Chiefs' Comeback Falls Short as They Fall to Kamloops Blazers Saturday, 6-4
WHL Spokane Chiefs

Chiefs' Comeback Falls Short as They Fall to Kamloops Blazers Saturday, 6-4

Published on September 20, 2025 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Spokane Chiefs News Release


Kamloops, B.C. - The Spokane Chiefs ended up splitting their opening weekend series north of the border after a 6-4 loss to the Kamloops Blazers Saturday night.

Sophomore defenseman Rhett Sather netted the Chiefs' first goal of the game - and the first of his WHL career - with a laser from the blue line at 8:36 in the first.

JP Hurlbert followed that up with back-to-back goals for the Blazers at 9:39 and 16:06 before Mathis Preston evened the score once again at 2-2 with just under four minutes to go in the opening frame. Brody Gillespie earned the assist on the play, which marked Preston's second goal of the weekend.

The second period was all Kamloops though, as Isa Guram got things going early with help from Andrew Thomson and Vit Zahejsky to give the Blazers a 3-2 advantage at 1:30. After that, Hurlbert completed his hat trick with a power play goal at 3:48 to pad that lead to 4-2.

From there, Cooper Moore netted a short handed goal at 14:29 to give the Blazers a 5-2 lead.

The Chiefs put up a fight in the third, starting when defenseman Kaden Allan pushed a puck up to Coco Armstrong who found the twine for the third time in two games at 3:31.

After a rebound in the back half of the frame, Gavin Burcar refused to leave the front of the net until the puck crossed the line, pushing across his first career WHL goal on the power play at 14:07. Mathis Preston and Owen Schoettler earned the assists.

But Owen Cooper deflated any chances of Spokane completing the comeback when he got away with an empty netter with 51 seconds left to go in the third, securing the 6-4 Kamloops victory.

The Chiefs outshot the Blazers 33-25, going 1-for-3 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill.

German rookie Linus Vieillard got his first career WHL start, stopping 19-of-24 Blazer shots he faced.

Up next, the Chiefs will head back to the States to host the rival Tri-City Americans in Saturday, September 27th's Blue Moon Opening Night at Spokane Arena.

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Western Hockey League Stories from September 20, 2025


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