THREE GAMES IN FOUR NIGHTSSpokane comes into their three games this week with points in eight straight. After dropping the season opener to Kootenay, the Chiefs have won six and lost twice in a shootout and currently sit in first place in the U.S. Division with 14 points, two points more than the Tri-City Americans.
This week's schedule will feature three games in four nights, including home dates on Wednesday against Portland and Friday versus Kamloops. Saturday night, the Chiefs will travel to Kennewick to take on the Tri-City Americans. It will be Spokane's first game in Tri-City since last year's game 7 of the Western Conference Championship series.
THIS WEEK
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15TH vs. PORTLAND WINTER HAWKS AIR-6:30 GAME-7:00
In their third of nine meetings with the Winter Hawks the Spokane Chiefs will host Portland for the first time this year. Spokane will host the Hawks five times. The Chiefs are 2-0 on the season after Friday, October 10th's 6-2 win. Ryan Letts scored twice in the win. Dustin Tokarski stopped 40 Portland shots for a shutout on September 20th, Spokane's second game of the year. Three players scored for Spokane with Brett Barman, Stefan Ulmer and Jared Cowen all scoring for Spokane. Last season, the Chiefs were 8-0-0-1 versus Portland, dropping the final game of the regular season, March 16th, in a 3-2 shootout. Spokane scored a season high nine goals in a 9-1 win on October 28th at Portland. Drayson Bowman led all scorers in the series with six goals and 15 points while Mitch Wahl had seven goals and 13 points in seven games.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17TH vs. KAMLOOPS BLAZERS AIR-6:30 GAME-7:00
Spokane will play their second of four meetings on the year versus the Blazers when they host Kamloops. The Chiefs scored a season high six goals on September 30th in their first match-up of the year in Kamloops. Drayson Bowman scored two goals and two assists as the Chiefs outshot the Blazers 35-32. Spokane was scoreless in their only one power play chance and were 5-7 on the penalty kill. The Chiefs were 3-1 on against Kamloops last year, including wins in their last three games of the year. Mitch Wahl had five assists in four games and Tyler Johnson had 1-3-4.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18TH vs. TRI-CITY AMERICANS AIR-6:30 GAME-7:00
The Chiefs and Americans will play in Kennewick for the first time since last year's game 7 of the Western Conference Championship series and for the second time in the regular season. Spokane shutout the Americans 4-0 on September 27th, the Chiefs home opener, as Dustin Tokarski stopped 31 shots. The Chiefs put 19 shots on net. Mitch Wahl, Mike Reddington, Levko Koper and Seth Compton all had goals for the Chiefs. In last year's Western Conference series, the Chiefs earned the victory on their way to the WHL and Memorial Cup titles. Five of the games went into overtime with three of them heading to double overtime. In the 2007-08 regular season, Spokane and Tri-City played 12 times with the Americans winning seven of the games, three in overtime or a shootout. In total, Spokane was 5-4-1-2 and earned 13 points. The Americans earned 14 points in the series. The road team won seven of the 12 games. On average, Tri-City outshot Spokane 31.3 - 30. Dustin Tokarski played 10 games, finished with a 2.01 GAA and .931 save percentage and posted a 5-3-0-2 record. Through 20 years of the rivalry, the Chiefs lead the series 119-106-1-4 with 13 ties.
LAST WEEK
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10TH SPOKANE-6 at PORTLAND-2
Ryan Letts scored two goals and Tyler Johnson and Levko Koper had three point nights to lead the Chiefs to a 6-2 win over the Winter Hawks Friday night. The Chiefs outshot Portland 37-25 on the night while going 2-7 on the power play and 6-7 on the penalty kill.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11TH SPOKANE-5 vs. EVERETT-1
Five different players scored goals in Spokane's 5-1 victory over the Everett Silvertips on Saturday night. The Chiefs outshot Everett 22-7 in the first, but it was the Silvertips who took a 1-0 lead 1:52 in. Spokane's Dustin Donaghy scored his second of the year at 3:22 of the second evened the game at one. Goals 59-seconds apart by Ryan Letts and David Conrad late in the second pushed Spokane's lead to 3-1. Drayson Bowman scored at 11:21 of the third and scored a power play goal and Mike Betz scored at 12:15 to make it a 5-1 final. The Chiefs were 2-9 on the power play and 6-6 on the penalty kill.
