Chiefs give it their best, but still fall in their final game of season

Spokane Chiefs coach Al Conroy has seen a lot of sub-par efforts from his team during this forgettable Western Hockey League season.

So, in their final game, Conroy had just on request of his players, saying in his pregame radio show that he was going to tell his players, “We’ve got a sellout crowd here tonight, so for one game it shouldn’t be all that hard to play for pride and play for the fans that have been supporting you all season.”

Before an appreciative crowd of 10,571 on Saturday night, his team responded with a full effort for all 60 minutes in an emotional evening which saw the Chiefs honor four departing 20-year-old players as they fell to the Kootenay Ice by a score of 3-1.

The game was the last in a Spokane uniform for three current players (captain Jevon Desautels, defenseman Gary Gladue and center Danny Lapointe) and one who was a big part of the team before sustaining a season-ending shoulder injury this season (Scott Lynch). All were honored in a pregame ceremony and the Chiefs came out with some jump in their step.

The Chiefs (24-38-8-2, 58 points) got on the board first just 2 minutes, 10 seconds into the game when Jeff Lynch took a feed from rookie Chris Bruton in the left slot and whizzed the puck past Kootenay goaltender Jeff Glass high to the stick side.

Meanwhile, at the other end, Spokane goalie Kevin Opsahl continued his streak of amazing play. He made 17 stops in the period, many of them from close-in range, while facing a barrage of activity from the potent Ice offense.

Kootenay would finally break through on Opsahl at the 6:16 mark of the second period. That was when Adam Cracknell made a great individual effort, getting behind three Spokane defenders and getting Opsahl to commit low as he held the puck and buried it over the fallen goaltender.

The B.C. Division champion Ice (47-15-7-3, 102) would come out with a similar intensity in the second and third periods, as they were playing for the No. 1 spot in the WHL and for home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs against division rival Kelowna, which lost to Vancouver.

In the third, Kootenay would get the game-winner at the 6:02 mark, when Steven DaSilva was credited for a goal from the top of the right circle that deflected on its way and dribbled through the five-hole of Opsahl.

The Chiefs pulled Opsahl for the final minute and Nigel Dawes got his franchise-record 50th goal of the season with just 26.6 seconds remaining.

The Ice outshot Spokane by a substantial margin, 46-19 and Opsahl finished with an amazing 43 saves.

Spokane finished in fifth place in the U.S. Division of the Western Conference and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1999. The franchise is expected to make some off-season restructuring moves, though that process will likely take a week or two to occur.

Desautels ended up playing his entire career with Spokane and was in the top 10 all-time leader categories for games played (301) and penalty minutes (734, third).

Ice 3, Chiefs 1

First period–1, Spo, Je Lynch 23 (Bruton, Ryan) 2:10.

Second period– 2, Ktn, Cracknell 19 6:16.

Third period– 3, Ktn, DaSilva 4 6:02; 4, Ktn, Dawes 50 (en) 19:34.

Power-play Opportunities–Kootenay 0 of 3; Spokane 0 of 2. Saves–Kootenay, Glass 18 saves. Spokane, Opsahl 43 saves. A–10,571.