Ams top Chiefs for all the marbles

KENNEWICK – There will be a vacant space on the Spokane Arena wall where the Spokane Chiefs would have loved nothing more then to hang a U.S. Division banner.

But after all their success in one of the best seasons in franchise history, and a game that more than lived up to its billing, it turned out that it just wasn’t meant to be.

Blair Macaulay and T.J. Fast scored and Chet Pickard turned aside 28 shots as Tri-City edged the Spokane Chiefs in a 2-1 Western Hockey League victory that earned the Americans (52-15-2-2, 108 points) the division title, top seed in the Western Conference and home ice advantage throughout the playoffs in winning the Scotty Munro trophy for the league’s best regular season record.