Chiefs rout Winter Hawks

PORTLAND – The Spokane Chiefs completed their most successful regular season in five years with an 8-3 Western Hockey League victory over the Portland Winter Hawks Sunday night.

Mitch Wahl scored one goal and assisted on three others and Drayson Bowman and David Rutherford each had two goals and an assist as the Chiefs (36-28-4-3, 80 points) completed an 8-0 season sweep of the last-place Winter Hawks (17-52-1-2, 37).

Spokane’s 80 points in the standings equaled the 2001-02 squad – a team that finished second in the U.S. Division.

The Chiefs open the playoffs on Friday at Everett as the No. 4 seed, ending a two-year playoff drought after back-to-back last-place finishes.

Spokane got good production from its last three top selections in the Bantam draft. Bowman was the top pick in 2004, eighth overall, while Wahl was the fourth pick overall in 2005. Jared Cowen, the number one selection overall in 2006, joined the team with three games remaining in the regular season and contributed his first two assists Sunday.

Derek Ryan, the only Chiefs player to appear in all 72 games this season, had a goal and two assists, giving him a team-leading 59 points for the season. Rutherford finished with 58 points, while Michael Grabner had 55 points while playing in only 55 games.

Chiefs 8, Winter Hawks 3

First Period—1, Spokane, Langkow 3 (Bowman), 4:13. 2, Portland, Francis 9 (King, Gordichuk), 11:50. 3, Spokane, Ryan 28, 16:43 (pp). Second Period—4, Portland, Sceviour 11 (Gordichuk, Montgomery), 6:10 (pp). 5, Spokane, Rutherford 30 (Wahl, Cowen), 7:30. 6, Spokane, Wahl 16 (Rutherford, Blackwater), 9:33. 7, Spokane, Bowman 23 (Ryan, Cowen), 12:32 (sh). 8, Spokane, Langkow 4 (Roman, Ryan), 15:21 (pp). 9, Spokane, Rutherford 31 (Wahl), 17:02. Third Period—10, Spokane, Bowman 24 (Roman, Wahl), 9:56. 11, Portland, Sceviour 12 (Hotson, Montgomery), 16:10 (pp).

Power-play Opp.—Spokane 2 of 7; Portland 2 of 8. Saves—Spokane, Tokarski 6-11-9—26. Portland, Ward 14-10-x—24, Mucha x-x-5—5. A—6,398.