WHL Spokane Chiefs

Chiefs hit the road Saturday night

Published on September 24, 2004 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Spokane Chiefs News Release


The Spokane Chiefs will break in the 2004-05 regular season as they hit the road to take on the Kootenay Ice on Saturday night. Mike Boyle will go on the air at 5:30 on 790 the Fan with Comcast Hockey Tonight with the puck dropping from the Cranbrook Rec-Plex at 6:00.

SATURDAY NIGHT: at KOOTENAY ICE The Spokane chiefs will take on the Kootenay Ice for the first of six meetings on the season. Spokane and Kootenay split an eight game series with the Chiefs winning the first two games in overtime on back to back nights in early October, 2003. Spokane won the final two games of the regular season in a home-and-home series with Kootenay. The Chiefs finished 6-42 (14.3%) on the power play and 37-42 (88.1%) on the penalty kill. Jim Watt played in six of the eight games and finished 3-2 with a 1.77 GAA and .946 save percentage. Chad Klassen finished the season versus the Ice with one goal and five assists. Saturday will be just the second time in the last eight years that the Chiefs have opened the season with a team other than Tri-City. The Chiefs opened the 2001-02 season with a home-and-home series with Kootenay.

NEWS AND NOTES

ROSTER NEWS...The Chiefs are carrying 26 players on its roster, including three goaltenders, eight defenseman and 15 forwards. By age, the Chiefs have three 20-year-olds, four 19-year-olds, seven 18-year-olds, eight 17-year-olds and four 16-year-olds. The Chiefs feature 12 rookies, including two goaltenders. On defense, Spokane has two first year players on its roster and six veterans.

NICE FINISH...The Chiefs won six of their final seven regular season games last season, shutting out two of their opponents and winning once in overtime. The Chiefs were 6-22 (27.3%) on the power play in the wins.

KLASSENS BACK...Chad Klassen was the league's top scoring 18-year-old last season with 35 goals and 91 points. Klassen finished second on the Chiefs and sixth in the WHL in scoring and was tied for the team lead with a +17, including a +8 in his last six games of the year. In his final 18 games, Klassen had points in 15, scoring nine goals and 25 points. Last season Klassen recorded five four point game and four three point games on his way to 22 games with multiple points. His 38 power play points were second on the team and 26 power play assists were tops on the team.

LYNCH NEWS...Twenty-year-old defenseman Scott Lynch is entering his fifth season in the WHL and has more service in the league than any other Chief with 252 career games. Last season Lynch scored a career high 17 goals and 40 points, both tops for any Chiefs defenseman. Lynch's 17 goals were the most by a Chiefs defenseman since Bryan McCabe had 22 in 1993-94. Through 33 games last season Lynch had two goals and 13 points, but in his next 38 games, Lynch scored 15 goals and 27 points, including six multiple point games.

CAMP OUT...Scott Lynch, Jevon Desautels, Gary Gladue and Ned Lukacevic all attended pro-camps earlier this month. Twenty-year-olds Lynch and Desautels attended Detroit's prospects camp while Gladue attended Vancouver's. Lukacevic was in Southern California for the L.A. Kings pre-season rookie tournament.

CAPTAIN DESAUTELS...The Spokane Chiefs have named 20-year-old forward Jevon Desautels its captain for the 2004-05 season. Fellow 20-year-olds Scott Lynch and Gary Gladue along with Chad Klassen and Jeff Lynch have been named alternate captains. Desautels has played in 232 career games, all in a Chiefs sweater, putting him 19th on the franchise's all-time list. The Alida, SK native recorded a career high nine goals and 27 points in an injury shortened season last year that saw him play 52 games. Desautels had 118 PIM in 2003-04 moving him into 15th place on the franchise's all-time list with 532 career minutes. Originally a second round pick in the 1999 WHL Bantam Draft, Desautels served as an alternate captain last season.

WATT'S NEST...Eighteen-year-old goaltender Jim Watt equaled a franchise record with four shutouts in 2003-04. Watt tied Scott Bailey's 1990-91 and David Lemanowicz's 1995-96 seasons. The Edmonton, AB native also set a franchise mark with a .915 save percentage. Watt finished the season with a 2.65 GAA and 16-14-1-1 record.

ZIMM'S IN...Sean Zimmerman was named the Spokane Chiefs Rookie of the year last season after leading all Chiefs defenseman as a +1. The 17-year-old was the Chiefs seventh round selection in 2003.

WHAT I DID IN THE SUMMER...Ned Lukacevic was selected by the Los Angeles Kings in the fourth round of this summer's NHL Entry Draft. The Port Coquitlam, BC native scored 19 goals last season and was one of two players (Klassen) to have appeared in all 72 games. Lukacevic was tied for second on the team with five game winning goals.

GLADUE COULD MAKE IT...Gary Gladue has appeared in 234 career games between Spokane, Calgary and Prince George. Gladue scored a career high seven goals and 35 points last season and finished the regular season as a +11 in his last 18 games.

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK...The Spokane Chiefs acquired goaltender Keyvan Hunt from the Saskatoon Blades last week in exchange for a conditional sixth round bantam selection. Hunt appeared in eight games last season in Saskatoon posting a 4.79 goals against average and .863 save percentage. The Port Coquitlam, BC native played a majority of the season with the Ridge Meadows Flames of the PIJHL in 2003-04 finishing eighth in the league with a 3.61 GAA. Hunt will be one of three goaltenders in camp as he will join three-year veteran Jim Watt and rookie Kirk Irving.

YOU MUST BE LOCAL...The Chiefs boast four players who have played for the Spokane Braves of the KIJHL, including Sean Zimmerman. Derek Ryan, last season's KIJHL Player of the Year, appeared in one regular season game last year and four playoff games. Seth Compton, a fifth round pick in 2003, and Mike Senseman, who played seven regular season games last year, are also on the roster.

RYAN'S SONG...Derek Ryan scored a goal in his first career WHL game, the regular season finale versus Kootenay last season. Ryan also scored one goal in the playoffs versus Everett. Ryan joins Ned Lukacevic as the two players on the roster who have scored goals in their first career games. Lukacevic did it as a 15-year-old. Ryan is a local product who attends Shadle Park High School in Spokane.

GOLDEN BOY...Adam Hobson scored one goal and two points in five games for Team Canada in August as they won a gold medal at the under-17 World Hockey Championships. Hobson also won a silver medal with Team Pacific with Chief teammate Jason Lynch in January at the under-17 World Hockey Challenge. Last season Hobson scored four goals and eight points in 63 games.

Check out the Spokane Chiefs Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from September 24, 2004


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