Returning players Owen Martin, Chase Harrington shine during Spokane Chiefs training camp finale

The high temperature in Spokane on Sunday was in the mid-90s. But inside Spokane Arena, it was hockey weather.

Several hundred fans – many families with young children – gained free entrance and gathered in the lower bowl to seek respite from the late-summer heat and watch the annual “Red-White” championship game of Spokane Chiefs training camp.

The fans, along with the coaching and hockey operations staff, were treated to a rousing final contest of the week, with several key returning players – and one notable newcomer – standing out among the draft picks, signed prospects and free agents in camp.

Owen Martin scored two goals with an assist, import Elias Pul added a goal and an assist, and “Team Sauer” beat “Team Johnson” for the Chiefs Cup on Sunday.

The roughly 60 players in camp were divided among four teams for the week, each named after a significant player in Chiefs history: Ray Whitney, Tyler Johnson, Travis Green and Kurt Sauer. Those teams played in a round-robin tournament throughout the week culminating in Sunday’s championship.

Defenseman Brady Elbert was named team MVP for Team Sauer, while Chase Harrington – who had a goal and an assist – was MVP for Team Johnson.

In Sunday’s early game, Team Whitney defeated Team Green 7-3 to take third place. Cohen Harris recorded two goals and an assist; Sam Oremba, Ethan Hughes, and Ossie McIntyre all had a goal and assist.

“For a camp game, I thought it was really high paced; pretty physical too,” Martin said. “Got a little chippy towards the end, but it was awesome. It’s fun to come out with a win.”

“Tough loss,” Harrington said. “I think the boys played pretty good the whole tournament. Just couldn’t find a way to get it done today.”

“I thought our practices were good – we got what we wanted to get out of them,” Chiefs coach Brad Lauer said. “I think evaluation-wise, it really gave us a good look at guys in practices. And then I thought the games, the smaller numbers gave them a lot more ice time, more time for better evaluation. I really liked the competition part of it.”

The roster will be pared down this week before preseason games start Friday against Seattle in Everett. The Chiefs’ only home preseason game is Sept. 11 against Portland.

The good crowd at the Arena was noted by Lauer.

“I think that’s where the passion of our fan base is,” he said. “They’re anxious. They’ve been missing hockey even though we played long last year. And, you know, they supported us right to the end. You can see the excitement that they have coming back to the rink already. … The support is great, and our kids love it.”

Martin clicked with new teammate Pul, a 2006-born winger from Weingarten, Germany.

“I just met him, like, not even a week ago,” Martin said. “But I’ve been getting to know him over the last week, and he’s great guy, great player as well.”

“He just got in the country here last week. So, there’s some jet lag with him and, you know, new faces, new game, new rink. Everything’s new to him,” Lauer said. “But for the short sample size that we had this week, I really liked his game.”

Another returning player who stood out was goalie Carter Esler, who will be competing with import Linas Viellard for time between the pipes this season. Esler got into 18 games last season as Dawson Cowan’s understudy, often playing the second night of back-to-back or third-in-four-days games.

But the young netminder gained valuable experience playing for Team Canada at the Hlinski-Gretzky Cup in Czechia this summer.

“He’s had a really good week, and that’s what we want from him,” Lauer said. “It really looks like he put the work in this summer. And he’s going to get an opportunity to get that chance to elevate his game and get a lot more games.”

Sunday’s game was notable not only for the players that were dressed, but also for two who were not. Captain Berkly Catton and defenseman Saige Weinstein did not attend camp as they are at NHL training camp.

With four of the Chiefs five leading scorers moving on, and with Catton’s availability for the season up in the air, both Martin and Harrington are going to be counted on with the rest of the returning players to make up for that lost production – both on and off the ice.

“The expectation is a lot higher for all these guys coming back that were here last year. That’s what we want,” Lauer said. “They need to elevate their game to another level. They have it in them. It’s their responsibility to bring that next level and elevate their game for our organization, for our team.”

“Something I’ve heard since I was young is that pressure is a privilege,” Martin said. “I’m kind of using that as my motivation for the year, and hopefully I can fill those boots.”

“I’m just super grateful for the opportunity to be able to step in and have this kind of role,” Harrington said. “I’m gonna try to make the most of it.”

Even though training camp brings a renewed sense of optimism for the year ahead, last season’s loss in the Western Hockey League finals to Medicine Hat still lingers over the returning players.

“It kind of leaves a bitter taste in your mouth,” Martin said. “But, you know, we’re just looking forward to this year and hopefully we can be the team that gets celebrated.”