Chiefs will play for Cup

KITCHENER, Ontario – Bobby Brett joined general manager Tim Speltz and head coach Bill Peters in the press box with two minutes remaining in the Belleville-Gatineau game Monday night.

The Spokane Chiefs owner wanted to be the first to congratulate the two.

“Looks like we’re playing Sunday,” an elated Brett said.

There’s still plenty of work to be done, though, which is why Peters remained mellow as time expired. The third-year coach and his Western Hockey League champion Chiefs haven’t reached their goal of winning hardware yet, but the chance to earn some more is set in stone.

The Chiefs secured a berth in Sunday’s Memorial Cup championship game after the Belleville Bulls beat the Gatineau Olympiques 6-3 in round-robin play.

“It really is (exciting),” Peters calmly stated. “But all we’ve assured ourselves is an opportunity to play for the (Memorial Cup). We’ve come and looked after everything that we can up to this point in the tournament. We’ve played twice and won twice, now we’re looking for two more wins.”

They’ll go after the first in their final round-robin game today against a desperate Gatineau team.

Monday’s loss dropped the Quebec League champion Olympiques to 0-2, so unless they can beat Spokane (2-0) in the Chiefs’ final round-robin game, their run at the Memorial Cup will be over.

A Gatineau victory would force a tiebreaker game Thursday. If Spokane wins today, tournament host Kitchener (1-1) and the Bulls (1-1) – who play the final round-robin game Wednesday – will meet in Friday’s semifinal. The Rangers needed seven games to beat the Bulls for the Ontario Hockey League championship.

Peters said despite the automatic finals berth, the Chiefs’ mindset against Gatineau will not change.

“We’re going to play hard and try to get the win,” said Peters. “Anytime we play we want to win. We want to go in (to the final) on a winning note and play well. We’re going to play … (today) and not play again until Sunday so we need to go out and play hard and play smart.”

And the Olympiques aren’t giving up, either. For them, it’s do or die.

“I don’t think one guy in the room is ready to go home,” said Gatineau forward Claude Giroux, a Philadelphia Flyers first-round draft pick.

Giroux, called up for two games by the Flyers in February, scored his first goal of the tournament 9 minutes, 35 seconds into the second period Monday night.

“Spokane is the hottest team in the tournament right now, but we’ll just have to play as hard as we can,” he said.

Ice chips

The Chiefs will play in the Memorial Cup championship game for the second time in franchise history. Spokane won the Cup in 1991, it’s first year under Brett Sports ownership. … Chiefs’ sniper Drayson Bowman leads tournament scoring with four goals and two assists.