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WHL Spokane Chiefs

Chiefs Weekly Report

November 12, 2007 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Spokane Chiefs News Release


The first place Spokane Chiefs continue a stretch of six straight home games this weekend when they play three games, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday they host the Prince George Cougars (twice) and the Regina Pats. The Chiefs have 31 points and a three point lead in the U.S. Division standings over the Tri-City Americans.

Western Conference

U.S. Division GP W L OTL SL PTS

Spokane Chiefs 20 14 3 1 2 31

Tri-City Americans 19 14 5 0 0 28

Everett Silvertips 21 11 10 0 0 22

Seattle Thunderbirds 17 8 5 3 1 20

Portland Winter Hawks 20 3 17 0 0 6

B.C. Division GP W L OTL SL PTS

Vancouver Giants 23 16 4 1 2 35

Chilliwack Bruins 21 12 7 2 0 26

Kelowna Rockets 20 11 7 1 1 24

Kamloops Blazers 20 8 10 1 1 18

Prince George Cougars 22 9 13 0 0 18

Eastern Conference

East Division GP W L OTL SL PTS

Regina Pats 23 15 8 0 0 30

Swift Current Broncos 22 12 6 0 4 28

Brandon Wheat Kings 21 13 7 0 1 27

Moose Jaw Warriors 20 9 7 3 1 22

Prince Albert Raiders 23 8 12 3 0 19

Saskatoon Blades 20 7 12 1 0 15

Central Division GP W L OTL SL PTS

Medicine Hat Tigers 22 13 7 2 0 28

Lethbridge Hurricanes 22 13 7 1 1 28

Calgary Hitmen 22 13 8 0 1 27

Kootenay Ice 23 11 10 2 0 24

Edmonton Oil Kings 22 9 9 1 3 22

Red Deer Rebels 25 5 15 4 1 15

WEEKLY SCHEDULE

DATE EVENT AIR GAME LOCATION

Tuesday, November 13th vs. Prince George 6:30 7:00 Spokane Arena

Wednesday, November 14th Practice 1:00 Eagles Ice-A-Rena

Thursday, November 15th Practice 1:00 Eagles Ice-A-Rena

Friday, November 16th vs. Regina 6:30 7:00 Spokane Arena

Saturday, November 17th vs. Prince George 6:30 7:00 Spokane Arena

Sunday, November 18th Day Off

AIR- denotes the beginning of Comcast Hockey Tonight on KJRB 790 the Fan or the beginning of practice.

NEWS AND NOTES

KELNER SUSPENDED...Curtis Kelner will serve the second game of a two game suspension on Tuesday night against the Prince George Cougars. Kelner was originally given a Match Penalty on Friday night versus the Kamloops Blazers, but, after reviewing the play, the league changed the call to a major penalty for checking from behind and a game misconduct. Kelner served the first game of the suspension on Saturday, November 10th versus the Everett Silvertips.

FOR STARTERS...The Chiefs 14-3-1-2 record and 31 points is the best record through 20 games in franchise history.

SCORING...The Chiefs have allowed fewer goals than any other team in the WHL, 43 through 20 games, 2.15 per game. Vancouver is second in the WHL with 2.26 goals against per game. The Chiefs 3.45 goals per game (69 in 20 games) is fourth in the WHL. Spokane has outscored the opposition 29-12 in the first period and have scored the first goal of the game in 16 of 20 games.

STREAKING...The Chiefs recorded their second longest winning streak in franchise history with nine games from October 12th through November 2nd. Spokane won 12 games in a row, a franchise record, in 1995-96, one year after they posted an eight gamer. The Chiefs accomplished their eight game winning streak by outscoring the opposition 34-12 (3.78-1.25 on average) and held other teams to just 22.6 shots on goal per game.

SHOTS ALL AROUND...The Chiefs are averaging 32.2 shots on game and allowing just 23.6 Spokane has allowed more than 30 shots in a game just three times this year. The Chiefs are 14-3 when outshooting the opposition. The Chiefs are 0-2 when being outshot.

KILLER KILL...The Chiefs are the sixth least penalized team in the WHL with 17.1 penalty minutes per game. This season, Spokane has been on the penalty kill fewer times than any other team in the league, except Brandon. The Wheat Kings are averaging 4.62 kills per game, the Chiefs are averaging 5.00 kills per game.

