Chiefs weekly report
Published on November 8, 2004 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Spokane Chiefs News Release
UPCOMING
Tuesday, November 9th vs. RED DEER AIR-6:30 GAME-7:00
The Chiefs will host Red Deer for their only meeting of the season with the Rebels. The Chiefs dropped a 4-3 decision in Red Deer last season. Spokane earned a 2-1 win over the Rebels in their only game in 2002-03. Red Deer earned a 4-3 win over the Chiefs in 2001-02. In 2000-01, the Chiefs and Red Deer split the series, with the road team winning each game. Since the 1992-93 season, the Chiefs are 11-8-1 versus the Rebels, and 7-3 in their last 10 meetings. In last year's game, Jim Watt made the start and made 26 saves on 30 shots. Chad Klassen had one goal and one assist and Gary Gladue had a pair of helpers. Red Deer scored three power play goals and one shorthanded while the Chiefs scored twice on the man advantage.
Wednesday, November 10th at KELOWNA ROCKETS AIR-6:30 GAME-7:00
The Chiefs will travel to the defending Memorial Cup Champion Kelowna Rockets for the first time this season. Spokane will play Kelowna four times this year, including Friday, November 26th for the first time in the Spokane Arena. The Rockets swept last year's season series.
Friday, November 12th vs. SEATTLE THUNDERBIRDS AIR-6:30 GAME-7:00
The Chiefs will host the Seattle Thunderbirds on in their second of nine meetings on the season. The Chiefs will host Seattle four times and travel to play in the Key Arena five times. Spokane will travel to Seattle for the first time on November 19th. Seattle earned a 4-2 win over the Chiefs on October 29th in their first meeting of the season. Seattle jumped out to a 1-0 lead before the Chiefs took a 2-1 lead with two quick goals going into the third. The Thunderbirds scored three goals in the third for the win. The Chiefs won six of eight games last season versus Seattle, going 3-1 in both buildings. Jim Watt posted a 2.01 GAA and .943 save percentage shutting out the Thunderbirds once. Chad Klassen has two goals and five assists in eight games. Gary Gladue was +6 in eight match-ups. The Chiefs were 30-36 (83.3%) on the penalty kill. Each time the Chiefs scored the first goal of the game, five times, Spokane won the game. The Chiefs were 1-2 when Seattle scored first.
Saturday, November 13th vs. PORTLAND WINTER HAWKS AIR-6:30 GAME-7:00
Spokane will host Portland in their third meeting, second in the Spokane Arena this season. Spokane defeated Portland 2-1 in overtime on October 22nd when Scott Lynch's snap shot from the right point found the back of the net. 1Portland earned a 5-3 win over the Chiefs on Wednesday, October 6th in their first meeting of the year. The Chiefs finished their regular season series last year with the Hawks at 5-3-1-1. Chad Klassen has four assists in two games this year and led the Chiefs with seven goals and 18 points last season. The 19-year-old had three four-point games versus Portland, including a hat trick on March 7th in a 6-3 win. Ned Lukacevic had five goals and 10 points. Scott Lynch scored three goals, seven points and finished the regular season as a +11 in 10 games. Jim Watt played seven games versus Portland and finished 3-2-1 with a .903 save percentage. The Chiefs were 10-51 (19.6%) on the powerplay.
LAST GAME
Friday, November 5th SPOKANE-0 at KAMLOOPS-2
For the first time this season, the Spokane Chiefs failed to get on the scoreboard, as the Kamloops Blazers blanked the Chiefs 2-0 Friday night in Kamloops. Devan Dubnyk had 34 saves for the Blazers, as Spokane outshot Kamloops 34-31, but came up short as Kamloops converted two power plays for the win. Nathan Grochmal's power play goal 3:10 in the first period, and Kalvin Sagert's power play marker at 2:34 in the second period were the difference in the game. Spokane goalie Jim Watt turned away 29 Blazer shots in the loss.
