WHL Seattle Thunderbirds

Chiefs Take Down T-Birds

January 25, 2008 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Seattle Thunderbirds News Release


Seattle, January 25, 2008 - The Spokane Chiefs defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 5-2 Friday night at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena.

The T-Birds are now 22-17-5-2 in the US Division and they face the Everett Silvertips on Saturday nigh at KeyArena at 7:05 p.m.

Seattle took a 1- 0 lead at 4:34 of the first period on the 10th goal of the year from Jim O'Brien. Prab Rai chased a puck down the left boards into the Spokane zone. Rai was able to get a stick on the puck and O'Brien, who was trailing the play, controlled the loose puck just inside the blue line. O'Brien cut to center ice with the puck to create a two-on-one with Rai on his left. O'Brien skated into the right circle and beat Spokane goalie Dustin Tokarski with a quick snap shot. Scott Jackson had the second assist. O'Brien and Rai both extended their point streaks on Seattle's first goal. O'Brien has a six-game point streak and Rai has a four-game point streak.

David Rutherford scored at 6:42 of the first to tie the game 1-1. Ondrej Roman and Seth Compton had the assists.

Trevor Glass scored a power-play goal at 14:07 of the first to put the Chiefs in front 2-1. Chris Bruton and Jace Coyle had the assists.

Seattle outshot Spokane (34-10-1-3) 15-8 in the first period.

Seattle tied the game 1-1 at 10:17 of the second period on a power-play goal by Jackson. Jackson beat Tokarski with a wrist shot from the left point with traffic in front of the Spokane goalie. Lindsay Nielsen and David Richard had assists on the goal. Richard extended his point streak to four games with the second assist.

Justin McCrae scored with two seconds left in the third period to put the Chiefs in front 3-2. Levko Koper and Mike Reddington had the assists.

Both teams had six shots on goal in the second period and the T-Birds had a 21-14 lead in shots after two periods.

Tyler Johnson scored at 8:28 of the third period to give Spokane a 4-2 lead. Koper and Bruton had the assists.

Judd Blackwater added an empty-net goal at 19:49 of the third for the final Chiefs goal. Bruton had the only assist on the goal.

The T-Birds outshot the Chiefs 28-22 in the game.

Seattle goalie Jacob DeSerres made 17 saves on 21 shots and his record is now 10-8-0-1.

Tokarski stopped 26 of 28 shots and his record is 19- 5-0-2.

After the game against the Silvertips on Saturday they travel to Kennewick to face the Tri-City Americans on Sunday at 5:05 p.m.

Season tickets are currently on sale for 2007-08 at KeyArena. Fans purchasing 2007-08 season tickets will have the highest seating priority for the 2008-09 season as the Thunderbirds open the new Kent Events Center. Priority can be established right now by calling 206-448-PUCK (7825) or for more information go to www.seattlethunderbirds.com.

Check out the Seattle Thunderbirds Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from January 25, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central