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WHL Spokane Chiefs

Chiefs Weekly Report

November 20, 2007 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Spokane Chiefs News Release


Spokane will play their sixth straight in the Spokane Arena this week when they host the Chilliwack Bruins on Wednesday night and then travel to Kennewick on Saturday night to play the Tri-City Americans. Spokane enters the week with the top record in the WHL.

Saturday's game will be aired live on Comcast Channel 12 beginning at 7:00.

Western Conference

U.S. Division GP W L OTL SL PTS

Spokane Chiefs 23 17 3 1 2 37

Tri-City Americans 22 17 5 0 0 34

Everett Silvertips 25 14 10 0 1 29

Seattle Thunderbirds 22 9 9 3 1 22

Portland Winter Hawks 22 3 19 0 0 6

B.C. Division GP W L OTL SL PTS

Vancouver Giants 26 17 6 1 2 37

Kelowna Rockets 24 13 7 2 2 30

Chilliwack Bruins 25 13 9 3 0 29

Kamloops Blazers 23 11 10 1 1 24

Prince George Cougars 26 9 17 0 0 18

Eastern Conference

East Division GP W L OTL SL PTS

Swift Current Broncos 24 14 6 0 4 32

Regina Pats 26 16 10 0 0 32

Brandon Wheat Kings 25 15 9 0 1 31

Moose Jaw Warriors 23 9 9 4 1 23

Prince Albert Raiders 26 9 13 3 1 22

Saskatoon Blades 24 8 15 1 0 17

Central Division GP W L OTL SL PTS

Lethbridge Hurricanes 26 17 7 1 1 36

Calgary Hitmen 26 16 8 0 2 34

Medicine Hat Tigers 24 14 8 2 0 30

Kootenay Ice 25 13 10 2 0 28

Edmonton Oil Kings 25 9 12 1 3 22

Red Deer Rebels 28 7 16 4 1 19

WEEKLY SCHEDULE

DATE EVENT AIR GAME LOCATION

Wednesday, November 21st vs. Chilliwack Bruins 6:30 7:00 Spokane Arena

Thursday, November 22nd Day Off

Friday, November 23rd Practice 1:00 Eagles Ice-A-Rena

Saturday, November 24th at Tri-City Americans 6:30 7:00 Kennewick, WA

Sunday, November 25th Day Off

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

NEXT GAME

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21ST vs. CHILLIWACK BRUINS AIR-6:30 GAME-7:00

The Chiefs will host the Chilliwack Bruins for the first time this year in their second of four meetings. Chilliwack defeated Spokane 5-3 on October 8th, Canadian Thanksgiving, in their first match-up. Ondøej Roman, Seth Compton and Levko Koper scored for Spokane. The Chiefs will host Chilliwack again on March 8th. Spokane will return to Chilliwack on January 27th. The Chiefs and Bruins each won two games in their four game series last year.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 24TH at TRI-CITY AMERICANS AIR-6:30 GAME-7:00

For the first time since October 6th the Chiefs and Americans will face off. The Americans took both halves of a home-and-home series, one in overtime and the other in a shootout. Judd Blackwater and Jared Cowen had a goal and an assist on October 5th in a 4-3 overtime loss and Tyler Johnson had the Chiefs lone goal in a 2-1 shootout loss on October 6th. Spokane will host the Americans on Saturday, December 9th and return to Kennewick on December 31st. Spokane and Tri-City will play each other six times in each other's building. Spokane finished last year's series 5-5-1-1. The Chiefs were 4-1-0-1 at home last year and 1-4-0-1 on the road. The only loss in regulation at home last year was the home opener for Spokane. Mitch Wahl score five goals and 11 points in 11 games while David Rutherford and Drayson Bowman each had four goals and 10 points. In its 20th year of existence, the Chiefs lead the rivalry 113-102-1-3 with 13 ties.

