Chiefs show punch all down the line
The Spokane Chiefs have certainly proven that their hockey team is deep.
Now coach Bill Peters is adding flexibility to the list.
Peters has experimented lately with different line combinations and shuffling players for a couple of reasons. It will be no different tonight when the Chiefs take the ice in Cranbrook, British Columbia, for the first half of this weekend’s home-and-home series with the Kootenay Ice (29-18-4-1).
Shoulder injuries to leading scorer Drayson Bowman and forward Curtis Kelner have forced Peters to mix it up. But Peters also took the injuries as an opportunity to see what his players can do in different situations.
Not to his surprise, he likes what he sees.
“Mitch Wahl has been playing on the wing, and he’s done a really good job,” said Peters. “He’s been very aggressive going to the net with the puck, and that’s been encouraging. We played Kelner as a center recently; that was going real well up until the point of the injury, so now what we’re going to do for the weekend is share that center spot with (Seth) Compton and (Levko) Koper.
“All of our guys are playing well and giving us good efforts in various positions, so it’s nice to have that flexibility.”
Peters is also pleased that, after dropping three U.S. Division contests in the middle of January, his team has responded with five straight wins.
“It’s a long year and you’re going to have a little bit of ups and downs,” said Peters. “Anybody can beat anybody in this league and it doesn’t surprise us as coaches, because we know how good those teams are. You’ve just got to have your own game in order and if you don’t have that it doesn’t matter who you’re playing, you’re going to have a tough time winning.”
Bowman slated to return
First, the good news.
It’s a strong possibility that Bowman will be in the lineup tonight.
“Drayson practiced and will warm up and be a game-time decision (tonight), but I anticipate that he will play (tonight) and Saturday,” Peters said after Thursday’s practice.
The not-so-good news?
Kelner definitely will not play this weekend.
Kelner went to the doctor Thursday to be re-evaluated and Peters expects to know more on his status next week.
Bowman leads the Chiefs in scoring with 30 goals and 30 assists and is tied for 11th in the league in scoring. His 30 goals tie him for second in the league.
Ice chips
The Chiefs (37-10-1-3, 68 points) remained second in the latest installment of the Canadian Hockey League Top 10 rankings. Four Western Hockey League teams are ranked. Calgary moved up to third, Vancouver dropped to sixth and Tri-City is ranked seventh. … Overage forward David Rutherford, who missed 18 games because of an injury early in the season, has five goals and eight points in his last seven games. Import forward Ondrej Roman has one goal and six points in his last four games. … The Chiefs are 10 for 29 (34 percent) on the power play in their last seven games and are ranked fourth in the WHL at 20.8 percent overall.