Chiefs limp home with altered look
Back from their longest road trip of the season, the short-handed Spokane Chiefs return to home ice for the start of a four-game homestand.
The Chiefs entertain the Swift Current Broncos tonight at 7 at the Arena in the teams’ only Western Hockey League meeting of the season. The Chiefs play host to Everett on Saturday night.
Spokane (10-15-4-1, 25 points) is in last place in the five-team U.S. Division of the Western Hockey League’s Western Conference. But Spokane went 3-3-1 over its last seven road games and is just one point behind fourth-place Tri-City.
The Broncos (9-18-4-1, 23 points) are in last place in the Eastern Conference’s Central Division, but have already knocked off Everett and Tri-City on their current road trip.
The Chiefs will suit up only five defensemen for the game after losing two of their top seven blue-liners to injuries on the road trip.
Rookie Matt McCue is out 6-8 weeks with a broken ankle and assistant captain Scott Lynch, 20, is lost for the season (and had his WHL career ended) with a separated shoulder.
Both conditions require surgery. McCue had his last week and is already in a walking cast. Lynch will have surgery today in Canada.
Coach Al Conroy and Lynch’s brothers on the team, Jeff and Jason, used the word “irreplaceable” to describe the loss of Scott.
“Losing Matt was definitely a blow,” Conroy said. “Losing Scott was a kick in the stomach to everybody, Scott included. He’s really disappointed, and rightly so, and we’re not going to be able to fill his shoes. We’re just going to have to get somebody in here that can take up some of the slack that he left behind.”
Chiefs general manager Tim Speltz has the unenviable task of trying to find a top-quality defenseman.
“That’s easier said than done,” Speltz said on Wednesday.
But the loss is magnified for veteran forward Jeff and defenseman Jason. They not only lose the daily presence of a teammate, but also of a brother whom they both consider a best friend.
“It’s pretty disappointing,” said Jeff. “Right away, thinking about one of our best players, our biggest leaders being gone, who is pretty much irreplaceable. … It’s hard to take it in right now. Once the next couple of games come by and we don’t have him out there, it might set in.”
For the Lynch brothers, the sequence of events has made Scott’s departure seem almost surreal.
First, Scott was hurt a couple of weeks ago with a sore shoulder that was diagnosed as a deep bruise. He continued to play through pain for several games before finally taking a hit in Prince Albert on Nov. 30 that made it clear he couldn’t play anymore. He missed the last half of the road trip and an MRI on Monday in Spokane revealed a torn rotator cuff.
It was determined Lynch needed surgery, which was scheduled immediately, and he was out of town quickly. He was picked up by his parents, who live near Vancouver, British Columbia, at Everett Wednesday and won’t see the team until after Christmas. For Jason, who has waited patiently for more playing time, it is bitter that he is one of the remaining D-men who will have to step up.
“It’s certainly a difficult way to get your opportunity, and a sad way,” said Jason. “You gotta look at the positives and negatives, be optimistic, and look at the good things to come. Scott knows we’re there for him. By no means is his hockey career over. It’s just another stage of his life.”
The brothers will continue to share a special bond on and off the ice.
“He talked with me a little bit before he went,” said Jason. “He said it’s the last game he’s going to be able to watch for a while (and) he can’t do anything anymore for this team, so make sure I do all I can in place of him.”
Jeff said Scott will be on his mind.
“It’s a good lesson for everybody: You don’t know when the last game’s going to be, so you need to play every game like it’s your last,” said Jeff. “It’s a cliché, but it’s true. It happened to Scott. We’ll use that to motivate us.”
Ice chips
Chiefs forward Michael Grabner, 17, will miss the next five games after being selected to play for Austria’s national team that will participate in the under-20 Div. I World Championships in Great Britain, Monday though Dec. 19. He’ll return on Dec. 28. … Rookie forward Chris Bruton (concussion) had a good practice on Thursday and should be cleared to play tonight.