Chiefs weekly report
Published on October 11, 2004 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Spokane Chiefs News Release
The Spokane Chiefs will play three games this week, including two in a row at home, on the heels of a 3-0 shutout win over Tri-City last Saturday night in the Spokane Arena. Spokane is 2-0 at home this season and will practice in the Arena all week.
SCHEDULE AIR GAME LOCATION
Monday, October 11th Practice 1:00 Spokane Arena
Tuesday, October 12th Spokane vs. Lethbridge 6:30 7:00 Spokane Arena
Wednesday, October 13th Practice 1:00 Spokane Arena
Thursday, October 14th Practice 1:00 Spokane Arena
Friday, October 15th Spokane vs. Vancouver 6:30 7:00 Spokane Arena
Saturday, October 16th Spokane at Tri-City 6:30 7:00 Kennewick, WA
Sunday, October 17th Off Day
Monday, October 18th Practice 1:00 Eagles Ice-A-Rena
Tuesday, October 19th Practice 1:00 Eagles Ice-A-Rena
Wednesday, October 20th Practice 1:00 Eagles Ice-A-Rena
Thursday, October 21st Practice 1:00 Eagles Ice-A-Rena
Friday, October 22nd Spokane vs. Portland 6:30 7:00 Spokane Arena
Saturday, October 23rd Spokane vs. Kamloops 6:30 7:00 Spokane Arena
AIR- Denotes the beginning of Comcast Hockey Tonight on 790 the Fan on game nights.
UPCOMING
Tuesday, October 12th vs. LETHBRIDGE HURRICANES AIR- 6:30 GAME-7:00
Spokane will host Lethbridge for their only match-up with the Hurricanes. Spokane dropped a 8-5 decision to Lethbridge last season, their only meeting of the year. Spokane and Lethbridge have gone to overtime with each other six times in their last 11 games. The Chiefs hold a 1-0-5 edge in those games. Spokane is 3-3-5 in the last 11 meetings with the Hurricanes.
Friday, October 15th vs. VANCOUVER GIANTS AIR-6:30 GAME-7:00
The Chiefs will host the Vancouver Giants in their first trip to the Spokane Arena and second game in as many weeks. Spokane and Vancouver will face off four times this year. The Giants earned a 5-1 win on October 5th in their first game of the season. The Chiefs went 3-0-0-1 versus Vancouver last season earning seven of a possible eight points. Scott Lynch (2-2-4), Gary Gladue (1-3-4) and Chad Klassen (1-3-4) all had four points in as many games versus the Giants. Gladue, a Coquitlam, BC native, was also +4. Ned Lukacevic, who scored a goal in his first career game in the WHL as a 15-year-old versus the Giants, scored a pair of goals last season. Jim Watt was 2-0 in two starts with one shutout and a .967 save percentage. The Chiefs went 5-22 (22.7%) on the power play and 24-26 (92.3%) on the penalty kill.
Saturday, October 16th at TRI-CITY AMERICANS AIR-6:30 GAME-7:00
The Chiefs will travel to Tri-City for the first time this season in the Chiefs and Americans second match-up of the year. Spokane earned a 3-0 win over Tri-City on Saturday, October 9th in the Spokane Arena. Jim Watt stopped 29 shots in his first shutout of the season and Spokane put 50 pucks on net. Spokane was 1-6 on the power play and 3-3 on the penalty kill. The Chiefs finished last year's season series with a 5-4-1-2 record with all five wins coming at home. The team that was outshot by the opposition was 8-3. Spokane finished the season series 15-57 (26.3%) on the power play. Chad Klassen had a team high eight goals and 16 points, including four goals and nine points on the power play. Gary Gladue, who was +3 in 11 games, scored twice and had nine points. Spokane will travel to Tri-City on Saturday, October 9th. The Americans will be back in Spokane on Saturday, November 6th.
LAST WEEK
Tuesday, October 5th SPOKANE-1 at VANCOUVER-5
In their first meeting of the season, the Vancouver Giants skated to a home victory over Spokane, 5-1 on Tuesday night. The Giants scored two first period goals before Spokane got on the board 3:43 into the second. Chad Klassen one-timed a Ned Lukacevic pass from the top of the left circle and scored a power play goal to cut the Giant lead in half. Just nine-seconds later, Vancouver scored again to make it 3-1. The Giants tallied two more times in the third for the 5-1 final. The Chiefs finished the night 5-5 on the penalty kill and 1-5 on the power play.
Wednesday, October 6th SPOKANE-3 at PORTLAND-5
The Spokane Chiefs and Portland Winter Hawks combined to score six power play goals on Wednesday night in a 5-3 Portland victory. The Chiefs opened the scoring when Ned Lukacevic tallied with the man advantage 7:35 into the first period from Chad Klassen and Scott Lynch. Spokane pushed their lead to 2-0 when Jevon Desautels scored his first of the season at 13:14. Portland's first goal came at 16:36 of the first. The Winter Hawks tied it up at 1:34 of the second before the Chiefs pulled ahead by one with Chris Bruton's second of the season at 4:55. Late in the second and early in the third the Chiefs were shorthanded for nine consecutive minutes and Portland took advantage with a pair of power play goals to take a 4-3 lead. The Winter Hawks scored into an empty net with 31-seconds remaining for the 5-3 final. The Chiefs finished the night 2-7 on the power play and outshot Portland 33-28.