LAST GAME

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17TH SPOKANE-5 vs. PRINCE GEORGE-1

Levko Koper had two goals and Chris Langkow one goal and two assists in their 5-1 win over the Prince George Cougars on Saturday night. The Chiefs captain Chris Bruton scored at 4:17 of the first period when he redirected a Drayson Bowman shot for a 1-0 Spokane lead. Bruton was cutting down the slot and tipped it past Real Cyr, the Cougars netminder. Prince George scored their lone goal at 6:48 of the first to even the score. Spokane answered with two more in the first, one from Bowman at 11:36 and Koper's first at 19:46. The Chiefs outshot the Cougars 17-4 in the first period and held P.G. to 13 in the game, a season low allowed for Spokane. Koper tallied the lone goal in the second from Langkow and Bartman at 8:54. Langkow then finished the game at 14:43 with his seventh of the season. Judd Blackwater and Justin Falk each had assists on Spokane's second power play goal of the game. Dustin Tokarski lowered his league leading goals against average to 1.73 and won his eighth straight.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16TH SPOKANE-4 vs. REGINA-2

The Spokane Chiefs came out on top in a game between two of the top teams in the Canadian Hockey League with a 4-2 win over the Regina Pats on Friday night in the Spokane Arena. Spokane and Regina were both ranked in the CHL this past week, the Chiefs fifth and the Pats 10th. Each team scored twice on the power play, but it was two Spokane even strength goals and 31 saves from Kevin Armstrong that proved to be the difference in front of 5,812 fans. Regina scored 2:16 into the first when they whipped the puck around on the man advantage and Jordan Eberle finished from the right post for a 1-0 lead. Chris Bruton answered with his 10th of the season at 8:53 when he deflected a Jace Coyle shot for Spokane's first power play goal of the night. Drayson Bowman made is 2-1 for Spokane when he snapped a shot from the right point and it found its way into the net after a Mitch Wahl face off win. The 18-year-old then scored his team leading 17th goal at 8:16 of the second, the only goal of the period, with Wahl and Bruton assisting on the play. It would hold up as the eventual game winner because Regina scored at 6:36 of the third to pull within one. Judd Blackwater with his seventh of the season provided the Chiefs with insurance at 17:46 of the third. Justin Falk, who had a pair of helpers on the night, and Ondrej Roman had the assists. The Chiefs outshot Regina 36-33, just the fourth time that Spokane has allowed more than 30 in a game this season.

NEWS AND NOTES

BOW NAMED THE POW... After a six goal, eight point, three game stretch Chief's forward Drayson Bowman has been named the Western Hockey League's Player of the Week. Bowman led the Chiefs to a 3-0 record and was credited with the game winner in all three games. The week started last Tuesday night when he recorded his first career hat-trick and added an assist for his third four point night of the season in a 4-1 win over Prince George. Friday, Bowman scored two more goals helping Spokane to a 4-2 win over the visiting Regina Pats. The 18-year-old completed his week with a 5-1 win on Saturday against Prince George by scoring once and adding an assist. Bowman leads the Chiefs in scoring with 18 goals, fourth in the league, and 34 points, tied for third in the league. His six game winners are tops in the WHL and just four off the franchise's single season record. Carolina's third round pick has also scored eight power play goals, fourth in the WHL. Bowman also has a nine game point scoring streak. Bowman now has nine goals and 16 points in that span. Bowman also has 11 goals and 21 points in his last 16 games.

CHIEFS ACQUIRE BETTS...The Spokane Chiefs have acquired 18-year-old Luke Betts from the Red Deer Rebels in exchange for forward Cody Esposito. Betts is in his second full season in the WHL and has played 79 career games, 17 this season. The Maple Ridge, BC native has scored two goals and four points and recorded 10 penalty minutes. Esposito is also in his second full season in the WHL and has played 18 games this season. Last year as a rookie Esposito scored two goals and eight points in 41 games with 73 penalty minutes.

REID-ASSIGNED...The Spokane Chiefs have released goaltender James Reid from their roster and he is awaiting reassignment. Reid will remain on the Chiefs 50-player protected list. The 17-year-old did not appear in any of the Chiefs 23 previous games.