Saturday, November 6th SPOKANE-0 vs. TRI-CITY-3
The Spokane Chiefs fell 3-0 to the Tri-City Americans on Saturday night in the Spokane Arena. The Americans scored once in the first, second and third, including two power play goals, for the win. Marc Connors tallied a power play goal at 17:03 of the first period for a 1-0 lead and then Andy Thompson tallied in the second with the man advantage to make it 2-0. As the Chiefs trailed in the third with a power play, Spokane pulled Jim Watt for an extra attacker to make it a 6-4 advantage on the ice, Tri-City scored again into the empty net for the final margin. Watt stopped 31 shots on the night as the Chiefs outshot the Americans 38-34. Carey Price earned the shutout for the Americans as Spokane and Tri-City evened their record at two games apiece.
NEWS AND NOTES
SCHEDULE...The Chiefs are in the midst of six games in nine nights, their busiest stretch thus far. The Chiefs will host Red Deer on Tuesday, travel to Kelowna on Wednesday and return to the Arena on Friday and Saturday, the 12th and 13th, versus Seattle and Portland. In November, the Chiefs will play 13 games, eight at home and five on the road.
FIRST TIMERS...Both Mike Reich and Jason Lynch each scored their first career goals on October 16th at Tri-City in a 9-5 win. Reich was the Chiefs first round selection in 2003. Lynch, in his second season as a Chief, was Spokane's second round selection in 2002.
CLUTCH N'GRABER...Michael Grabner scored his first career WHL goal on October 29th versus the Seattle Thunderbirds. The 17-year-old was the Chiefs only selection in the 2004 CHL Import Draft.
MOVIN' ON UP...Captain Jevon Desautels has played in 244 career games in Spokane, 17th all-time and just one behind former defenseman Kyle Rossiter for 16th all-time. The 20-year-old has 566 career penalty minutes, 12th in franchise history. Assistant Coach Kevin Sawyer is the Chiefs all-time leader in PIM with 989 career.
TOP 50 COUNTDOWN...Jeff Lynch has moved into the franchise's top 25 list with 220 career games played while Chad Klassen is moving up with 187 career games played. Klassen has appeared in 149 consecutive games dating back to October, 2002. Klassen played in all 72 games last season. The next longest active streak is Ned Lukacevic, who has played in 86 consecutive.
SPOKANE CHIEFS TOP 50 CAREER GAMES PLAYED
1 Brandin Cote 352* 26 Darren Sinclair 209
2 Tim Krymusa 332 27 Darcy Loewen 208
3 Derek Schutz 322 28 Jon Klemm 204
4 Mason Wallin 319 Pat Falloon 204
5 Sean Gillam 281 Mike Wingerter 204
6 Joff Kehler 279 Randy Favaro 204
7 Greg Leeb 276 32 Gregg Delcourt 199
8 Jason Podollan 271 33 Ryan Duthie 198
9 Steve Junker 266 34 Jeff Lucky 196
10 Travis Green 258 35 Jeremy Stasiuk 189
11 Lynn Loyns 258 36 Chad Klassen 187
12 Frank Evans 256 Rob Friesen 187
13 Hugh Hamilton 253 Ty Jones 187
14 John Cirjak 252 39 Curtis Suter 183
15 Trent Whitfield 248 40 Joel Boschman 180
16 Kyle Rossiter 245 Kurt Sauer 180
17 Jevon Desautels 244 42 Valeri Bure 178
18 Brad Schell 239 43 Kevin Sawyer 176
Chris Barr 239 44 Dmitri Leonov 170
20 Joe Cardarelli 232 45 Tim Smith 166
21 Chris Heid 225 46 Shawn Thompson 166
22 David Boychuk 221 Jay Berstch 162
23 Jeff Lynch 220 48 Joel Rupprecht 161
24 Mike Jickling 219 Barry Brust 161
25 Ray Whitney 214 Mike Haley 161
*tied for 6th all-time in WHL history
EUROPEAN VACATION...Three former Spokane Chiefs have made the move to Europe as Jan Hrdina has returned to his home country to play with Kladno of the Czech Republic. Brad Ference is playing in France for Morzine-Avoriaz and Bryan McCabe is in Sweden playing for HV71 Jönköping.
DID I HEAR A NINER?...The nine goals the Chiefs scored on Saturday, October 16th at Tri-City were the most they scored since a 9-4 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds on October 12th, 2001. The Chiefs set a road record for most unanswered goals with nine. The last time the Chiefs scored 10 in a game was against Tri-City on February 26th, 2000. Spokane set their overall record for most unanswered goals in a game at 10 in that game.
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.