TIC-TOK...Dustin Tokarski has won his last six starts and has posted a 1.33 GAA through that span. In the six games, Tokarski has two shutouts and a .938 save percentage. The 18-year-old became the first Chiefs goaltender to post back-to-back shutouts in consecutive starts with a 21 save effort on November 2nd versus Seattle. Tokarski's first shutout of the season came with 22 saves in a 2-0 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds on October 27th. Jim Watt did it in 2003-04. Tokarski is 7-1-0-1 on the season and has the league's lowest GAA at 1.88.

AN ARMY OF ONE...Before a shootout loss on November 2nd to Vancouver Kevin Armstrong had won his last six starts. Armstrong is third in the WHL with a 2.17 GAA. Armstrong recorded his fourth career shutout, his third as a Chief, with 18 saves in a 2-0 win on October 21st at Vancouver.

COWEN'S CORNER...Sixteen-year-old Jared Cowen has two goals and three assists in his last 11 games and is +12 in his last 16 games, including a +4 night on October 28th at Portland. Cowen's +12 is tied with Drayson Bowman for sixth in the WHL. Cowen scored his first career goal on Friday, October 5th at Tri-City. In 18 games, Cowen has three goals and seven helpers.

LANGKOW'S LOG...Eighteen-year-old Chris Langkow has three goals and five points in his last seven games and four goals and seven points in his last 10 games. Langkow scored his first goal of the season and added an assist in the Chiefs 4-3 win at the Kelowna Rockets on October 20th. The game was Langkow's second career multiple point game. He had a pair of goals on March 18th, 2007 at Portland and finished last season with four points in his last three games.

COUNTING ON COYLE...Seventeen-year-old rookie Jace Coyle recorded his first career points with a pair of helpers in a 9-1 win in Portland on October 28th. Coyle is +3 in 18 games this season.

UNLEASH THE FURY...Mitch Wahl has four goals and 11 points in his last eight games and is +11 on the season. Wahl is second on the team in scoring with 23 points. Eight of Wahl's 17 helpers have come on the power play.

PEORIA'S PRIDE...Curtis Kelner has already set career highs in goals and points with three goals and nine points in 16 games. The Peoria, Arizona native has five assists and is +4 in his last five games. Kelner is +5 on the season. Coming into this season, Kelner had two goals and nine points in 97 career games.

KOPING JUST FINE...Levko Koper recorded a career high three points, two goals and one assists, in a 9-1 win over the Portland Winter Hawks on October 28th and now has three goals and six points in his last six games.

18-YEAR-OLD SPURGEON...Jared Spurgeon leads the WHL in plus-minus with +16. Spurgeon is +10 in his last 11 games and had a six game point streak (1-5-6) snapped on October 27th. The three-year veteran scored his first goal of the season in a 7-2 win on September 22nd at Prince George and has three goals and nine points in 19 games this year.

ROOTIN-BRUTON...Twenty-year-old Chris Bruton has points in 15 of 20 games this year for a total of nine goals and 22 points. Bruton has four goals, eight points and is +8 in his last eight games. Three of his goals have counted as the game winner. The four-year veteran was named the Chiefs captain at the start of the season and has played 210 career WHL games.

ROMAN INVASION...Ondøej Roman had a career high four point night with two goals and two assists in a 9-1 at Portland on October 28th. Roman's five goals on the season are one more than he scored all of last year. The 18-year-old recorded his first career two goal game in a 2-1 win over the Kelowna Rockets on Saturday, October 13th. Roman had 48 points last year, 44 coming on assists. The 18-year-old was selected in the fifth round of the NHL Entry Draft by the Dallas Stars.

LETTS TALK HOCKEY...Ryan Letts had is first point as a Chief on October 19th in a 3-2 win over Saskatoon. Letts is +2 with three assists in 13 games as a Chief. The 18-year-old was acquired from the Calgary Hitmen on October 10th. Letts is a forward from Newport Beach, California and in his third full season in the WHL with 100 career WHL games.

KEEPIN' UP WITH JOHNSON ...Rookie forward Tyler Johnson has four goals and 10 points in his last 15 games. Johnson scored his first career goal in his first career home game on October 6th versus the Tri-City Americans. The Spokane native was the Chiefs 11th round pick in the 2005 WHL Bantam Draft. Johnson scored 56 goals and 120 points in 39 games with the Coeur d'Alene Lakers of the NORPAC last season.

