John Blanchette: Positive Chiefs stand pat

So 72-0 is no longer a possibility for the Spokane Chiefs this season. Maybe next year.

The step back that the Chiefs took in a 4-0 whitewash at Everett on Wednesday night has but one consolation – the three forward steps that preceded it to open the season.

Though marathons are not won in the first mile, there are any number of good signs and good stats in the Chiefs’ start – not the least of which is zero.

As in the number of trades general manager Tim Speltz has pulled the trigger on these last few weeks.

That’s no particular indictment of Speltz’s trading history, but rather an acknowledgement of a certain contentment with the lineup assembled for 2008. That may not be permanent, but it is different.

In each of the last three seasons, the Chiefs have agitated the roster during and immediately after training camp. In came Corey Courchene, David Rutherford, David Schulz, Joe Logan and Kevin Opsahl. Out went Jason Lynch, Matt McCue, Ned Lukacevic and Opsahl. Some were to adjust the chemistry, some were to fill needs – but all of them, one way or another, were signs that the Chiefs didn’t completely trust what they had. That played out with two dismal seasons of missing the playoffs before the club made a 22-point improvement last year.

Now, while their partners in the Western Hockey League’s U.S. Division keep fiddling with the recipe – all have made deals in the last couple of weeks – these Chiefs are the picture of stability heading into the schedule’s third weekend, which includes the Saturday home opener against Tri-City.

“We want to give these guys an opportunity to see what they can do,” Speltz said. “There might be a point where you look at it and say, ‘We can’t be successful unless we do this’ or ‘We need this or that,’ but I can honestly say I’m not making any phone calls. I’m receiving some, but not making any.

“We’re comfortable with this group.”

Again, that’s one major injury from becoming yesterday’s strategy. But for the moment, it’s a suggestion that Speltz, coach Bill Peters and the Chiefs are well along in the process of reinventing themselves from the franchise’s most painful episode.

But the destination remains in the distance.

Returning to the playoffs last season was a positive step, mitigated somewhat by the fact that all the Chiefs had to do was step over the most miserable team in the league, Portland, and place fourth in a five-team division to get there. But they also won 36 games and took division winner Everett to six games in the first round, though the Silvertips themselves petered out in Round 2.

“We have loftier expectations than that,” Peters said.

Besides, meeting the tangible goal of a playoff berth really was almost incidental to repairing much of what ailed the Chiefs for two years.

“Simply put, the culture had to change,” said Peters. “We weren’t going to have any collective success until we started to park the individual goals a little bit. This group understands that. They know if we do the things we want as a team, the individual accolades and stats will be there.

“Our guys understand that it’s the teams that play in the conference and league final that get the most guys drafted (by the NHL). It’s not always necessarily the best player. If you want to get guys drafted, you’d better play deep in the playoffs and prove you can play at those key times. You know, there’s not that many teams playing at that time of year, but there’s the same amount of scouts out there working and they’re seeing the same guys over and over.”

The Chiefs had three players – Drayson Bowman, Justin Falk and Ondrej Roman – selected in the 2007 draft. They’ve had more, but not since 2001 were they bunched in earlier rounds. The Chiefs have, slowly, added more skilled and explosive players, Mitch Wahl and Jared Spurgeon among them. And the 16-year-old prize of the bantam draft, defenseman Jared Cowen, will be a revelation.

Skill is a must, but maybe no more than sacrifice.

“The perfect example of that is Chris Bruton,” Speltz insisted, “and when he realized we were a better team with those young guys – Drayson, Wahl, Roman, Spurgeon – on the power play and him maybe not being on that first unit. When we weren’t being successful before, some of our guys assumed that, ‘I’m the senior guy – that’s my spot.’ Chris took the view that the team came first, and his leadership will be residual.”

That Bruton recently returned from rookie camp with the St. Louis Blues is probably no coincidence.

“Everybody wants guys who have something to do with winning,” Speltz said.

And it doesn’t have to be 72-0.