Chiefs pick up another goaltender
The Spokane Chiefs picked up some insurance on Thursday.
The Western Hockey League team acquired goaltender Keyvan Hunt, 18, from the Saskatoon Blades for a conditional sixth-round selection in the 2005 WHL Bantam Draft.
Hunt will be one of three goaltenders in camp, joining three-year veteran Jim Watt and rookie Kirk Irving. Watt remains the No. 1 goalie.
“Jim Watt has established himself as our starting goaltender,” said Chiefs general manager Tim Speltz. “This acquisition will add depth along with competition for our backup goaltending position.”
Hunt, who last season saw spot duty with the Blades before being sent down, appeared in eight games with Saskatoon. He had a 4.79 goals against average (GAA) and .863 save percentage. The product of Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, played a majority of last season with the Ridge Meadows Flames of the Pacific International Junior Hockey League, finishing with a 3.61 GAA.
Hunt will not see action on Saturday night when the Chiefs host the Seattle Thunderbirds at Eagles Ice-A-Rena at 7 p.m. in their final exhibition game.
Tickets for the game are $5 and are available at the Ice-A-Rena, through the Chiefs or TicketsWest.
•WHL officials said this week’s disciplinary action against Spokane and Seattle arose out of a line brawl between the teams during their game Saturday in Kent, Wash.
Rick Doerksen, Vice-President of Hockey for the WHL, said two rules regarding exhibition games were involved in the league issuing the fines and suspensions.
Each of the franchises were fined $250 for a multiple-fight situation arising in a game, which is defined as when there are more than two fights during one stoppage of play. Further, Spokane’s Liam Couture and Seattle’s Scott Jackson were suspended each for one game.
One-game suspensions are mandatory for those who begin fighting after three fights are already in progress during a stoppage of play. In this case, there were actually five fights going on at once. Since each team was deemed to have an instigator, however, there was no suspension for the participants in the fifth and final fight.
The suspensions will apply to each of the players’ next games. That means Couture will miss Saturday’s rematch with Seattle, but Jackson will be eligible to return then because his team has a game today.
Braves open season
The Spokane Braves open their Kootenay International Junior Hockey League season tonight, with a home game against 2004 league champion Beaver Valley. The game at Planet Ice in Spokane Valley starts at 7 p.m.
The Braves, an affiliate of the Spokane Chiefs, play at the Junior B level. They are coached by Mike Bay, who has led the team into the playoffs for the last two seasons. The Braves’ assistant coaches are Ken Harding and newcomer Mike Devereaux.