BOWMAN EXPLOSION... Drayson Bowman has a six game point scoring streak with three goals and nine points. Bowman also has five goals and 13 points in his last 13 games. The 18-year-old is leading the Chiefs in scoring with 26 points in 20 games. Bowman tallied a pair of goals on September 29th in a 4-1 win at Kootenay. Six of his goals have come on the power play. Bowman had his second four point night of the season with one goal and three assists in a 5-3 win over Seattle on November 4th. Bowman had his first one on September 22nd at Prince George in a 7-2 win. Bowman scored twice and assisted on two others.

BIG SHOTS...Spokane put 55 shots on net on September 22nd at Prince George in a 7-2 win, their most since they had 51 shots on October 19th, 2005 in a 3-2 win at home versus Saskatoon.

DRAFTED PLAYERS... Drayson Bowman (Carolina, 3rd round, 2007), Justin Falk (Minnesota, 4th round, 2007), Ondrej Roman (Dallas, 5th round, 2007)

INJURY REPORT...Dustin Donaghy (hand, one-to-two weeks), David Rutherford (groin, week-to-week)

THIS WEEK

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13TH vs. PRINCE GEORGE AIR-6:30 GAME-7:00

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17TH vs. PRINCE GEORGE AIR-6:30 GAME-7:00

The Chiefs will host the Prince George Cougars twice this week, Tuesday night and Saturday night, in their final two match-ups of the year. Spokane traveled on September 21st and 22nd to open the season and earned a pair of wins, 5-2 and 7-2. Spokane was 4-14 on the power play and 5-9 on the penalty kill. In the two games, Drayson Bowman had three goals and six points, David Rutherford had three goals and four points and Chris Bruton and Ondrej Roman each had four points. Kevin Armstrong started and won both games. The Chiefs put a season high 55 shots on net in the 7-2 win on September 22nd. Spokane was 3-1 last year versus Prince George.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16TH vs. REGINA PATS AIR-6:30 GAME-7:00

Spokane will welcome the Regina Pats to the Arena on Friday night in their one and only game of the season. Regina was last in Spokane on November 18th, 2005 where they earned a 5-3 win over the Chiefs. Since the 1999-00 season, Spokane is 6-3 versus the Pats.

LAST WEEK

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9TH SPOKANE-3 vs. KAMLOOPS-4

The Kamloops Blazers scored four power play goals and came from a two goal deficit twice to defeat the Spokane Chiefs 4-3 on Friday night in the Spokane Arena. Spokane's Chris Langkow finished a Tyler Johnson feed at 9:10 of the first and Curtis Kelner's shot from the slot at 10:51 to give the Chiefs a 2-0 lead. The Blazer's first goal came at 15:02 of the period for a 2-1 game after 20-minutes. The Chiefs extended their lead to 3-1 at 3:55 of the second when Johnson, from Levko Koper, scored Spokane's second power play goal of the night. Kamloops struck shortly thereafter, at 5:04, to pull back within one. Spokane's Curtis Kelner was given a match-penalty at 19:05 of the second period, giving the Blazers a five-minute score at will power play. They tallied once at the end of the period, at 19:39, and again at 3:30 of the third to take the 4-3 lead. The Chiefs couldn't convert on a power play of their own with less than three minutes remaining in the contest. The shots finished tied, 22-22.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10TH SPOKANE-3 vs. EVERETT-2

The Spokane Chiefs earned a 3-2 win over the Everett Silvertips in front of 7,238 fans on Saturday night in the Spokane Arena. Drayson Bowman, Mitch Wahl and Levko Koper all scored goals and Dustin Tokarski made 25 saves, including 14 in the third period in Spokane's 14th win of the season. Bowman got things going early for Spokane with a slapper on the fly from the left wing that beat Leland Irving through the pads and gave him his team leading 12th of the year. Chris Bruton assisted on the play. Wahl deflected a Stefan Ulmer snap shot at 15:14 for his sixth of the season and a 2-0 Spokane lead. Bruton earned his second assist on the play. Everett cut the lead to one with a power play goal at 2:21 of the second, but Koper's goal on a rebound at the right post gave the Chiefs their eventual game winner at 8:57 of the period. Tyler Johnson and Chris Langkow had the assists.

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