WHL Spokane Chiefs

Chiefs to Induct Five New Players into List of Chiefs Legends for 40th Anniversary

February 18, 2025 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Spokane Chiefs News Release


Spokane, Wash. - The Spokane Chiefs will be announcing five new players throughout the week that will be inducted into the list of Chiefs Legends. The week will culminate on Friday, February 21 with a press conference at Spokane Arena at 11:30 a.m.

The Chiefs will also host a pre-game ceremony when they take on the Tri-City Americans on Avista "Way to Save" 40th Anniversary Poster Giveaway Friday.

Tickets are available by visiting www.spokanechiefs.com.

The first new player inducted into the Chiefs Legends will be defenseman Brad Ference.

BRAD FERENCE (1996-99)

In 1996-97, Ference earned the WHL's Western Conference top rookie honor and was named to the CHL All-Rookie team after posting six goals, 20 assists and 324 penalty minutes in 67 games.

That summer, he became the first Chiefs' defenseman selected in the first round of the NHL Draft, going 10th overall in 1997 to the Vancouver Canucks. Ference is one of three blueliners in franchise history to be selected in the first round.

As a Chief, Ference averaged .58 points a game from the blueline with 18 goals and 73 assists in 157 games.

He is tied for the franchise record most assists in a single game by a defenseman, with five. He accomplished the task on January 16, 1999 at Medicine Hat.

Ference has the sixth-most penalty minutes in franchise history, and second-most for a defenseman, with 680. He finished second in the WHL with 324 PIMs in 1996-97.

He is one of four Chiefs to play in back-to-back World Junior Hockey Championships (1998, 1999) for Canada, earning a silver medal at the 1999 tournament.

In the 1998 Memorial Cup tournament hosted by Spokane, he was named to the Memorial Cup All-Star team.

Ference enjoyed a nine-year professional career that included 250 career games in the NHL with Florida, Phoenix and Calgary, where he amassed 565 penalty minutes. In total, he appeared in 544 professional games with 1,419 penalty minutes.

Ference is currently living in Calgary, Alberta with his wife Kristin, daughter Morgan and son Easton. He has been with the Calgary Fire Department for 16 years where he is a Senior Firefighter.

Ference will be on hand in Spokane on Friday, February 21 for a special pre-game ceremony when the Chiefs host the Tri-City Americans.

Season GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM

1995-96 5 0 2 2 18 - - - - -

1996-97 67 6 20 26 324 9 0 4 4 21

1997-98 54 9 29 38 213 18 0 7 7 59

1998-99 31 3 22 25 125 - - - - -

- 157 18 73 91 680 27 0 11 11 80

Check out the Spokane Chiefs Statistics



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