KLASSEN SESSION ...Chad Klassen has five goals, 13 assists and 18 points in his last 11 games. In 14 games this year, Klassen has points in 10, including three points three times. His 20 total points are tied for 11th overall in the WHL. Klassen is seventh in the WHL in assists. His six game assist streak from October 6th through October 22nd is the longest in the WHL this season. 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.
HOBBY'S HOBBY...Adam Hobson had a four game point scoring streak snapped on October 23rd versus Kamloops. Hobson had one goal and seven points in that span. The 17-year-old won a gold medal with Team Canada at this summer's Under-18 World Junior Hockey Championship.
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 the win. The Edmonton, Alberta native equaled a franchise record with four shutouts in 2003-04. 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.
LYNCH PIN...Twenty-year-old defenseman Scott Lynch has points in nine of 13 games this year and is the second highest scoring defenseman in the WHL with four goals and 10 assists. The 20-year-old has five multiple point games this year. 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 1993-94. Lynch has played more games in the WHL (266) than any other Chief.
ZIMMER-MAN...Sean Zimmerman had a four game point scoring streak snapped on October 23rd. Zimmerman had four assists in that span. The 17-year-old was named the Chiefs Rookie of the Year last season after posting a +1 in 66 games.
STOESZ PUT...Seventeen-year Myles Stoesz is second in the WHL in penalty minutes with 68 through 12 games. Stoesz led all Chiefs rookies a year ago with 128 penalty minutes.
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 has five goals this season, third most for any rookie. Bruton was an eighth round selection in the 2002 WHL Bantam Draft.
HOWARTH YOU DOING...After playing in his first game as a Chief on October 15th versus Vancouver, Kyle Howarth hit the score sheet with a goal and an assist one night later in a 9-5 win over Tri-City. The 18-year-old was acquired by the Chiefs from the Medicine Hat Tigers.
ROSTER NEWS...The Chiefs are carrying 22 players on its roster, including two goaltenders, seven defenseman and 13 forwards. By age, the Chiefs have three 20-year-olds, three 19-year-olds, seven 18-year-olds, six 17-year-olds and three 16-year-olds. The Chiefs feature nine rookies. On defense, Spokane has just one first year player on its roster and six veterans.
NED NEEDLELANDER...Ned Lukacevic recorded his first career four point game on October 16th in a 9-5 win over Tri-City. Lukacevic had four assists on the night and has recorded a point in seven of 10 games this year. The 18-year-old 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.
THE HIGHLANDER...Derek Ryan recorded his first career three point game on October 16th in a 9-5 win over Tri-City. Ryan had one goal and two assists. The 18-year-old scored a goal in his first career WHL game, the regular season finale versus Kootenay last season. Ryan is a local product who attends Shadle Park High School in Spokane.
INJURY REPORT...none to report
WEEKLY SCHEDULE
Tuesday, November 9th Spokane vs. Red Deer 6:30 7:00 Spokane Arena
Wednesday, November 10th Spokane at Kelowna 6:30 7:00 Kelowna, BC
Thursday, November 11th Practice 1:00 Eagles Ice-A-Rena
Friday, November 12th Spokane vs. Seattle 6:30 7:00 Spokane Arena
Saturday, November 13th Spokane vs. Portland 6:30 7:00 Spokane Arena
Sunday, November 14th Off Day
Monday, November 15th Practice 1:00 Eagles Ice-A-Rena
Tuesday, November 16th Practice 1:00 Eagles Ice-A-Rena
Wednesday, November 17th Spokane vs. Everett 6:30 7:00 Spokane Arena
Thursday, November 18th Practice 1:00 Eagles Ice-A-Rena
Friday, November 19th Spokane at Seattle 6:30 7:00 Seattle, WA
Saturday, November 20th Spokane vs. Calgary 6:30 7:00 Spokane Arena
AIR- Denotes the beginning of Comcast Hockey Tonight on 790 the Fan on game nights.
Western Hockey League Stories from November 8, 2004
- Chiefs weekly report - Spokane Chiefs
- First Game of T-Birds 6-Game Home Stand Starts With Big Promotion Night - Seattle Thunderbirds
- Jon Bubnick named WHL Player of the Week - Regina Pats
- Weekly Ice report - Kootenay Ice
- Regina Pats Weekly - Regina Pats
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