WHL Spokane Chiefs

Chiefs Weekly

Published on March 4, 2008 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Spokane Chiefs News Release


After their second longest stretch off of the season, the Spokane Chiefs will play the final eight games of the regular season in a two week span. Spokane has four home and four road games remaining, five against the U.S. Division and a pair versus the Tri-City Americans who they have been battling all season long for the top spot in the conference.

The stretch will begin this week when Spokane hosts the Portland Winter Hawks on Wednesday night, Americans on Friday and Chilliwack Bruins on Saturday. The week will end with a Sunday trip to Seattle.

The Chiefs enter the week with the second best winning percentage in the WHL with a 44-14-1-5 record and 94 points. Spokane has been off since last Wednesday night's 5-2 win at Kelowna and are four points behind Tri-City for the top spot in the conference.

THIS WEEK

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5TH

vs. PORTLAND WINTER HAWKS

AIR-6:30

GAME-7:00

The Chiefs will host the Portland Winter Hawks for the first time since Wednesday, December 12th. In their final eight games of the season, Spokane will take on the Winter Hawks three times. Spokane will host the Winter Hawks on in their regular season home finale on Friday, March 14th and will travel to finish the year on March 16th. This season, the Chiefs are 6-0 against Portland, 4-0 on the road and 2-0 at home. Four different players scored goals, Spokane was 3-3 on the power play and outshot the Winter Hawks 43-15 in their last game, January 21st in Portland. The Chiefs earned a 6-2 win on January 11th as Seth Compton scored two goals and two assists. Spokane scored four goals in the first period en route to a 9-1 win over Portland on October 28th. The nine goals is a season high for Spokane. Ondøej Roman (two), Judd Blackwater (two), Drayson Bowman, Levko Koper, Mitch Wahl and Seth Compton all scored for Spokane as they outshot the Winter Hawks 42-28 on the game. Kevin Armstrong has started five games and has posted a 1.40 GAA and .947 save percentage. Spokane has outshot the Winter Hawks, on average, 42.5 to 27 and has outscored Portland 6.00 to 1.83.

FRIDAY, MARCH 7TH

vs. TRI-CITY AMERICANS

AIR-6:30

GAME-7:00

The Chiefs will play host to the Tri-City Americans for the sixth and final time this season. It will be the 11th time they meet overall with the 12th and final match-up coming on Saturday, March 15th in Kennewick. Friday's game will be the fourth weekend out of five that the two will have played. The Chiefs have won the last two games with the Americans as David Rutherford scoring four goals, two in each game. Dustin Tokarski has been in net each game, including February 23rd when he stopped 29 shots in a 6-3 win. Rutherford has five goals and nine points and Chris Bruton has three goals and six assists in nine games against the Americans. Spokane is 4-3-1-2 on the season earning 11 out of a possible 20 points in 10 games. The team that is leading after the second period is 7-0. Three games have been tied through 40 minutes. In its 20th year of existence, the Chiefs lead the rivalry 117-105-1-4 with 13 ties.

SATURDAY, MARCH 8TH

vs. CHILLIWACK BRUINS

AIR-6:30

GAME-7:00

The Chiefs will host the Chilliwack Bruins for the second time this season and the first time since a 6-0 win on November 21st. Spokane is 2-1 on the year versus the Bruins including a 5-2 win on January 27th in Chilliwack. Five different players scored goals and Ondøej Roman had a goal and two assists. Drayson Bowman had a hat trick and Mitch Wahl had four assists on November 21st. Kevin Armstrong had 21 saves for the shutout. Chilliwack defeated Spokane 5-3 on October 8th in their first match-up. Ondøej Roman, Seth Compton and Levko Koper scored for Spokane. The Chiefs are 4-17 (23.5%) on the power play and 7-8 (87.5%) on the penalty kill. The team that has scored the first goal and outshot the opposition is 3-0 in the series.