FOR STARTERS...The Chiefs 17-3-1-2 record and 37 points is the best record through 23 games in franchise history.

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.

CENTRAL SCOUTING... Spokane Chiefs Mitch Wahl and Dustin Tokarski have both been recognized by the National Hockey League's Central Scouting Bureau in their preliminary rankings for the 2008 Entry Draft. A 17-year-old center from Seal Beach, California, Wahl is ranked 17th for Western Hockey League skaters and Tokarski is ranked fifth for WHL goaltenders.

COWEN NAMED TO TEAM WEST... Spokane Chief Defenseman Jared Cowen has been chosen to play for Team West at the Under-17 World Hockey Challenge in London, Ontario beginning on December 29th, 2007. Team West includes 11 players born in 1991 from each of the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Cowen is in his rookie season in the WHL and hails from Allan, Saskatchewan. The first overall selection in the 2006 WHL Bantam Draft has three goals, 10 points and is +15 in 23 games this season.

SCORING...The Chiefs have allowed fewer goals than any other team in the WHL, 47 through 23 games, 2.04 per game. Vancouver is second in the WHL with 2.31 goals against per game. The Chiefs 3.57 goals per game (82 in 23 games) is fourth in the WHL. Spokane has outscored the opposition 35-14 in the first period and has scored the first goal of the game in 17 of 23 games.

SHOTS ALL AROUND...The Chiefs are averaging 32.6 shots on game and allowing just 23.2 Spokane has allowed more than 30 shots in a game just four times this year. The Chiefs are 17-3 when outshooting the opposition. The Chiefs are 0-2 when being outshot.

KILLER KILL...The Chiefs are the fifth 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 and Calgary. The Wheat Kings are averaging 4.52 kills per game, Calgary 4.81 and Spokane 4.91 kills per game.

TIC-TOK...Dustin Tokarski has won his last eight starts and has posted a 1.38 GAA through that span. In the eight games, Tokarski has two shutouts and a .931 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 9-1-0-1 on the season and has the league's lowest GAA at 1.73.

AN ARMY OF ONE...Kevin Armstrong is fifth in the WHL with a 2.16 GAA. The 19-year-old has a .911 save percentage and an 8-2-1-1 record. Armstrong had a six game win streak and recorded his fourth career shutout, his third as a Chief, with 18 saves in a 2-0 win on October 21st at Vancouver.

LANGKOW'S LOG...Eighteen-year-old Chris Langkow had a goal and two assists on November 17th and now has four goals and eight points in his last 10 games and five goals and 10 points in his last 13 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.

UNLEASH THE FURY...Mitch Wahl has a six game point scoring streak with three goals and 10 points and he is +7 in that span. Wahl has scored five goals and 15 points in his last 11 games and is +14 on the season. Wahl is second on the team in scoring with 27 points. 10 of Wahl's 20 helpers have come on the power play.

PEORIA'S PRIDE...Curtis Kelner has already set career highs in goals and points with four goals and 11 points in 19 games. The Peoria, Arizona native has five assists and is +4 in his last seven games. Kelner is +5 on the season. Coming into this season, Kelner had two goals and nine points in 97 career games.

18-YEAR-OLD SPURGEON...Jared Spurgeon is tied with Chris Bruton for the team lead and is second in the WHL with a +17. Spurgeon is +11 in his last 14 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 23 games this year.

ROOTIN-BRUTON...Twenty-year-old Chris Bruton has points in 18 of 23 games this year for a total of 11 goals and 26 points. Bruton has six goals, 12 points and is +11 in his last 11 games. Three of his goals have counted as the game winner. The four-year veteran was named the Chiefs captain and has played 213 career games.

LETTS TALK HOCKEY...Ryan Letts had is first point as a Chief on October 19th in a 3-2 win over Saskatoon. Letts is +1 with three assists in 16 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 103 career WHL games.

KEEPIN' UP WITH JOHNSON ...Rookie forward Tyler Johnson has four goals and 10 points in his last 17 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.

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, two weeks)

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