Future looks bright

All that talk of Michael Grabner having a 100-point season might not be that much of a stretch.

Grabner, the 14th overall pick in the National Hockey League draft, is being counted on by the Spokane Chiefs to be an offensive force in the Western Hockey League this season. He had an impressive second half last season and appears to be in the same form in the preseason.

Grabner scored the first two goals of the game on Sunday, but his Red team lost 6-5 in a shootout to the White squad in the team’s annual end-of-training camp scrimmage. The game was held before a game-record crowd of 1,511.

Grabner teamed with returning leading scorer Derek Ryan and rookie Chris Langkow to form a line which was too much for the opposing team to handle early in the game. But, at the end of the day, it was Grabner who was stopped by rookie goalie Dustin Tokarski to decide the game.

European newcomer Ondrej Roman got the winner in the shootout just before Tokarski’s stop of Grabner after 10 players were denied. Then came the big moment for Tokarski, who had shut out the Red team in the third period.

“It was awesome; big crowd, great shooters; made a couple stops and got the job done, I guess,” said Tokarski. “I had a little chuckle to myself. I thought: This is all it comes down to – stopping an NHL first-round draft pick and I got lucky, maybe, I don’t know.”

It was one of the few times Grabner was stopped in the game. His line, along with one featuring Adam Hobson and Mitch Wahl, asserted itself throughout the game. He was a little sheepish after the stop by a rookie goaltender.

“I was just saving my shots for the regular season; I don’t want to give away my good moves,” said Grabner with a smile.

Ryan was the catalyst to Grabner’s line. The Spokane product, who will be playing his final season in the WHL, set up his linemates early and often in the game as Red scored three goals in the opening period on Chiefs backup goalie Thomas Stehr.

Stehr is a returning player who is part of an intense battle for the backup position. Rookies Tokarski, 17, and 16-year-olds Darcy Kuemper and Rhys Chesney also played on Sunday and looked solid. Kevin Armstrong continued his stellar camp and proved his status as the starter.

The game also proved the opportunity for the members of a White team line to make an impression. Seth Compton scored two second-period goals to help his team rally for a short-lived 4-4 tie. Compton was matched with 16-year-old Levko Koper (two goals, assist) and 15-year-old Burke Gallimore, the Chiefs’ second pick in this year’s bantam draft, who added two assists.

However, Adam Hobson gave the Red team a 5-4 lead just before the end of the third period. It would stay that way until veteran Chris Bruton got his second goal of the game and forced the shootout with just 1:57 remaining in the game.

White 6, Red 5 (SO)

First period—1, Red, Grabner (Langkow, Ryan) 1:00; 2, Red, Szaskiewicz (Hobson) 4:38 (pp); 3, Red, Grabner (Ryan) 8:28; 4, White, Koper (Gallimore) 14:11.

Second period—5, Red, Esposito (Wiedmer) 3:02; 6, White, Compton (Koper) 6:20; 7, White, Bruton (Thomas, Tonello) 8:18; 8, White, Compton (Koper, Gallimore) 18:32; 9, Red, Hobson (Wahl, Bertow) 19:39

Third period—10, White, Bruton (Linsley) 18:03.

Shootout: Roman (winner). A–1,511.