Saturday, October 9th SPOKANE-3 vs. TRI-CITY-0
The Spokane Chiefs put 50 shots on net and Jim Watt earned his first shutout of the season as the Spokane Chiefs defeated the Tri-City Americans on Saturday night in the Spokane Arena. For the Chiefs, it was their second straight win at home and their first win over their rival in the first of 12 match-ups of the season with the Americans. The Chiefs took a 1-0 lead in the first period with Scott Lynch's first goal of the year at 11:33. Ned Lukacevic carried the puck up the right wing and slipped a back door pass to Lynch who one touched it in. Spokane outshot the Americans 17-5 through 20-minutes of play and 36-13 through two. Derek Ryan gave the Chiefs a 2-0 lead at 12:29 of the second. Ryan was broke into the Americans zone with a tipped pass from Jeff Lynch snapped home his second goal of the season. Gustav Engman also had an assist. The Chiefs lone power play goal of the night was scored 1:23 into the third period by Jeff Lynch, a re-direct of a Gary Gladue pass. Chad Klassen, who also assisted on the Chiefs first goal, earned his second helper of the night.
NEWS AND NOTES
SHOT TO THE HEART...Spokane's 50 shots on October 9th versus Tri-City were the most since March 15th, 2002 when the team put 51 shots on net in a 2-2 tie with Tri-City. The Chiefs franchise record for shots on goal in one game is 75 in a 6-0 win on March 17th, 1996 versus the Prince George Cougars.
WATT'S NEST...Eighteen-year-old goaltender Jim Watt earned his fifth career shutout on Saturday, October 9th in a 3-0 blanking of the Tri-City Americans. Watt had 29 saves in a the win. The Edmonton, Alberta native 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.
WE'RE GOING STREAKING...Ned Lukacevic (2-3-5) and Scott Lynch (1-6-7) have points in all five games. Lynch leads the Chiefs in scoring, is fourth in the WHL with six assists and is tied as the second highest scoring defenseman in the league.
MORE ON 27...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 257 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, Lynch scored 15 goals and 27 points.
THE LYNCH LOG...Jeff Lynch has one goal and four points in his last four games. The 19-year-old has cracked the Chiefs top 25 in career games played with 211 in a Spokane sweater.
KLASSEN ...Chad Klassen has points in four of five games, including going 0-4-4 in the last two games. 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. Last season Klassen recorded five four point games and four three point games on his way to 22 games with multiple points.
BRUTON'S BLOG...Seventeen-year-old Chris Bruton scored his first career goal on Saturday, October 2nd versus the Kootenay Ice, an empty netter in a 4-2 win. Bruton also scored on Wednesday, October 6th versus Portland. The rookie was an eighth round selection in the 2002 WHL Bantam Draft.
CHIEFS REASSIGN TWO...The Spokane Chiefs have re-assigned two players last week, 18-year-old forward Jared Hough to the Drayton Valley Thunder of the AJHL and 18-year-old goaltender Keyvan Hunt, who is awaiting reassignment. Hough had not played in a regular season game while Hunt appeared in one game, stopping five shots in 11 minutes on Tuesday night at Vancouver.
HOWARTH YOU DOING...The Spokane Chiefs have acquired 18-year-old forward Kyle Howarth from the Medicine Hat Tigers for 19-year-old defenseman Liam Couture. Before being called up by Medicine Hat last season, Howarth scored 34 goals and 67 points in just 37 games with the Selkirk Steelers of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. The Winnipeg, Manitoba product appeared in 12 regular season games with the Tigers last season and one playoff game. Howarth has played in two games for Medicine Hat this season, scoring one goal and posting four penalty minutes. Howarth was originally a 10th round selection (175th overall) 2001 WHL Bantam Draft.
LOGAN'S RUN...The Spokane Chiefs have acquired defenseman Joe Logan from the Vancouver Giants for 18-year-old defenseman Andy Schenn. Schenn had played the previous two seasons with the Chiefs and did not attend camp prior to this season. Logan is entering his third season in the WHL and had played 120 games with Vancouver, including two this season. The 18-year-old was originally a second round pick, 20th overall, in the 2001 WHL Bantam Draft. Logan, a Gull Lake, SK native, scored a career high five goals and 21 points as a 16-year-old in 2002-03. "Joe will give us a versatile defenseman with good puck skills in an age group where his assets are a necessity," Chiefs General Manager Tim Speltz said. "We feel comfortable Joe's dimension will be valuable to our team this year and in the future."
ROSTER NEWS...The Chiefs are carrying 24 players on its roster, including two goaltenders, seven defenseman and 15 forwards. By age, the Chiefs have three 20-year-olds, three 19-year-olds, seven 18-year-olds, seven 17-year-olds and four 16-year-olds. The Chiefs feature 11 rookies. On defense, Spokane has just one first year player on its roster and six veterans.
DESAUTELS SUSPENDED...Spokane Chief forward Jevon Desautels has been given a two game suspension by the Western Hockey League for receiving a match penalty on Wednesday, October 6th at Portland. Desautels, the Chiefs captain, Saturday's game at home versus Tri-City and this Tuesday's home game versus the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
CAPTAIN DESAUTELS...The Spokane Chiefs have named 20-year-old forward Jevon Desautels its captain for the 2004-05 season. Desautels has played in 236 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. Desautels had 118 PIM in 2003-04 moving him into 15th place on the franchise's all-time list with 532 career minutes.
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) that 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 238 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.
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.
INJURY REPORT...Michael Grabner (shoulder, 1-2 weeks), Kyle Howarth (ankle, day-to-day)
Western Hockey League Stories from October 11, 2004
- Chiefs weekly report - Spokane Chiefs
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