Speltz comes up aces

Tim Speltz should give the poker tables a shot.

The Spokane Chiefs’ general manager sat on his hand and played it at exactly the right time when he finalized a deal Monday night with the underachieving Saskatoon Blades, acquiring their captain, 19-year-old Justin McCrae, for forward Chris Langkow, listed forward Burke Gallimore and a conditional draft pick.

The move came after speculation, which wasn’t necessarily untrue, that the Chiefs were gunning for Prince George’s Ty Wishart, the royal flush of traded players this season. But the Wishart sweepstakes were too expensive, and Speltz wasn’t looking to make any blockbuster deals that would disrupt a lineup that leads the Western Hockey League with a .762 winning percentage.

“As an organization, we’ve always said if we meet our expectations or exceed our expectations, our team deserves an opportunity to get better,” Speltz said Tuesday. “It definitely improves our team for this year and there is the potential (McCrae) could be back next year.”

McCrae adds depth up front for the Chiefs, who already have one of the top lines in the league assembled in Drayson Bowman, Mitch Wahl and Chris Bruton.

McCrae is in his fourth year in the league and, like Bowman, was drafted last year by the Carolina Hurricanes. He’s accumulated 11 goals and 13 assists in 35 games this season with the Blades. A major upside, Speltz added, is that he is a character guy – which is always a priority for the Chiefs.

“He’s going to be a good fit for us in that he’s a very responsible player, he plays hard, he’s got a good level of skill – all the components you need to have a chance to be successful,” said Speltz.

Speltz has one more day to do some shopping and fine-tune the Chiefs’ roster before Thursday afternoon’s trade deadline. After that, WHL rosters will be finalized. The Chiefs (29-8-1-2, 61 points), second in the Western Conference standings behind the Vancouver Giants (29-8-1-4, 63 points), aren’t looking to make any major changes.

“If we could find a way to improve our team without changing the core of our team, we would look at that,” he said. “We’ve got some trades we’re still discussing and it’s just a matter of seeing if we can get the i’s dotted and the t’s crossed to make it work.”

McCrae, who will wear the No. 17 jersey, is expected to play in tonight’s game against Kamloops. He traveled Tuesday to Calgary and will fly into town today in time for the team’s pregame meeting.

Bruton, Donaghy suspended

After separate checking-from-behind majors during Spokane’s game against Tri-City on Saturday, Bruton will miss three games and Dustin Donaghy will serve a one-game suspension, the league announced.

Donaghy and Bruton will miss tonight’s game, while Bruton will also sit out of Friday’s game in Portland and Saturday’s game against the Americans.

Bruton’s hit was in the third period when he went after Tri-City’s Shaun Vey for a routine check. At the last second, Vey ducked his head and his face was smashed into the boards, leaving him down on the ice for several minutes.

“What (Bruton) expected the player to do and what he actually did were two different things,” Speltz said of the hit.

“(Bruton’s) a tough and rugged guy, but he’s a straight-ahead guy. He felt as bad as anybody. He felt bad for the player and he felt bad for the team because he doesn’t want our team to be perceived that way.”

Ice chips

The Chiefs held onto their top ranking for the eighth straight time in the WHL writer’s poll, earning 12 of 15 first-place nods in the poll released Monday by the Western Major Junior Hockey Writer’s Association. … Goalie Dustin Tokarski continues to lead the league with a 1.84 goals-against average. Fellow netminder Kevin Armstrong is third with a 2.05 GAA. … Chiefs sniper Drayson Bowman is tied for third in the league in scoring with 56 points. His 28 goals lead the WHL. … First-line center Mitch Wahl’s 34 assists tie him for fourth in the league. … Bowman is first in the league with seven game-winning goals and Chris Bruton is tied with several players for second with six game-winners. … Overage forward Judd Blackwater’s five insurance goals tie him with seven players, including Bowman, for first in the league. … Five Chiefs continue to lead the league, one through five, in plus/minus – Wahl (plus-29), Bowman (plus-28), Bruton (plus-27), Jared Spurgeon (plus-25) and Justin Falk (plus-23).