Chiefs Refuel With Schell 16-Year-Old Sparks Win Over Prince Albert

The Spokane Chiefs came up with a way to compensate for the absence of two wingers Wednesday night in the Arena.

Go to a Schell game.

With Ryan Thorpe serving a leaguemandated suspension and Matt Keith gone for three months after undergoing surgery on a shoulder, the Chiefs turned some of their ice time over to a 16-year-old rookie.

And Brad Schell made the best of it.

Schell scored the game-tying goal and assisted on another in the Chiefs’ 4-1 win over the Prince Albert Raiders before 4,113. The Chiefs extended their mastery over the Western Hockey League Eastern Conference, coming from a goal down in this one to improve to 7-0-1 in games against Eastern rivals.

Jeff Lucky had the winning goal in a game that coach Perry Ganchar said the Chiefs “had to win, and should win.”

With a roster dotted with proven WHL veterans, the Raiders for the first 6 minutes looked like anything but the worst team in the league. They jumped ahead on Blaine Stowards’ power-play goal and held the Chiefs to one shot.

But if they continue to take the kind of penalties they did in here, they’re going to be stuck with hard times. Prince Albert’s Jordan Clarke was in the box for hooking when Jay Batchelor was sent off for checking from behind.

That gave the Chiefs a 5-on-3 power play for 1:10. Spokane capitalized.

Tim Smith’s backdoor pass to Schell was tipped by a Raider but controlled by Schell, whose snap shot from the right side of the net got by Prince Albert goaltender Grant McCune.

“I had a clean shot at the net,” said Schell, who logged his fifth goal and 10th point of an impressive first season. “The young guys have to do our jobs and hope for the best when the older guys are out.

“I still feel like a rookie, still doing the rookie things, but when you get your chance, you just have to do your job.”

Nine minutes after Schell cracked the scoring column, the Chiefs went up 2-1 when Smith - falling to the ice - slid the puck to Lucky, who skated through the slot, waiting out McCune. When McCune went down, Lucky scored his 11th goal of the season.

The Chiefs put it away 7:49 into the third when Tim Krymusa scored on a minibreakaway. Fifty-one seconds later, Lynn Loyns added his 12th of the year.

The Raiders lost for the 22nd time against only six wins in their fourth game of a sevengame swing through the West. The Chiefs (15-8-4-1) remained a point behind the division-leading Kamloops Blazers.

The division leader at the 29-game mark of the season sends its coaches to the West all-star game in Kamloops against the leaders of the Dilio Division of the Quebec Major Junior League. That issue should be settled after Spokane’s games in Seattle on Friday night and in Portland on Sunday.

“We didn’t get going early like we would have liked,” Ganchar said. “We were working hard but maybe not smart. It took us a little while to get the chip-and-support kind of game going, putting the puck deep and establishing a forecheck.”

When they did, the Chiefs went on to outshoot the Raiders 37-16, after giving up the first goal for the fourth straight game.

Spokane has taken at least one point in the standings out of their last six games. The Chiefs’ last loss was Nov. 19 in Seattle.

Chiefs 4, Raiders 1

Prince Albert 1 0 0 - 1

Spokane 2 0 2 - 4

First period-1, Prince Albert, Stoward 6 (Pohanka, Prosofsky) 3:22 (pp). 2, Spokane, Schell 5 (Smith, Mann) 7:27 (pp). 3, Spokane, Lucky 11 (Tvrdon, Smith) 16:35. Key penalties-Ovington, Spo, 2:06; Clarke, PA, 5:59; Batchelor, PA, 6:49; Schultz, PA, 12:02; Thompson, Spo, 13:18; Kehler, Spo, 18:15.

Second period-None. Key penalties-Kress, PA, 2:25; Desautels, Spo, 14:24; Batchelor, PA, 17:29.

Third Period-4, Spokane, Krymusa 5 (Schell, Mann) 7:49 (pp). 5, Spokane, Loyns 12 (Wallin, Boychuk) 8:30. Key penalties-Batchelor, PA, 6:13; McNeil, PA, 9:20.

Power-play opportunities-Prince Albert 1 of 4; Spokane 2 of 7. Saves-Prince Albert, McCune 8-13-12-33. Spokane, MacKay 4-4-7-15. A-4,113 (10,455).