NEWS AND NOTES
WAHL RETURNS...Chiefs center Mitch Wahl will return this week after serving a three game league imposed suspension. Wahl is tied for the team lead with five goals and 10 points. The 18-year-old is also +11 on the season. Wahl has points in five of the six games he has played this year, including two goals and an assist on September 30th at Kamloops. This is his third season in a Spokane jersey and he has played 140 career games in two-plus seasons. After scoring two goals and six points in four Memorial Cup games, Wahl was named to the tournament All-Star Team. Wahl was also selected by the Calgary Flames in the second round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Last year Wahl led the club with 53 assists, seventh in the WHL, and finished second on the team in scoring with 73 points. His 22 power play assists were tied with Ondøej Roman for the team lead. Wahl also finished tied for fifth in the WHL with a +33. Wahl had an eight game point streak with three goals and 18 points from November 4th through November 24th, a stretch that included three four point games.
KOPER'S COUNT...Levko Koper is tied for the league's longest point scoring streak at nine games. The 18-year-old has points in all nine games this year for Spokane and has totaled four goals and 10 points. Three of his assists have come on the power play. Koper is also +8. Koper is in his third season in Spokane with 128 games played. In a career high 69 games last year, Koper scored 12 goals and 26 points and added another four goals and nine points in 21 playoff games. Koper scored two goals in the Memorial Cup, including the overtime game winner in Spokane's first game of the tournament against the Belleville Bulls.
PROJECT POWER PLAY...This season, Avista will donate $25 to Project Share for each power play goal the Chiefs score. Through nine games, the Chiefs have scored eight goals on the man advantage for a total of $200. In their last four games, the Chiefs are 7-25 (28%) on the power play.
KILLER, DUDE...Spokane has not allowed a power play goal at home going 17-17 in three games. The Chiefs have allowed seven power play goals in 51 chances (86.3%) overall.
STINGY...Spokane is first in the WHL in goals against by allowing only 14 goals in nine games. That total includes goals the opposition is given for a shootout win, meaning Spokane has allowed just 12 goals in regulation and overtime. Combined, Dustin Tokarski and James Reid have a 1.20 goals against average and .960 save percentage. Of the 12 goals allowed, Spokane has given up just four of them five-on-five, allowed one empty netter with seven power play goals allowed.
HOME, SWEET HOME...Spokane is 3-0 at home and have scored 14 goals and allowed one. The Chiefs had back-to-back shutouts to begin the home season, 4-0 against Tri-City on September 27th and 5-0 versus Everett on October 3rd. The Chiefs are in the middle of three in a row in the Arena after playing six of their first eight on the road.
FIRSTS...On October 11th in a 5-1 versus Everett both Mike Betz and David Conrad scored their first career WHL goals. A night earlier, in a 6-2 win at Portland, Steve Kuhn accomplished the feat.
WELL ROUNDED...Sixteen players have scored the Chiefs 34 goals this season and 19 players have registered a point.
GLASS HALF FULL...Defenseman Trevor Glass has one goal and three assists in six games for the Chiefs this season. The 20-year-old is in his fifth season in the WHL and has played 197 regular season games, 59 playoff games and another eight in the Memorial Cup. Glass scored Spokane's third goal, his only of the Memorial Cup, in a 4-1 win over the Kitchener Rangers in the final game to help the Chiefs win the championship. In 2007-08, Glass had three goals and 12 points as a Chief in 27 games after being acquired in a January, 2008 trade. The defenseman was also +15 in Spokane. Glass's resume also includes a pair of WHL titles, one with Medicine Hat in 2007 where he led the team with a +13 in the playoffs. The Cochrane, Alberta native was a former first round selection in the 2003 WHL Bantam Draft (10th overall).
LETTS TALK...Ryan Letts has three goals in his last two games, his first three of the season. Letts scored a career high two goals on Friday, October 10th in a 6-2 win at Portland. Letts has played 153 career WHL games.
BOWMAN'S BAG...Spokane forward Drayson Bowman has five goals and three assists in his last six games. Bowman is in his fourth season in Spokane after leading the team in goals (42) and points (80) last year. Bowman was named the Chiefs Player of the Year in 2007-08. The Littleton, Colorado native has scored 85 career goals, 20th in franchise history, and was the Hurricanes third round selection in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.
ROSTER ROUNDUP...The Chiefs currently have 24 players on their roster, including 17 off last year's Memorial Cup roster. The roster also features eight players in their first full season in the WHL. The only player missing from the line-up is Ondøej Roman, who is still awaiting his release from the Czech Republic.
REID BETWEEN THE LINES...Eighteen-year-old James Reid stopped 32 shots in his first career start on October 1st at Chilliwack but dropped the game 2-1 after an eight round shootout.
BANTAM DRAFT...Spokane's roster features 15 players selected by the Chiefs in the WHL Bantam Draft, including four first round picks; Drayson Bowman (2004), Mitch Wahl (2005), Jared Cowen (2006) and Mike Betz (2007). Spokane has four players from both the 2006 and 2007 draft and three from the 2005 draft.
