Zimmerman’s suspension ends

Spokane Chiefs defenseman Sean Zimmerman said he learned something about himself during his just-completed two-game suspension.

“I hate to watch games – it’s too frustrating,” the Chiefs veteran said on Thursday. He returns to the ice tonight when Spokane hosts Kelowna in a Western Hockey League game at the Arena.

Zimmerman had to sit out the last two games after being suspended by the WHL for an intent-to-injure match penalty he received against Seattle last weekend. In the incident, Zimmerman took down Seattle’s Radek Meidl from behind after being the victim of a high stick to the face near the Chiefs bench during the second period.

WHL vice-president Rick Doerksen said earlier this week that the league “took all factors into account” in assessing the length of the suspension. It was the first major penalty of Zimmerman’s four-year career (223 games) and broke a streak of 136 consecutive games played.

“I just kind of lost my temper and wasn’t really thinking,” he said. “Then I was sitting in the locker room thinking, ‘What did I just do?’ It’s something I regret, for sure, but I think I learned from it.”

Zimmerman had to watch the rest of the game on closed-circuit TV from the training room. He then spent the last two games watching from the press box high above the Arena ice.

“It’s kind of easier from up there, because you see everything,” he said.

What did he learn from watching those games?

“You have more time than you realize when you have the puck and to not just throw it away,” he said.

That might be a good advice to pass on to his fellow defensemen. The Chiefs have struggled at times to clear the puck from their defensive zone. The coaching staff has worked on drills to perfect that first pass up the ice, something that is crucial under the WHL’s more wide-open style of play.

“It’s everything, because if you don’t make that first pass you’re never going to get it out – and that makes it really tough on the forwards,” said Zimmerman. “Sometimes it’s really tough on us with good forechecking teams. You don’t always have a great angle to pass. We just have to bear down and get that puck out.”

Zimmerman said he’s ready to put what he’s learned into action on the ice.

“I’m definitely excited – for practice, even,” Zimmerman said. “I’ve been doing some conditioning, too, and that kind of sucks.”

Chiefs miss quartet

The Chiefs will miss four players for this weekend’s games because of injury.

Unable to play are: assistant captain Evan Haw (knee) and fellow defenseman Corey Courchene (ankle), and forwards Michael Grabner (hip) and Chris Langkow (concussion).

Haw was injured during the first period of Wednesday’s game – the one in which defenseman Jared Spurgeon made his season debut after recovering from an off-season back injury. Grabner has played through his injury since last weekend and the coaching staff wants him to get healthy.

Langkow and Courchene still have lingering effects from their injuries.

This weekend, the Chiefs defensive corps will consist of: Zimmerman, Spurgeon, Justin Falk, Dan Mercer, Mike Reddington and converted forward J.P. Szaskiewicz.

Forward David Linsley will get a long-awaited chance to show his progress. The 19-year-old has played in just nine of the team’s 16 games.