the Arena.
Notes
The Portland Winter Hawks won’t get Bobby Russell back this season. The 20-year-old right wing signed with NHL Nashville and was sent to Hampton Roads, Va., in the East Coast League, where at last glance, he was scoring a point a game. However, the Hawks have what a club official said is an outside shot at regaining the considerable services of 20-year-old center Todd Robinson. Recovering from appendicitis, Robinson is with the Canadian Olympic program. The slick little center who captained last year’s Memorial Cup championship team may decide that the rigorous Olympic training and relatively light game schedule is not what he wants if he wants a pro career.
When Spokane goaltender David Haun shut out the Saskatoon Blades last week he kept in motion a long Saskatoon scoring drought. The injury-depleted Blades have gone more than 278 minutes without a goal. That’s four games and part of a fifth… . One clued-in hockey observer in Brandon was impressed with Chiefs center Brandin Cote when Spokane made its annual appearance in the Wheat Kings’ Keystone Centre. He said he wasn’t as impressed with veterans Ty Jones and Brad Ference. Brandon’s swift Andrei Lupandin shot by Ference on his way to a goal that served notice that Lupandin ranks among the quickest skaters in the WHL - and Canadian hockey fans and media expect a lot from Ference, the Vancouver Canucks’ unsigned No. 1 pick.
HAWKS GO DEEP You make the call. The Portland Winter Hawks had been riding almost exclusively the talent of veteran linemates Marty Standish - the little guy Chiefs fans love to hate - and Brenden Morrow. The two wingers who rank among the Western Hockey League’s top five in scoring were just about all the Winter Hawks had up front, with Morrow on the left wall, Standish on the right and whomever happened to be skating with them in the middle. The center on their line changes almost night to night. But in a comeback win over Prince George Sunday night, two role players set the table. Down 4-2 in the Rose Garden, Portland got goals from Gerry King and Marcel Hossa to send the game into overtime, when Morrow logged the game-winner. It was the first time the defending Memorial Cup champion had scoring from all four lines.