DUSTIN TIME... Chiefs goaltender Dustin Tokarski is first in the WHL with a 1.24 goals against average and a .959 save percentage. Tokarski has three shutouts this season and 11 for his career, setting a new franchise record. Tokarski posted back-to-back shutouts for the third time in his career, second time in the regular season, with blankings on September 20th against Portland and September 27th against Tri-City. Tokarksi's third of the year came with 30 saves against Everett on October 3rd. Tokarski was named the Memorial Cup MVP after going 4-0 with a 1.72 GAA, a .953 save percentage and a 52 save performance in the Championship game against the Kitchener Rangers. Through games five and six of the second round versus Vancouver and one and two against Tri-City Tokarski had a stretch of 186 minutes and 15 seconds without allowing a goal. Tokarski's mark is fifth all-time in WHL playoff history. The Tampa Bay Lightning selected Tokarski in the fifth round in 2008. In 2007-08, the 19-year-old set a slew of records in net for Spokane, including most shutouts in a season (6), most consecutive wins (11-October 13th through December 2nd), best goals against average in a single season (2.05) and best save percentage (.922). Tokarski finished third in the WHL in GAA and first overall in save percentage.
TEAM COWEN-ADA...Defenseman Jared Cowen was named an Alternate Captain and helped Team Canada win a gold medal at the Memorial of Ivan Hlinka under-18 World Championships. Cowen is in his second season in a Spokane jersey. His empty net goal versus the Kitchener Rangers on May 25th, 2008 clinched the Chiefs Memorial Cup Championship. In his rookie season, Jared Cowen appeared in 68 games, scored four goals and 18 points. His +28 led all rookie defenseman in 2007-08. Cowen is eligible for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
BARTMAN...Brett Bartman leads the WHL with a +13. The 19-year-old posted a career high +6 in a 6-2 win over the Kamloops Blazers on Tuesday, September 30th and is now +9 in his last five. Through nine games, Bartman has one goal and four points. His first career goal counted as the game winner on September 20th, 2008 at Portland, a 3-0 win. Bartman appeared in 48 games last season with six assists and a +16.
KEEPING UP WITH JOHNSON...Spokane's own Tyler Johnson had one goal and two assists in a 6-2 win at Portland on October 10th and has two goals and eight points in six games. Johnson was a free-agent invitee to the Phoenix Coyotes camp was invited to their main camp. Johnson was named the Western Hockey League Finals MVP after scoring three goals in four games, including game winners in games three and four against the Lethbridge Hurricanes. In 2007-08, Johnson led Chiefs rookies with 69 games, 13 goals and 35 points.
CAMPING - AMERICAN STYLE...Drayson Bowman, Tyler Johnson and Mitch Wahl all attended the United States junior evaluation camp in August. The camp is used to identify prospects for the U.S. team that will play in the World Junior Hockey Championships in December in Ottawa.
CAMPING - THE CANADIAN WAY...Dustin Tokarski and Jared Spurgeon both attended Team Canada's National Junior Team Evaluation camp in August in Ottawa. Both are eligible for Canada's World Junior Team.
COMPTON'S CORNER...Twenty-year-old forward Seth Compton is in his fifth season in the WHL, all with the Chiefs, and has played in 233 career games (25th in franchise history), including a career high 71 games in 2007-08. Compton also scored a career high 13 goals and 20 points last year. Compton was named the Player's Player after last season.
REDDINGTON'S READY...Mike Reddington has played in 152 games in two-plus seasons, 27 playoff games and four more in the Memorial Cup. Reddington appeared in 71 of 72 games last season and led the Chiefs with 102 penalty minutes.
DRAFTED PLAYERS... Drayson Bowman (Carolina, 3rd round, 2007), Justin McCrae (Carolina, 4th round, 2007), Ondrej Roman (Dallas, 5th round, 2007), Mitch Wahl (Calgary, 2nd round, 2008), Dustin Tokarski (Tampa Bay, 5th round, 2008), Jared Spurgeon (NY Islanders, 6th round, 2008)
INJURY REPORT...Justin McCrae (knee, indefinite)
WEEKLY SCHEDULE
DAY EVENT AIR GAME LOCATION
Tuesday, October 14th Practice 1:00 Spokane Arena
Wednesday, October 15h vs. Portland Winter Hawks 6:30 7:00 Spokane Arena
Thursday, October 9th Practice 1:00 Spokane Arena
Friday, October 10th vs. Kamloops Blazers 6:30 7:00 Spokane Arena
Saturday, October 11th at Tri-City Americans 6:30 7:00 Kennewick, WA
AIR-Denotes the beginning of Comcast Hockey Tonight on 1510 KGA
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