WHL Spokane Chiefs

Chiefs prepare for first round of playoffs

Published on March 20, 2007 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Spokane Chiefs News Release


The Spokane Chiefs finished the regular season in winning fashion on Sunday afternoon with an 8-3 win over Portland and, after a day off on Monday, will begin preparations for their first round playoff series with the Everett Silvertips.

With the playoffs approaching, "there's a new excitement," Chiefs Head Coach Bill Peters said. "Guys have a little extra jump in their step and they're really looking forward to what's ahead."

The Chiefs will travel to Everett for games one and two on Friday and Saturday before returning to Spokane for three and four on Tuesday the 27th and Wednesday the 28th. The Silvertips will have home ice advantage and host potential games five and seven with an if-necessary game six in the Arena.

Everett finished the regular season with the WHL's top record at 54-15-1-2 and 111 points. Both teams won four times in an eight game season series.

The Chiefs won three of the first four meetings, and three in the Spokane Arena, and the Silvertips won three of the final four. Everett also won three times on their home ice. The Chiefs win on the road was a 2-1 shootout victory in Dustin Tokarski's first career WHL start on October 6th. The Silvertips won the last match-up, 6-2 on March 6th, in the Arena.

Spokane put their best regular season together in six seasons with a 36-28-4-4 record and 80 points.

"I was happy with the regular season," Chiefs Head Coach Bill Peters said after "There could have been a couple of stretches that we played better, but the way we ended the regular season with injuries and resting some guys, I was pleased with our efforts heading into the post-season."

"All the injured guys are healing as expected. We're in the same boat as all the other teams in the league, nobody is playing with 25 healthy bodies and that's because we have all played seven months of hockey. I think we're as healthy as we've been since the middle of February," Peters said.

The Chiefs went through a two week stretch where they lost five players for multiple games with various injuries, including two broken wrists, a broken ankle and appendicitis. Since, the Chiefs have seen Drayson Bowman, Justin Falk and J.P. Szaszkiewicz all return. Seth Compton (ankle) is expected out until the second round while David Linsley is out again with a shoulder injury.

Spokane will have 23 healthy bodies in the lineup, including defenseman Jared Cowen who played all three games for the Chiefs last week. The first overall selection in last spring's WHL Bantam Draft has played five games in Spokane and is +4.

Tickets for games three and four of the first round are on sale now at the Chiefs office by calling (509) 535-PUCK or TicketsWest at (800) 325-SEAT.

The Chiefs and Silvertips will face off in the first round of the playoffs beginning on Friday, March 23rd with game one in Everett. Each team won four games of an eight game series with the Chiefs winning once in a shootout and three times on home ice. Everett also was 3-1 at home. The team that led after two periods was 6-0 with each team winning once when it was tied after 40-minutes of play. The Chiefs outshot Everett in six of the eight games. On average, the Chiefs outshot Everett 25.1-22.5. The team that scored the first goal of the game was 6-2. Michael Grabner has four goals and six points while Adam Hobson has two goals and three points. Sean Zimmerman (1-2-3), Derek Ryan, Ondøej Roman and Stephan Lenoski all have three assists. Kevin Armstrong played six of the eight games and posted a 2.59 GAA, one shutout and a 3-3 record. In three games, Dustin Tokarski has a 1.34 GAA, .942 save percentage and 1-1 record. Everett won the first round of the playoffs four games to nothing in 2003-04.

10.06.06 - at Everett - 2-1 SO - W

The Chiefs picked up their first win of the series with a 2-1 shootout victory on October 6th in Everett. Dustin Tokarski stopped 19 shots and two of three in the shootout for his first career victory in his first career start.

10.13.06 - at Spokane - 5-2 - W

Michael Grabner recorded a hat-trick and Chris Langkow scored his first career goal in the Spokane win.

10.25.06 - at Everett - 0-3 - L

Brandon Campos, Jason Fransoo and Kyle Beach scored goals in the 3-0 Silvertip win. The 38 combined shots on goal was a season low for the Chiefs.

12.13.06 - at Spokane - 4-2 - W

Defensemen Justin Falk and Sean Zimmerman each scored their first goals of the year and Michael Grabner finished the game with an empty netter. Kevin Armstrong stopped 26 Everett shots, including 11 in the third period.

01.05.07 - at Spokane - 1-0 - W

Kevin Armstrong made 23 saves in his second career shutout, first as a Chief, leading Spokane to a 1-0 win. David Rutherford scored the game's only goal.

02.09.07 - at Everett - 1-2 - L

Zach Hamill's goal at 8:49 of the third period snapped a 1-1 tie and gave Everett the win. Adam Hobson scored for the Chiefs.

03.03.07 - at Everett - 0-3 - L

Leland Irving stopped all 29 Spokane shots for a 3-0 win over the Chiefs. Everett was held to 16 shots, the fewest allowed by Spokane this season.

03.06.07 - at Spokane - 2-6 - L

Everett scored three third period goals and went 2-5 on the man advantage for the win.

Check out the Spokane Chiefs Statistics

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Western Hockey League Stories from March 20, 2007


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