SUNDAY, MARCH 9TH at SEATTLE THUNDERBIRDS AIR-4:30 GAME-5:00

For the first time since a 9-7 loss to Seattle on February 11th the Chiefs will take on the Thunderbirds in their final match-up of the season. The 16 combined goals was the most by two teams since the Chiefs dropped a 10-8 decision to Portland on October 11th, 1995. Previously this season the most combined goals was 10 in a 9-1 Spokane win over Portland on October 28th. Spokane is 2-1 on the year in Seattle. Overall, Spokane is 6-2 against the Thunderbirds with Spokane winning the first six and Seattle the last two. In eight previous games, the Chiefs have outscored the Thunderbirds 28-20. Dustin Tokarski and the Chiefs have shutout the Thunderbirds in three times and the goaltender sports a 1.50 GAA and .936 save percentage. Two of the shutouts came in back-to-back contests, October 27th and November 2nd. Tokarski made 22 saves in a 2-0 game in their first meeting and 21 saves on November 2nd in a 3-0 decision. Spokane skated to a 1-0 win with a Chris Bruton goal and 21 Tokarski saves on December 14th. Spokane is 11-47 (23.4%) on the power play and 39-45 (86.7%) on the penalty kill. On average, the Chiefs outshoot the Thunderbirds 31.6-24.9.

NEWS AND NOTES

SWEET 16...The 16 combined goals that the Chiefs and Seattle Thunderbirds scored on February 11th was the most by two teams since the Chiefs dropped a 10-8 decision to Portland on October 11th, 1995. Previously this season the most combined goals was 10 in a 9-1 Spokane win over Portland on October 28th. Seattle defeated Spokane 9-7 in the game.

D-(INSERT PICTURE OF A PICKET FENCE HERE)...The Spokane Chiefs are on pace to set a single season franchise record for fewest goals allowed. Just once in their previous 22 seasons the Chiefs had allowed fewer than 200 goals when teams scored 189 goals (2.63 per game) in 1999-00. This season, Spokane has allowed 146 goals, 2.28 goals per game through 64 games. Just three previous times in franchise history Spokane has averaged more than one goal scored per game than allowed per game with an all-time high of 2.22 (6.04 goals scored versus 3.82 goals allowed) in 1990-91. This year, Spokane has scored 3.47 goals per game for a difference of 1.18 goals per game, third best all-time.

PLUS FUSS...The Spokane Chiefs have four of the top six totals in the WHL in plus-minus. Chris Bruton is second in the league with a +34, Jared Spurgeon is fourth at +32 and Drayson Bowman and Mitch Wahl are tied for sixth.

VERSUS HISTORY...For just the fifth time in franchise history, the Chiefs have won 40 games in a season. The 44 wins are eight more than they had last season and the most wins in a season since they had 47 in 1999-00. The most wins in franchise history are 50, accomplished in 1995-96. Their 94 points are already the fifth best season in 23 years in Spokane. The Chiefs have also won 36+ games in back-to-back seasons for just the third time in franchise history.

HOLY SHOTS, BATMAN...For the third time this year the Chiefs put more than 50 shots on net when they had 55 against the Everett Silvertips on February 15th. Spokane also put a season high 55 shots on net in their second game of the season, a 7-2 win at Prince George. The Chiefs also had 51 on December 9th against Portland, a 5-4 shootout win. Everett had 30 shots for a season high 83 combined shots. The franchise record is 109 combined shots on February 26th, 1986 when New Westminster outshot Spokane 58-51. On average, the Chiefs are outshooting the opponent 33.6-26.5. Spokane is 37-10 when outshooting their opponent.

EVEN STEVENS...The Chiefs 94 points are split evenly between home and away. Spokane has won 22 games at home and 22 away and has three overtime points at home and away. The Chiefs hold the best road record in the WHL with a 22-7-1-2 mark. Spokane is 22-7-0-3 at home.

CENTURY CLUB...With a 4-1 win on February 6th Bill Peters earned his 100th career victory as head coach of the Chiefs, already the third most by a head coach in franchise history. Mike Babcock won 223 career games in six seasons and Bryan Maxwell won 165 in four-plus seasons. Peters overall record is 105-81-10-12.

OH, BLACKWATER...Judd Blackwater has six goals and 13 points in his last eight games and 14 goals and 26 points in his last 25 games.

BOWMAN'S PLACE...Drayson Bowman has four goals and four assists in his last eight games including a two goal, three assist night on February 11th versus the Seattle Thunderbirds. It was the second time this season Bowman had recorded five points in a game. The 18-year-old had three goals and five points on November 21st versus Kelowna. Bowman also has three hat-tricks this season, the last being February 2nd in a shootout win over Kootenay. Bowman's 37 goals are tied for fourth in the WHL. Bowman was named the WHL's Player of the Month for November after scoring 13 goals, 11 assists, 24 points and posting a +16. Bowman was named the Canadian Hockey League's Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks in the final two weeks of the month. The 18-year-old is 14th in the WHL in scoring (37-34-71). His eight game winners are two off the franchise's single season record. Carolina's third round pick has also scored 12 power play goals.

GREAT WAHL...Forward Mitch Wahl has two goals and four assists in his last six games, including a goal and two helpers on February 23rd in a 6-3 win over Tri-City. Wahl scored a goal and helped Team White to an 8-4 win over Team Red at the Top Prospects game in Edmonton on January 23rd. The game is reserved for 40 of the top draft eligible players in the CHL. Wahl, the Chiefs first round selection (4th overall) in the 2005 WHL Bantam Draft, is in his second season in a Spokane sweater and is second on the team in scoring with 65 points. Wahl has recorded 14 goals and 34 assists in the last 40 games. Wahl's 47 assists are seventh in the WHL. The 17-year-old had an eight game point scoring streak snapped on November 30th. Through the span, Wahl had three goals and 18 points and was +15. Wahl is +31 on the season.

BREAKIN' GLASS...Trevor Glass has points in his last three of his last four games (1-2-3) and three goals and nine points as a Chief. In 22 games, the defenseman is +11. Glass recorded his first goal as a Chief in a 5-2 win on January 25th versus Seattle. Spokane acquired the defenseman from the Medicine Hat Tigers in a trade deadline deal. Glass is in his fourth season in the WHL and has 184 career regular season games under his belt and another 42 in the post season, including four in last year's Memorial Cup. Glass helped the Tigers win the WHL Championship with a team leading +13 in the playoffs.

STRAIGHT OUTTA...Seth Compton has scored seven goals and 10 points and is +6 in his last 20 games, including a career high four points, two goals and two assists, in Spokane's 6-2 win on January 11th at Portland. Compton has scored a career high 11 goals and has played in 217 career games.

MCCRAE'S MARK...Since being acquired by the Chiefs, 19-year-old Justin McCrae has six goals, eight assists and is +5 in 22 games. McCrae scored a pair of goals in his debut on January 9th against Kamloops. The Cochrane, Alberta native has played 263 career games, most for any active Chief. McCrae served as Saskatoon's captain this season.

THE CAPTAIN...Chiefs captain Chris Bruton has six goals and nine assists in his last 19 games. Six of his goals have counted as the game winner. The four-year veteran has played 241 career games.

TOKARSKI'S MARK...Dustin Tokarski has set the franchise record for most shutouts in a season with his fifth of the year on January 5th at Tri-City in a 3-0 win. Tokarski also has seven career shutouts, second in franchise history. Tokarski is third in the WHL with a 2.11 GAA. Tokarski became the first Chiefs goaltender to post back-to-back shutouts in consecutive starts with a 21 save effort on November 2nd versus Seattle since Jim Watt did it in 2003-04. Tokarski won 11 straight starts from October 13th through December 2nd and had a 1.35 GAA, three shutouts and a .934 save percentage.

AN ARMY OF ONE...Kevin Armstrong recorded his second shutout of the season with 21 saves on November 21st against the Chilliwack Bruins and is sixth in the WHL with a 2.24 GAA. The 19-year-old has a 17-5-1-2 record. Armstrong had a six game win streak this season.

COWEN AND TEAM WEST... Jared Cowen and Team West won the bronze medal at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge after a 9-6 win over Team Pacific. Cowen finished the tournament with seven helpers in six games. Cowen was named the Player of the Game for Team West three times. The first overall selection in the 2006 WHL Bantam Draft is in his rookie season in the WHL and has 4-11-15 with a +26 in 59 games.

ULMER FUDD...Stefan Ulmer recorded his first career three point night with a goal and two assists on February 11th versus the Seattle Thunderbirds. The 17-year-old rookie is +10 with three goals and 10 points in 30 games. The defenseman won a silver medal with Team Austria at the IIHF Division IA Under-20 World Championships.

RUDY, RUDY...David Rutherford has 12 goals and 18 points in his last 20 games. Rutherford missed 18 games due to injury. The 20-year-old scored 31 goals last season and had a hat trick on September 22nd at Prince George.

DRAFTED PLAYERS... Drayson Bowman (Carolina, 3rd round, 2007), Justin McCrae (Carolina, 4th round, 2007), Justin Falk (Minnesota, 4th round, 2007), Ondrej Roman (Dallas, 5th round, 2007)

INJURY REPORT...none to report

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